
Earlier this month, we had amazing validation that our leaders are pioneering the Eden Alternative Movement where many previously believed it was for “one-off’s” or “not-for-profit” do-gooders only. Let me tell you a quick, cool story that will show how dreams manifest when we commit, dig deep, and stay the course – the magic always happens!
Nearly a decade ago, I worked with the Pioneer Network (prior to their leadership change), and believed this “mind-set” needed culture change and a holistic caregiver approach for our organization. We sent a few young revolutionaries up to Columbus, Ohio to attend their conference and assess culture change pathways, review operability, and decide if we could make it a widespread movement.
Since then, our Hometown Team started their Eden Alternative journey. They have “operationalized” culture change like no other mid-size operator ever! They built custom culture change training, hardwired it into their daily culture and made it a big part of their vernacular. They also developed intergenerational learning through summer camps, enhanced the universal caregiver into the Holistic Caregiver model, and developed an Eden Alternative Milestone cadence, plus hundreds of other programming efforts that make it all work!
This past week, our team humbly accepted some big, meaningful awards that demonstrate we are a part of the change we all want to see. Here is the list of winners:
- Lucy Kennedy, an Elder living at Signature HealthCARE of North Florida, won the Eden Alternative International Elder Award. She was nominated for her work with Senator Gaetz to increase the personal living allowance for Elders living in nursing homes in the state of Florida. The allowance was raised from $35 to $105 per month. Senator Gaetz said Lucy not only inspired him, but impacted his career in a positive way!
- Phillip Ramey, Chaplain at Riverview Health Care Center, received the Eden Alternative International Care Partner Award for his dedication to the Eden Alternative journey. Phillip exudes enthusiasm, leadership, passion and compassion for those around him, and is dedicated to making Elders’ lives more meaningful.
- Mountain City Care & Rehabilitation Center won the Eden Alternative Master Gardener Award for their work with the Holistic Caregiver model. They are working on an Eden Alternative Path to Mastery 3, and continue to blaze a trail of innovation in health care modeling.
- Angie McAllister was awarded the Nancy Fox Leadership Award for her leadership in culture change. She works with 60 homes in Signature’s Hometown segment to infuse culture change practices into the fabric of daily life.
In closing, we now have 28 Signature homes who completed Path to Mastery Milestone 1 and another nine who have completed Path to Mastery Milestone 2. This gives us 37 Signature homes who are fully immersed into the Promised Land and are helping us define the Revolution in a very tactical way!