Wartburg Wins 2012 Innovation of the Year Award from LeadingAge

June 27, 2012 - PRLog -- WARTBURG WINS
2012 INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD
From LeadingAge!

(MOUNT VERNON, NY – JUNE 24, 2012) LeadingAge New York - a premier organization dedicated to creating the future of aging and continuing care services in New York State  -  presented its 2012 Innovation of the Year Award to The Wartburg Adult Care Community for its Council for Creative Aging program.  

Presenting the award for LeadingAge was Kristen Myers, Senior Director of Member Services, who said, “Each day of our lives should be filled with anticipation for what tomorrow will bring. We anticipate new learning and experiences, exploring our personal creativity and basking in the joy of sharing and giving back to others. It is the very fabric that keeps us happy and healthy…no matter what age we are. Wartburg’s Council for Creative Aging underscores this anticipation, this life-long joy in learning, experiencing and giving, and fulfills the lives of its senior residents and community members with an outstanding program, filled with innovative projects and events.”

In accepting the award for The Wartburg, President & CEO David Gentner commented, ”We have received many awards lately. This one is the most significant. Our entire staff, administration and Boards work very hard, each and every day , to provide our seniors with health and wellness programs that sustain a good quality of life.  Part of that challenge is to invent fresh, original programs to meet those needs. So when we need to create innovative ways to motivate and encourage our residents and community members, we do. Our Council for Creative Aging is an example of a new and innovative program that sparks the creativity in the elderly, and ignites a fire within them that makes them feel vibrant and alive.  Legendary playwright George Bernard Shaw once wrote that ‘youth is wasted on the young’. Well, George Bernard Shaw never came to The Wartburg!”

Wartburg Director of Volunteers Ann Frey , who spearheaded The Wartburg’s partnership with the National Center for Creative Aging, which then developed into the Council for Creative Aging, added. “Creativity actually grows with age. Our program provides opportunities to draw and sing and write…things that our residents never quite had enough time for when they were younger.” Ms. Frey then introduced
staff members and “partners” of The Wartburg to speak about their experiences with the residents and the importance of the Council for the Creative Aging. These included Michelle Garcia, Wartburg Senior Speech-Language Pathologist, Michaela Byrnes, Wartburg’s Director of Therapeutic Recreation, and Valerie Lowe, Co-founder of The Artist in You, Inc.  who partners with the Wartburg’s Adult Day Services program by providing art classes for all levels.

Mr. Gentner concluded,”It is our hope that other organizations and facilities around the state, and the country, will use our program as a model, and institute this same structure and spirit into their everyday lives.”

About The Wartburg
The Wartburg Adult Care Community is a not-for-profit Lutheran ministry, serving people of all faiths with a full range of residential options and health-related services for older area adults and their families. The Wartburg offers skilled nursing care, rehabilitation, Alzheimer's and dementia care, assisted and independent living, adult day services, home care, palliative care, respite care, hospice, pastoral care and monthly caregiver support groups. Acknowledged for the second consecutive year by US News &World Report as one of the Best 100 Nursing Homes, The Wartburg continues to lead the way in providing the ever-growing elderly population with innovative independent living options.

For more information about The Wartburg Adult Care Community or to support its mission, please call (914) 699-0800, email info@thewartburg.org or visit www.thewartburg.org.
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PHOTO CAPTION: (LEFT TO RIGHT)
Seated: Wartburg residents Fay Cea and Fran Elia
Standing: Michelle Garcia, Senior Speech-Language Pathologist; Michaela Byrnes, Director of Therapeutic Recreation; Ann Frey, Director of Volunteers; Robert Dorcy, Director of Rehabilitation; David Gentner, President & CEO of The Wartburg; Kristen Myers, LeadingAge New York’s Senior Director of Member Services.