Creative Job Recruitment Program at Ecumen Bethany Community Highlighted
Rural Minnesota is growing older, and finding health care workers to care for seniors is an ongoing challenge.
Ecumen Bethany Community in Alexandria is getting creative in its recruitment efforts, which are highlighted in this recent story in the Echo Press in Alexandria.
Ecumen Bethany Community’s Lori Zastrow: Caregiver of the Year
Lori Zastrow of Ecumen Bethany Community was named a LeadingAge Minnesota Caregiver of the Year.
Ecumen Bethany Dining Director Val Jerzak Serves Up a Menu for Changing Tastes
Val Jerzak has the high-stress job of pleasing a hundred or so experts every day, three times a day.
Ecumen Bethany Community Hosts a Modern Quilting Bee To Benefit Area Food Shelf
Residents at Ecumen Bethany had a wish: To help those less fortunate.
Ecumen Executive Receives 2014 Employer of the Year Award From State Food Service Association
Carol Kvidt, Ecumen Regional Director of Operations, was awarded the 2014 Employer of the Year by the Association of Nutrition and Food Service Professionals State Association (ANFP) for her work with the dining staff at Ecumen Bethany Community in Alexandria, Minn.
The award was based on Kvidt’s personal contact and support of the dining staff, encouragement of continuing education and training, creative scheduling, resident satisfaction in dining, and dining enhancements made at Ecumen Bethany Community.
Val Jerzak, Director of Dining Services at Ecumen Bethany Community, nominated Kvidt stating: “Carol is an outstanding leader. She teaches leadership principals and techniques by example. Carol has a focus of resident-centered care and is hands on with creating a new way to serve our residents.”
Kvidt previously worked as the executive director of the Ecumen Bethany Community.
Secret Santa Comes To Ecumen Bethany Community
Wrapping paper and grins were flying last Tuesday afternoon as each of the 58 long-term care residents of Ecumen Bethany Community opened a present from a Secret Santa.
At Ecumen Bethany Community: A Winter Wonderland Where the Ice is Icing
Ecumen Bethany Community Adult Day Services in Alexandria, Minn., created a luscious Winter Wonderland Village to celebrate the holidays. The buildings are constructed completely with delicate royal icing. Day Service clients worked with staff and used candies, cookies, goldfish crackers and many other colorful accents to create a village for all to enjoy.
Top 5 Blog Posts - December 22
Did you miss last week's most-read Changing Aging blog posts? Ecumen's online visitors found these articles most interesting:
Top 10 Gifts for Seniors: Ecumen Staff Offers Advice
We recently polled staff at several Ecumen communities for their advice on holiday gift-giving for seniors, particularly those who are in assisted living or care centers. Here are the top 10 suggestions. Read more...
Ecumen Lakeview Commons Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Ecumen Lakeview Commons in Maplewood, Minn., celebrated its 20th anniversary December 16, 2014, at a festive holiday gathering of more than 100 residents, community leaders and Ecumen staff. Read more...
Policy and a Pint Event Brings Aging Issues to the Millennial Generation
Millennials crowded into a downtown St. Paul bar recently to have a few drinks, socialize and talk seriously about aging. yes, you read that right. Aging. Read more...
Ecumen Centennial House Named "Best of Assisted Living" by National Senior Housing Listing Service
Ecumen Centennial House of Apple Valley has received a SeniorAdvisor.com award for "Best of Assisted Living" in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Read more...
A Child's Heavenly Christmas Surprise - by Ecumen Blogger Jim Klobuchar
I grew up in a mining town in northern Minnesota a few miles from the Canadian border. In winter the cold was no mystery to us; nor was the spectacle of the blazing starlight on clear nights. We grew up able to identify the formations of the Milky Way, the Big Dipper, Orion's Belt and the rest. Read more...
You can read these articles and more at www.ecumen.org.
A Child’s Heavenly Christmas Surprise — By Ecumen Blogger Jim Klobuchar
An astonishing gift in the Christmas Eve sky almost 80 years ago keeps on giving.
Ecumen Century Club: Happy 103rd Birthday Iola Stark
Ecumen honors Iola Stark, a resident of Ecumen Bethany Community, who is 103.