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Life Enrichment: Beatitudes Art Show Recap

Wed, August 25, 2021 Published by

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.

Hello, Kitty!

Tue, August 24, 2021 Published by

Just a quick reminder to residents and staff to not leave food out for the cats who share our Campus. When we leave piles of food out in the Courtyards (beloved CPN courtyard, are you listening?) it attracts birds, looks a little trashy, and causes a mess, which no one wants. We like to keep our Community Cats under the radar so they do not become a nuisance. There are at least four “official” places on Campus where they can get food and water. Some of you already assist with “official” feeding stations and that is appreciated. Anyone else who wants to assist can reach out to me for details at x16117. Otherwise, you can see from the picture that no one is going hungry around here. Thank you for your kind hearts, and for your understanding of the delicate balance required in managing this furry ecosystem.

State of the Campus – August 22nd

Mon, August 23, 2021 Published by

We continue testing all staff weekly and unvaccinated staff twice a week. So far, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have administered over 16,000 tests for COVID-19. That’s a lot of nose-swabbing! This week, we have three Independent Living staff who tested positive for COVID-19 and are still in quarantine. We have no residents who have notified us that they are positive. Gratefully, all the staff and residents who have tested positive during this latest surge of COVID-19 infections have or are recovering.

@nina_p_v via Twenty20

One Step Enough For Me

Fri, August 20, 2021 Published by

And yet his words are a prayer not for supernatural problem solving, nor even to grasp the entirety and complexity of whatever befalls us, but simply for the guidance and support to simply take one more step forward on our pilgrimage of life.

An Impressive Response

Fri, August 13, 2021 Published by

On behalf of all of us on campus, I would like to thank all of the staff that worked tirelessly Wednesday night, Thursday and through the weekend as well as thank the residents for their patience and cooperation in dealing with the flood and temporary relocation. We know this hasn’t been easy but we appreciate everyone coming together for the good of Beatitudes. I am once again reminded of how special the people on this campus are and how blessed I am to be a part of the Beatitudes Family.

Out of Care and Compassion: Behind every Mask

Mon, August 9, 2021 Published by

Beatitudes Campus was created out of care and compassion and today our actions are proof of this fact.  You are giving a beautiful gift in recognizing the health vulnerabilities, visible or not, that put your neighbors at risk. You are saving lives and preventing suffering through the simple act of wearing a mask today.  Thank you for this. 

State of the Campus

Fri, July 23, 2021 Published by

Dear Beatitudes Community,

In our continued pledge of transparency, I am reaching out to you today to let you know that we have had two fully vaccinated people – one is a part-time staff member and one is a contracted nurse practitioner – test positive for COVID-19. They both had mild symptoms. We have done contact tracing with the residents with whom they had interaction, and, with our increased monitoring, no residents have shown symptoms.

The Delta variant is 60% more transmissible than the original strain of the coronavirus. We do know that there have been reported breakthrough infections among fully vaccinated people. The good news is that the virus in most cases is mild and hospitalization and death among the fully vaccinated people are extremely low. Health experts do say that being vaccinated is the best defense against the Delta variant.

Arizona, with its vaccination rate below 50%, ranks seventh in the nation with the most cases of COVID-19. The state’s seven-day average for new cases is the highest since mid-March and more than double the average from two weeks ago. The Delta variant is the dominant strain in Arizona. With the continued transmission of the virus, it will continue to replicate and create a higher risk that it could mutate into an even more deadly variant.

The good news is that 98% of our residents are vaccinated and 73% of are staff are vaccinated. That’s quite an accomplishment! During this past month, we have held 52 “vaccine conversations” with staff to help separate myths from science.

So please, if you aren’t vaccinated, consider getting your vaccine so that we can end this pandemic once and for all.

Stay safe.

My best,
Michelle Just, President and CEO

Every Last Drop

Tue, July 20, 2021 Published by

The movement towards a better way of dying focuses on not only our physical selves (“how can we help you be more comfortable?”) but also our social selves (“what is important to you in the days, weeks, months ahead?”) our emotional selves (“who do you need to talk to? What remains unsaid?”) and our spiritual selves (“what supports you spiritually at this time?”)

Metering Package Postage

Thu, July 1, 2021 Published by

The Welcome Center staff would like to announce some changes when it comes to mailing packages and our new postage meter. The USPS has changed the way the meter figures the postage on packages. Unlike our last machine it only went by weight; however, our new one is both weight and size. With that, we would like to encourage the use of flat rate shipping boxes (small, medium, and large) as they can be cheaper than using regular boxes and to help bypass the input of dimensions making the process quicker. We are happy to provide any size box we have available without charge aside for the postage.

As a reminder, the USPS has announced increased postage rates starting August 29th.

List of price increase:

  • Standard Letters: .58
  • Metered Letter: .53
  • Postcards: .40
  • Certified Mail: 3.75
  • Return Receipt: 3.05

Gifts from the Garden

Mon, June 14, 2021 Published by

Now is the time every gardener in the Beatitudes Community Garden waits for. Vegetables and fruits are ripening and need picking and distribution.

We need pickers from each of the Campus buildings. It means going to the Garden every other day with a basket and picking ripe vegetables. And bringing them back to the lobby of your residence building. If you need help identifying such veggies, a phone call to experienced gardeners listed below will help you. You will also find guides to picking posted in the Garden.

If you are interested, please call Mike Gilman x17438 or Melissa Frey x18115. We will be happy to meet with you for an orientation.

Melissa and Mike

Living into the Promise

Fri, July 10, 2020 Published by

And then I thought of the staff I did not see, working behind the scenes, including those providing 24 hours-a-day service “behind closed doors” in our HCC and AL, truly serving on the front line. Again, a feeling of gratitude washed over me, and I realized I had begun repeating silently, like a mantra, “thank you for your service” for all of our over 400 employees.

