Dear Palm Garden Family,
If you harken back to Module 3: GEM, you’ll see the words “The GEM is not identified by its expense- the GEM is in “going the extra mile,” noticing the little things and acting on them. GEMS are about the life story. It’s not the money, it’s the compassionate act that identifies a GEM.”
GEMS are about empowerment too. 3 different Commitments relate directly to GEMS. They all have an empowerment in common. GEMS are open to guests, residents, family members and each other. Palm Garden is a family so when we say guests, residents, and family members we are talking about team members as well. Team members are family and together we are Palm Garden!
You ever read a story and almost put it down after the first couple of sentences? Ever read a little bit and think to yourself “oh, this isn’t going to end well” and you kind of set it down? Read the story below and I promise, you’ll be glad you did because it is an example of who we are:
“We had a situation where a resident family member left her purse in her husband’s room while they went down to therapy. When she returned, she realized she had lost some money that was in the purse. Did she lose it before she came to visit? Did someone see an envelope in her purse while she was at the store and help themselves? We conducted a thorough investigation and sadly- couldn’t help her find it. We could tell though that this loving wife really needed that money. Here she is with her husband in Palm Garden- you know he was the one that used to work on the house- so she’s nervous about him, trying to make ends meet at home, and now this. She was devastated.
“Then we learned the money was donated to her by her church. The congregation saw she was struggling and wanted to help with some work that needed to be done on her house. They just wanted to give her a little financial support.
“We all felt absolutely terrible about the incident and two of my team members- Nathan Williams and Lynn Fowler, came up with a fantastic idea of doing a fund raiser. Our Team Member Engagement committee purchased the food items and we had a hot dog sale this week. Everyone bought a hotdog…from team members, to our construction workers and visitors. Many of our staff donated large amounts of money as well! They were able to raise $425.00 to present to the resident family member. She was very touched and teary eyed when we gave her the money.
“We have a very special group of people here who really care about our residents and their families. Our Palm Garden of Gainesville Family understands just how difficult life can be- not only for our guests, but for the people who love them.”
–Kala Fuhrmann, Executive Director, Palm Garden of Gainesville
Empowerment is one of those big fancy words right? The example above defines it in real simple terms. “See a problem and fix it.” That’s empowerment. That’s what our family did.
We are just so proud of our Palm Garden Family.
Luke Neumann
Senior Director of Service
And Relationship Development