To welcome Spring we invite you to attend the Second Annual Spring Garden Party to be held Saturday, March 4, 9:00am – noon. Come out and celebrate with us!
“There’s just something about this place.” It’s a phrase I hear often since joining Beatitudes Campus! I have to agree, it’s true. There is an energy and positivity here on campus that is hard to explain. In marketing, it’s called a brand experience – and it is something that we marketers work hard to capture, communicate and share with the outside world.
Happy Lent! For Christians, the intention of this portion of the year is for us all to make a conscious effort to focus on turning our hearts and minds back towards God. Sometimes people do this by practicing a little self-denial and self-discipline, perhaps by giving up a favorite food or treat as a reminder to focus instead on our spiritual nourishment. A favorite family story of ours is how my brother (aged around 6 at the time) was asked by the priest following church what he was giving up for Lent. Without hesitation he replied, “school”. A good attempt, but not quite in with the intended goal of opening the doors of our hearts a little wider to the deep riches of faith!
Here at the campus, there are a variety of ways that you can mark this holy season. Lent begins on March 2nd, and so we invite you to join us for some delicious pancakes on Tuesday, March 1st, between 8 and 10AM, Life Center as we keep the custom of using up all the fattening ingredients in the house before the beginning of the Lenten fast.
Ash Wednesday follows on March 2nd. Ash Wednesday has for centuries been a day for Christians to have our foreheads marked with ashes as an acknowledgement of our mortality, and to reflect in penitence for our mistakes. Residents and staff are welcome to receive the imposition of ashes and spend some time in prayer and contemplation in the Life Center, 8:00am-12:00pm.
If you are interested in a contemplative way of journeying through Lent, copies of ‘Daily Guideposts – 40 Devotions for Lent’, are available to pick up in the Life Center after the Sunday services, or directly from our department by calling Kimberly Bravo 18465.
Another book that will be shaping our Lenten season is ‘Lent In Plain Sight – A Devotion in 10 Objects’ which is forming the basis of our current sermon series at the 3:00pm Sunday Campus Worship Service at which, as always, all are welcome!
I hope that these events and resources help to provide ways for us to use this season of reflection and prayer, and by doing so to grow closer to God in our everyday lives – a happy and a holy Lent to you all!
It’s a garden party! Be sure to join us!
I grew up making Christingles at school and at church, and I have continued that tradition ever since. Despite perhaps being the only Christingle in Arizona, the light shines just as brightly, and its meaning remains just the same
The Colonization of Space becomes affordable.
join us on Tuesday, October 26th anytime between 8:00 and 10:00AM on the Central Park Mall, where Chaplain Peggy and I will be looking forward to meeting your animal friends, and sharing God’s blessing with them, as they continue to share it with us.
Active Aging Week… what is that? Active Aging Week is an International celebrating week that promotes and encourages people to participate fully at any age, regardless of mental or physical capacity. As a campus, this will be our 7th year celebrating and promoting a wide rage of activities and events that we hope you will take advantage of as you challenge yourself to a new program.
Active Aging Week will take place Monday, October 4 through Friday, October 8th. Each day, we will have a theme and a variety of events that anyone is welcome to join. Raffles, prizes and moving and grooving is definitely on the agenda. Each morning we will have a Campus Community walk beginning at 7AM in front of the Bistro. We will walk a mile on campus together and we ask that you invite a neighbor to join you. After Monday’s walk, head over to the Life Center to join us for our Kickoff Breakfast as we go through the week’s events. A free buffet style breakfast will be available for you to enjoy, and trivia will be on the menu. Tuesday we will be heading over to the 19North garden to give back to our community. A tour will be given and we will assist will minor tasks that are needed to keep the garden flourishing. The more hands to give back, the more we can achieve. Wednesday we will have a Paint and Wine night in the Rose Garden with Artist Vidal Duarte. All supplies is included however, you will need to call to reserve a spot as space is limited. Thursday we will be swinging our partners round and round as we dance around at our Western Dance Party. A cash bar for alcohol will be available to you so don’t forget that cash, ya hear? Friday is our big Street Fair to close out the week. Wear your Beatitudes Gear proudly as we enjoy food, vendors and RAFFLES. The Employee Appreciation Committee will be having a 50/50 raffle as well so don’t forget that money honey.