The Power of Women

Mon, August 12, 2019 Published by

“Women have a unique power of being able to look at the world’s problems and discover solutions that transform lives and make the world a better place.”

You can witness the power of those words first-hand at the Third Annual Power of Women: Wine, Women and Conversation event, which will be held on Wednesday, September 18, from 5-7 pm in the Life Center. We are shining a light on three women who are shaping the Phoenix community: The Honorable Kate Gallego, Mayor of the City of Phoenix; Dr. Maria Harper Marinick, chancellor of the Maricopa Community Colleges; and Dr. Judy Jolley Mohraz, trustee of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. They will be discussing their life journeys – the highs and lows and everything in between. We will hear the expansive amount of work they do for our community and how the connections and support they receive from our community has been transformational in their lives. Our own President and CEO Michelle Just and Letitia Frye, our Power of the Purse auctiontainer, author and speaker, will moderate the panel discussion.

Mayor Kate Gallego has spent her career working to find solutions to complex problems. Prior to being elected as Mayor this past March, she served for five years as the City Councilwoman for District 8. She is the second elected female mayor in Phoenix history and the youngest big-city mayor in the United States. She’s passionate about building a Phoenix that works for everyone, including her two-year-old son, Michael. Prior to being elected mayor, she worked on Strategic Planning and Economic Development for Salt River Project. Mayor Gallego graduated from Harvard University and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Maria Harper Marinick is a national leader in higher education and strong advocate for access, equity, and student success. She has served in leadership positions for 17 years at Maricopa County Community College District, one of the largest community college systems in the U.S. serving 200,000 students across 10 colleges. She was appointed chancellor in 2016. She is the first female and the first Latina to be appointed to lead a higher educational institution in Arizona. She is originally from the Dominican Republic and came to Arizona in 1982 as a Fulbright Scholar to complete graduate work at Arizona State University, where she earned a master’s and doctoral degrees in education.

Dr. Judy Jolley Mohraz has spent her life committed to the community and education. She served as the founding president and CEO of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the largest private foundation in Arizona and currently serves as a trustee. She positioned the trust to be a significant partner in civic leadership, constructive change and investment in solution-focused social strategies. Prior, she was president of Goucher College in Baltimore for six years and served on the faculty and administration for 20 years at Southern Methodist University. Her academic focus was American history and she authored a book about Black education in the northern U.S. in the early 20th century. She serves on numerous boards and was a presidential appointee to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy. She earned her doctorate from University of Illinois and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Baylor University

Michelle Just, as we all know, is the amazing leader of Beatitudes Campus and has made enormous contributions nationally in the aging services field. Letitia Frye has been involved in Beatitudes Campus for the past five years as auctioneer at Power of the Purse. She has made a big impact on the Arizona nonprofit community and has helped raise more than $400 million for these organizations.

For those of you who attended Power of Women last year, you know how positive and uplifting this evening is. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll cheer on your new friends. I hope you will come this year!

We invite you to join us at Power of Women and be part of the Women, Wine and Conversation. Tickets are $45 (wine and appetizers included) and can be purchased by calling me (Barbara Wood at x16136) or coming to the Foundation offices. Please call me if you have any questions. I hope to see you there!

Helping Keep Aging Couples Together

Tue, June 18, 2019 Published by

One of the things that we are so often asked about by couples visiting Beatitudes Campus and considering their future is about what the future may look like as the years go by. About 70 percent of people over the age of 65 will need some type of long-term care during their lifetime, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). On average, women will need care for a longer period of time (3.7 years), compared to men (2.2 years), and 20 percent of those age 65 and older will need care for more than five years.

An active, healthy lifestyle can help protect your mind and body from disease and injury—which often leads to a need for long-term care. This is why we offer such a wide range of opportunities through the Life Enrichment department.Mike Smallwood and Jon Schilling are always eager to help you put together individual plans to support that healthy lifestyle. However, there are no guarantees in life and the question of whether—and how long—you or your spouse may need care remains unknown.

Since aging is an individual thing, a couple should not expect that both partners will have the same needs throughout retirement. As a couple ages, one partner may require assisted living or skilled nursing services, while the other partner remains able to live independently.

A continuing care retirement community (CCRC)/lifeplan community can help couples prepare for the challenges that an unknown future may offer. CCRCs provide a continuum of services—from independent living to nursing-home level health care—that is available if and when needed. I often hear Becky Black, our Director of Sales & Marketing, refer to it as “peace of mind” in your back pocket. If, after moving onto the campus, one spouse eventually needs a higher level of health care services, the couple can still be together here at Beatitudes.

Here is an example of how a lifeplan community such as Beatitudes Campus can meet the needs of both partners over time:

Jim and Jane move into an independent living apartment or patio home here at the campus. A few years later, Jane is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The couple continues to live together for a couple of years, but as Jane’s needs change, she moves into another section of the campus to receive additional care and support. Jim continues to enjoy the social benefits of living within the retirement community and can visit with Jane, who is just a short walk away, whenever he wants.

Those of you who are reading this article as residents – congratulations! You took one of the most significant steps you could in planning for your future. Those who are reading and still considering—our residency counselors can help you take a look at all of the variables and help you develop a plan. Couples who seek peace of mind in the face of uncertainty may want to consider a lifeplan community/CCRC as a viable retirement living choice to ensure that both partners will be taken care of now and in the future. And residents, don’t forget that you can be financially rewarded for sharing the good news with friends and family – your first successful referral will earn you $1,000 and the amounts go up from there. Stop by the sales center to get your referral form and begin earning!