HOPPING INTO SPRING!

Our residents recently enjoyed various fun and engaging activities to celebrate the Easter holiday at Heinzerling Community. First, program staff arranged a special Easter egg race to see how many eggs residents could get in their Easter baskets. This was followed by hands-on activities in each unit at Heinzerling, which included painting Easter eggs, making marbled paper Easter eggs, pinning a bunny’s tail, and participating in a bunny ear ring toss game. Afterward, residents were all given a chance to take their picture with the Easter Bunny. All of our residents and staff had a great time!

NEW PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY!

We are excited to announce a new unique partnership. This summer, Heinzerling Community will be teaming up with Recharge Rally to raise awareness and funds for Heinzerling Community. The Recharge Rally is a 4-day driving adventure for supercar enthusiasts held August 5 – 8, 2021. Drivers will traverse 1500 miles of handpicked driving routes through four states while enjoying private track events and networking opportunities. Heinzerling Community will serve as the official foundation sponsor of Recharge Rally 2021.

The rally begins in Cleveland and stops in Chicago, St. Louis, and concludes in Nashville, Tennessee. During the rally, the Heinzerling Community logo will be displayed on each participant’s car. In addition, this exciting event will raise funds for Heinzerling Community through event proceeds and individual donations. To contribute to this fundraising event, click here www.heinzerling.org/donate

A Fond Farewell

Heinzerling Community said an emotional farewell to Barb Hamitt DCA. Barb’s role as a DCA spanned over 42 years with her start at Peck of Wee Ones. In Barbs’s own words, “I am not ready to retire, and I never thought of myself as getting older, but over the past year, I realized it was time. The reality of taking care of many, many residents over the years is what I know, and it will be a hard transition for me to stay home.” The residents and their families became Barb’s family as she reflected on some of the first residents she rocked and held for hours in what was then called the nursery. Barb realizes that a lot has changed over the years. However, the resident’s love, quality of care, friendships, and teamwork with her coworkers have kept her here for 42 years, and she could not have been successful without her coworkers. Barb showed all of us, young and old, her dedication and superior quality of care as a DCA and why Heinzerling became part of her life. Barb wants to volunteer in the future to continue to be part of the resident’s lives at Heinzerling. We are forever grateful for Barb’s 42 years of service and the love she brought into many resident’s lives at the Heinzerling Community.

THANK YOU GIFT-IN-KIND SUPPORTERS!

Heinzerling Community is extremely grateful to the over 40 individuals, organizations, and companies who have supported our organization with critical donations of PPE during this challenging time. Many of you were familiar friends, and others were strangers before the pandemic. Through your collective efforts and care for our residents and staff, more than 10,950 pieces of PPE were donated from homemade face masks to 3D made face shields. In addition, several others gave flowers, pizza, doughnuts, and handwritten notes to thank our staff. We thank you for thinking of us and sending your support. It has meant the world to us.

New Technology Grant Supports Resident Programming!

Heinzerling Community recently was the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the Good Shepherd Foundation of Ohio. These funds provided our organization with the resources to purchase the TAPit Interactive Platform. This specialized technology equipment will provide our residents with many opportunities for enhanced learning and development. This will include hands-on activities such as virtual art instruction, touch-enabled games, and learning apps, storytelling, switch videos, music instruction, movie nights, and video face-time with loved ones.

This grant support will have a significant impact on Heinzerling residents and open up a whole new world to learn about and explore. In addition, the TAPit will allow our residents to participate in one-on-one video calls with their loved ones. This has become even more important during the Coronavirus pandemic and will make it easier for parents who live further away from Heinzerling Community. We are very grateful to the Good Shepherd Foundation of Ohio for this generous support to assist our residents.