The events listed above are only a few that are being highlighted. There are many more that you can find in the Active Aging Week magazine that will be distributed to your door for viewing. We will have guest speakers, classes and even free produce that is scheduled for you to enjoy. If you have any questions, call Didi at x18526. The Life Enrichment team can’t wait to celebrate with you!
One more thing…. if you see Korry Nelson around campus, give him a huge SHOUT OUT for the BEAUTIFUL magazine that he has created for this special week. We couldn’t do it without him!
The hot summer is behind us. Let’s Garden!
It’s an old slogan, and a new product: TOUCHTOWN. Paper will not be going away but as a campus we continually work towards different ways to communicate with all of you. We feel touchtown is a great way to work towards reducing paper usage and a great way to keep everyone engaged and in the know! Resident touchtown ambassadors have been hard at work crossing the t’s and dotting the i’s in regards to the toucthtown app and developing a training class on the best way to utilize touchtown.
Ambassadors will be at the “touchtown help desk” every day from 11:00a-1:00p in the Bistro helping others download the app on your phone in preparation for trainings. Ambassadors will also be holding in person touchtown trainings on 9.10, 9.11, 9.12, and 9.13, you will need to sign up to attend those trainings but…..you can also do that at the “touchtown help desk”! Stop by during the help desk hours and sign up for a class, we hope all can come and visit!
September 2021 is an interesting month regarding the Jewish Calendar. The Jewish calendar year is 5782 and theoretically dates from Adam and Eve, if you go through the bible with all the years listed for the generations. There are four major Jewish holidays that occur this month. Three of them are described in Leviticus chapter 23. The first is Rosh Hashanah, literally the Head of the Year, as the Hebrew word Rosh is “head” and Hashanah is “the year.” Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown September 6th and is celebrated on the seventh and eight for Orthodox Jews and the seventh for Jews who live in Israel and Reform Jews. It is interesting that Rosh Hashanah begins on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew Calendar and is the beginning of the ten Days of Awe which end with Yom Kippur.
The Beatitudes High Holiday Jewish service, celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, will be conducted in the Life Center Boardroom on Friday, September 10th at 1 pm. The service will be led by Phil and Hannah Adelman.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on the 15th of September. Leviticus does not use the name Rosh Hashanah and only indicates that is a day of the blowing of the horn. The name for this day was first used in the Mishnah which is a Jewish text written in the first 200 years of the common era. The Mishnah describes the use of the ram’s horn as it was a ram who was sacrificed in place of Isaac by Abraham. Hence, the Shofar or rams’ horn is blown in services on Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is the end of the days of awe and is normally spent in the synagogue praying and fasting. The Yom Kippur fast begins prior to sundown on the fifteenth and ends, traditionally, after sundown on the sixteenth. During this 24-hour day the Jewish fast consists of complete abstinence of food and drink.
Sukkot, the feast of tabernacles, begins on the evening of the 20th of September (14th of Tishrei) and is a seven or eight-day holiday. It commemorates the harvest and traditionally we build a wooden structure, which is covered in palm fronds or other branches from trees. Many Jews eat their holiday meals in the sukkah. Simchat Torah, rejoicing with the Torah, begins at sundown September 28th. It is celebrating with the Torah and ends the annual cycle of reading the Torah in the Synagogue. On this holiday the final chapter of Deuteronomy is read, and the beginning of Genesis is read. The Torah, which is a scroll containing the 5 books of Moses is rewound from the end to the beginning and every synagogue and temple in the world begins the annual reading the Torah on Simchat Torah.
Article written by Phil Adelman, Beatitudes resident and posted on his behalf by Beatitudes Campus
Thank you to all the participants of this past weeks Art show which was hosted on Friday, August 20 and Saturday, August 21. We had a great turn out with 75 people on the first day and 120 people on the second day. Our participating artist showcased there amazing talents which ranged from sculpting, painting, quilting and textiles. We had live music both days and live painters to accompany the art show.
Our campus houses some of the most creative individuals in Phoenix and this was great opportunity to display their talent for the rest of the campus to be inspired and motivated. We had a total of 15 artisans showcasing and many thanks go out to all the folks who submitted their work for the show.
