Grandview Estates connects residents with loved ones

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

A parade of vehicles circled Grandview Estates of Elizabeth Saturday afternoon, giving residents of the care facility an opportunity to see their family members for the first time in months.

The facility has been locked down since March 1 to protect the health of the residents, with even outside therapists prevented from entering, according to administrator Rebecca Green, and there had been some restrictions in place even before that.

“My residents have not seen their family members for almost three months because we’ve been following the CDC guidelines,” Green said.

A parking lot encircles the facility and Green realized that with nice weather arriving, the circular driveway provided a perfect opportunity for family members to parade past the residents as they sat outside, with the families instructed not to get out of their vehicles.

“This is a way to keep them in touch while still keeping our distance,” Green said.   

Green said family members of the 39 residents were invited to participate in Saturday’s parade, as were the Elizabeth Township police and fire departments, along with community members.

“Any time we’ve asked the Elizabeth community to step up, they do,” Green said. 

Several of the Grandview Estates residents are former firefighters, so having the Central Fire department participating in the parade added a special touch. Because Green wasn’t certain how large the parade would get, the Elizabeth police were on hand not only to join the parade, but to direct traffic as well.

“One of our staff members is a Marine reservist, so he’s wearing his dress blues,” Green said.

Residents and staff members made signs to share with their loved ones as they circled past, and a volunteer played the organ, which was amplified throughout the grounds.

“We can throw a party! We do stuff like this all the time,” Green said.

Efforts to keep family members and residents connected can be bittersweet at times, Green admitted, with some of the elderly residents not quite understanding the technology that connects them or why their loved ones can’t just come inside and visit instead of waving through a window or communicating via Facetime on the telephone.

Green said the parade is just one more way to keep the residents connected to their families.

“Our role as a staff is to keep everyone not only healthy, but also happy,” Green said.

The owners of the facility, Lori Lasosky and Jessica Popp, had 100 three-ply cloth masks, which are regularly sanitized, made for the staff members. They have been using the masks since about a week before it was mandated, Green said. 

To date, there have been no cases of COVID-19 at Grandview Estates, and Green attributes that to the excellent cooperation and diligence of the staff and the family members in following guidelines to safeguard the health of the residents.