Lifestyle Seniors Guide Superheroes of Southwest Virginia 5/29/2020 | By Seniors Guide Staff Runk and Pratt “I would like to nominate Pam Turpin, the regional director of Runk and Pratt Senior Living Communities. She shoulders a lot of responsibility and not only the protection of our residents and their families but the employees and the owners as well. She stops to ask questions like, “How is your family doing through all this?” You know instantly under the tough protective exterior there is a heart of gold wanting to protect her people from the unforeseeable future. As an activities director of our independent living communities, seniors appreciate her steadfast protection. I have even entrusted the care of my own mother to Pam and her staff in our memory care unit of Forest. Times like these don’t make heroes, they reveal them.” Friendship I’d like to nominate Luke Campbell, the Executive Director of Dining Services for Friendship (he happens to also oversee Salem Terrace at Harrogate). He has spearheaded, amongst being responsible for keeping our residents well-fed and nourished, the “peace of mind care packages” program, aiming to lift the spirits of our residents and team members, while addressing the concern of bringing outside materials into our campuses. He’s also led the charge in setting up a commissary on-campus for Friendship team members to ensure they have access to hard-to-find food staples and supplies within our on-site restaurant, since the dining area can’t be utilized. He understood our team members’ challenges of transportation, long hours and the supply/demand issues our team members are facing in the greater community and started making this option available asap. If that wasn’t enough, he also made it possible for all our staff to be fed one meal a day, to ensure they have sustenance while they are here. This also helps to limit external exposure as our team members can stay on-campus, helping to prevent the potential spread of Coronavirus into our campus. Since his first day at Friendship, Luke has proven himself time and time again. Of course it takes a village to make all these offerings possible, but it takes vision and leadership to bring them all to fruition – and Luke has and continues to shine. We are so honored and blessed to have him on our team! I would like to nominate our activities department staff. Lauren Hale, Cailin Austin, and Melissa Fisher. They have done a great job coming up with different ideas to keep our residents happy and engaged. It has been challenging through this difficult time, but they are keeping at it, trying to come up with fresh ideas every week. The residents have been so pleased with the efforts. Cindy has continued to provide her usual level of great and interesting activities while doing so many other things to enrich the lives of our residents. Like the rest of the activity professionals, she has no volunteers, no entertainers and has provided great opportunities even with social distancing. She is using the GoToMeeting app for families and residents but has also used her own telephone to FaceTime and Facebook Messenger. She helps the residents that are unfamiliar and hesitant to use the technology and communicate with family. That is not always easy with a resident that has dementia! I think her biggest contribution toward helping residents feel better about themselves during this time is that she has picked up the job of beautician- washing, cutting and setting hair. For the gentlemen she has washed and cut hair and trimmed beards and shaved them. Then, she takes great photos of the residents and sends them to their families. For ladies that are accustomed to having their weekly hair wash and set, this has been the most appreciated service. Cindy is high energy and gets so much accomplished in a day! Valley View “Mark Dillon has been a lifesaver for Valley View with getting us extra PPE and cleaning supplies from specific food companies that we have special pricing with and now learning to make masks. He made masks for our staff to wear. He is always there for me and the community and will do anything to get us through a crisis. He has worked here for Valley View for 22 years and aside from being our Food Service Director he helps us out in so many other ways in the community.” Read More Seniors Guide Staff Seniors Guide has been addressing traditional topics and upcoming trends in the senior living industry since 1999. We strive to educate seniors and their loved ones in an approachable manner, and aim to provide them with the right information to make the best decisions possible.