Grace: Propelled to independence with the right support

“I’m a doer. I’ve always been an active person, and I don’t want to stop now.”

Grace is a person who has always enjoyed keeping busy. She worked before she married her husband Ross, and then left the workforce for nine years to raise her family. She was very involved in her children’s school, helping in the classroom and organizing activities as the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) President.

Once her children were in school, Grace’s mother came to help out so she could return to work. “I really liked working, and I worked 33 years of my marriage,” Grace said, adding that she enjoyed learning. “I had a boss at one place who gave me a chance when I told him that I can learn the job, and once I know it, I will be good at it.”

She first came to know about Jennings in 1995 when her mother needed care following a fractured hip. She says she saw how nice it was at Jennings – “it was clean, people were nice, and the nurses really cared for people who were here.” Grace and Ross decided to downsize in St. Rita Apartments at Jennings. “We had lived in our apartment for about six years then I fell three times in three days, and I realized that my husband and I needed more support,” Grace said about the decision to move to Jennings Hall nursing home. “I just felt it was time.”

The move to Jennings Hall didn’t stop her; instead it propelled her independence because of the care she receives and the support services such as culinary services, life enrichment and housekeeping. “I’m a doer, and I’m not a ‘lay around person’. Anything someone asks, I will do it,” Grace shared. “I’ve always been an active person, and I don’t want to stop now.”

These days at 90 years old, Grace is always on the move and is perhaps more involved than ever in community and leadership. Where she once found purpose in work and family, her purpose is in faith and community. She is the Resident Council President, and in 2023 represented nursing home residents at the community Governor’s Nursing Home Quality and Accountability Task Force, giving feedback about her care and the purpose she has been able to find despite her care needs. She attends Mass every day in the Chapel and enjoys scripture study with Sister Valerie Sweeney. She is active in the resident choir and resident cooking club, soaks up lifelong learning opportunities with speakers, and makes art. She also enjoys playing cards in the pub during happy hour.

Grace has continued to pursue her passions and interests while at Jennings, impacting her community in meaningful ways every single day. It’s definitely in Grace’s nature to stay active, she says “because you know what they say: ‘if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.’ I don’t want to lose it!”

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