I thank you all for allowing me to bring joy into your lives and I appreciate all the community we build together. We will continue to have fun and expand our culture in the next few months.
We are showing that we are Beatitudes Strong because our campus currently is COVID-19 free. As the spread continues to decrease in Maricopa County and here on campus, we have been able to decrease the frequency of staff testing per our regulating agencies. We no longer will be doing twice a week testing for staff working in Plaza View or the Health Care Center.
Dear Beatitudes Community,
Beatitudes Campus is in Week 3 of our phased-in re-opening. I can’t tell you what joy it brings our residents and staff to regain social connections and have a life full of ordinary moments – coffee with a neighbor, a game of bridge, a long walk around campus. After a year of disruption, the very ordinary moments have become extraordinary. For Independent Living residents, the re-opening guidelines for the coming week are the same as the past week. We have done well and protected each other during the current phase. We will be expanding our re-openings at the end of this month, so watch for details. Of course, we require mask wearing in all areas (except for resident apartments) and ask that you stay physically distant from others who are not part of your group.
For our licensed areas, re-openings are regulated by state and county health departments. For our assisted living areas (Plaza View and Early Memory Support), we have received guidance for a controlled re-opening. Residents may leave their buildings and walk outside and enter certain buildings throughout campus. Communal dining in Plaza View and in the Bistro are now available if reservations are made; meal deliveries will still be available. Up to two visitors, seven days a week can visit residents in assisted living, indoors or outdoors. It is with such joy that I saw an assisted living resident ready to start his daily walk – with a bottle of water and a granola bar in hand, he could feel the fresh air and feel the warmth of the sun. For our health care center, we are able to have indoor and outdoor visitation for our residents in Sierra Springs (3rd floor), but for Vermilion Cliffs (4th floor), our advanced memory support area, we are in outbreak status until March 26, as a direct care worker tested positive for COVID-19 a week ago. This means that the residents cannot have visitors, except for compassionate care.
Visitor Guidelines can be found on our website (https://beatitudescampus.org/beatitudes-family/) and clicking on Visitor Guidelines. Independent Living Guidelines can also be found in the Roadrunner (current issues are posted on our website (https://beatitudescampus.org/beatitudes-family/) and clicking on Information for Residents). If you have any questions, you can email us at [email protected].
We continue to follow our staff testing regimen and this week, again, all tests are negative for COVID-19 (we administered a total of 394 tests this week). We do feel that testing is an important step in stopping/slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Right now, we have one direct care worker in the Health Care Center who tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday and is quarantining at home.
We are so grateful that our residents and staff have had the opportunity for getting the vaccine, either at the campus clinics or at the county and state PODS. Next week, March 23, is our last vaccination clinic at the campus with CVS. This clinic is primarily for residents/staff who received their first dose of the vaccine last month (February 23). If, however, you have been unable to get your first dose of the vaccine yet, you may use this clinic to get your first dose! The staff at the clinic will help you schedule an appointment for your second vaccine, which will be off-campus.
I want to thank all of you for your strength and leadership in adhering to public health guidelines and recommendations. We would not have gotten this far at the campus without your support. Please stay well!
My best,
Michelle Just, President and CEO
This week marks the first anniversary of the declaration that the United States was in a public health emergency with the coronavirus.
After Wednesday, March 10th, Assisted Living/Early Memory Support residents will be able to start walking outside on campus. On Tuesday, March 9, we will be reopening our amenities for Independent Living residents – Backstreet Boutique, Gift Shop and the Salons. During two staff and resident testing sessions, we received all negative results! We will continue testing staff in the near future, as testing is key in mitigating the spread of the virus. We have no new cases of COVID-19 on campus as of March 5th.
Feb. 19th – We have some good news about vaccine rates here at the campus. Nearly all residents in Skilled Nursing and Assisted Living have been vaccinated. (Those in Skilled Nursing received their second dose last month and those in Assisted Living will receive their second dose next week.) Our Independent Living residents have a vaccination rate of 85%. We are still compiling the statistics for the rate of vaccination among staff. I want to thank all who chose to be vaccinated. Fighting this pandemic is a team effort. We are protecting ourselves, our co-workers, residents, families and our community.
