Throughout the school year, Liberty residents have been enjoying monthly visits from students enrolled in Lima Senior High’s Patient Care Technology program. The program teams a junior patient care student with a Liberty resident and is an ideal win-win situation for both parties. On their monthly visits students engage with residents by bringing games and crafts, giving students real-world experience before graduation. This is often their first opportunity actually working in a skilled senior care environment. The program strives to promote heightened communication skills as well as hands-on experience in the Assisted Living, Skilled, Vent/Trach, and secured Dementia/Alzheimer’s units, and offers STNA licensure at the completion of the school year. Our residents eagerly look forward to the visits and staff appreciates the extra assistance.

Although most people think of Halloween as a holiday for children, Liberty of Lima made sure there were many ways to enjoy it regardless of age. Our residents delighted in passing out goodies to a great turnout of little ghosts and goblins. Some of the trick or treaters were grand and great grandchildren, staff children as well as youth from the surrounding community. On top of all the wonderful candy, everyone enjoyed face painting and crafts as well as cookies and punch. It truly was an event that was fun for all!

Early this month, some of our residents enjoyed a leisurely afternoon browsing and shopping at the Lima Mall's Baby Boomer Expo. The free event for seniors included door prizes, delicious tastings, as well as helpful information on community activities and resources. Insurance providers, financial advisors and experts on senior wellness were among many of the vendors and attendees were also treated to a fashion show hosted by some of the mall stores.

We take great pride in the diversity of our auxiliary services. It's these little conveniences that make life here easy and enjoyable. We offer beautician services, massages, a state-of-the-art workout facility, in-house movie matinees, and a delicious made-to-order bistro experience to name just a few. Residents also regularly have the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of group outings. When getting out is inconvenient, our staff is happy to do your shopping for you or pick up your favorite meals from any of our local eateries. These are just a few of the many services we offer to help make you transition into our community feel like home, so we encourage you to take advantage of them.

Liberty of Lima is pleased to announce that we have been selected to attend training and receive grants from Opening Minds through Art (OMA). This will teach our staff how to integrate our intergenerational art program for people with dementia into the local community. This failure-free program provides opportunities for creative self-expression and social engagement for people with dementia. OMA also provides volunteers with opportunities to improve their attitudes toward aging through the weekly interaction with OMA program participants. We are excited to begin and eager to continue to offer new, innovative programming to our residents!

As a new way to recognize outstanding Liberty staff members, we've implemented a Liberty Stars program. Residents both nominate and vote on staff they'd like to recognize for outstanding service. Recommendations are submitted through Resident Council or the Activity Director. Winners receive a gift card and are highlighted in our newsletter. We're pleased to announce that this month's winner is Naomi Ramirez. Residents nominated her because she's so personable. Naomi always has a warm smile and goes above and beyond to make every day great at our facility. She consistently makes herself available to fill in whenever needed, and enjoys volunteering to help those residents who need individualized feeding assistance in our dining room. Congratulations Naomi, and thank you for all of your compassion!

We're taking full advantage of the nice weather by visiting local parks, and on a recent visit we took a wonderful picnic lunch prepared by our Dietary Department. Our residents enjoy the outdoors and nature, so we make an effort to visit locations that offer a variety of activities. They enjoy bird watching, ponds and visits with the Parks Department naturalists. We still have lots of fun lined up for the remainder of the summer. We're looking forward to visiting some of our favorite restaurants, a state park for some fishing and of course we can't miss the upcoming Allen County Fair!

Liberty of Lima's Dietary Manager, Rob Edgington, is very excited to be joining forces with our Food Committee to make changes to our menu this quarter. Our Food Committee is committed to championing for items they would like to see more of so many additions are being made to our menu rotation. Be on the look out for new items including Goulash, Turkey Subs, Philly Cheesesteaks, and BBQ Riblets. We've also added a seasonal fresh fruit and cottage cheese platter to our al a carte menu. Yummy!

Lima Administrator, Lance Nickles, grilled up goodies as part of the final celebration in our "A Matter of Balance:Falls Prevention" series which concluded this month. The program, offered in conjunction with the Area Agency on Aging, ran for 8 weeks and progressively took attendees through helpful safety topics such as; how to appropriately use a cane for stability, how to utilize Life Alert services, and what to do in case of a fall in the home. Approximately a dozen community members attended, enjoying the comradery while learning important safety tips.

While most of the days have been pretty mild, we still have a ways to go before we get the relief of Fall weather. In the meantime, for one of our craft projects, residents recently painted some folding fans to help beat summer's heat. Remember to seek shade and be conscientious about drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated. Talk to a medical professional should you start experiencing any signs or symptoms of a heat emergency. Stay safe and have a great summer!