Happy Halloween From Juniper Village

What an honor it was to have Hugh Heffner (AKA  Victor) stop in at Juniper Village for our annual Halloween Party. Our lady bug flew right in from our garden when she heard Hugh was here. Laura enjoyed clowning around with the staff. Many compliments were given to her for her  professional make-up job that she did herself. Peace and Love was sent to everyone from  Frank when he entered the party. Our staff joined in on the fun as we performed  the "Cupid's Shuffle. It goes to show you, that at any age we can still appreciate the silliness of dressing up and having fun.

Cherish the Journey: November Events

Life is a journey filled with lessons, celebrations and special moments that ultimately lead us to our destination, our purpose in life. The road will not always be smooth and we may encounter many challenges. Some of these will test our courage, strengths, weaknesses, and faith. Along the way, we may stumble upon obstacles that must be overcome. But, sometimes these obstacles are really blessings in disguise, although we may not realize it at the time. How we react to the situations we face will determine what the rest of our journey will be like.

This month Juniper Communities will honor our Families and cherish the journey we have taken together. November is all about celebrating the bonds we share and recognizing where we’ve been and where we’re going. We will do this through autobiographical journaling, reminiscing about family celebrations and breaking bread together in Thanksgiving. In order to support our families along this journey we will continue to develop our support groups and provide additional resources when needed. We will give back through our Annual Food Drive. From November 1 through November 30 all non-perishable food items collected will be donated to a local food bank.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Annual Food Drive where you can drop off non-perishable food items for the Harry Chapin Food Bank anytime all month long; our “A Symbol of Remembrance” event where we learn about the poem In Flanders Fields and the Red Poppy as a representation for death, renewal and life, while making homemade flowers for a local Veteran’s Museum; or our 2nd Annual Surviving Hurricane Season Party featuring drinks, appetizers, and door prizes for guests in our beautiful courtyard, as we thank our lucky stars for an uneventful hurricane season on November 13^th from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Look through our calendar and plan to join us for family celebrations, Thanksgiving dinners and many events and activities allowing us all to reflect and Cherish the Journey!

Show Your Colors: October Events

October brings forth vibrant color in our foliage as well as our sports teams. Our high school football teams will be in full swing and hockey season will prepare to fill the stands with team colors and spirit. Juniper Communities will also be honoring our colors with many sports-themed activities and events. We will be enjoying the changing colors of the season as we transition from summer to fall and the crazy costumes of our annual Halloween celebrations.

While showing our colors we not only focus on our team colors, but also showing our true colors. We recognize that working together as a team, results in better coordination of care, better quality of care and as a result better lives for our residents. This is evidenced by our excellent clinical outcomes data. We are happy to see the results of collaboration resulting in decreased re-hospitalizations and better quality of life for our residents.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Black Hatters Witches Tea Party for all witches, ghosts and goblins to join us and our special guest servers for tea and cookies and some good old fashioned trick or treating fun on October 15^th from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm (RSVP by Oct 10^th to 239-542-3121); or our 5th Annual Juniper Village Colorful Fall Festival where you can let the little kid in you out for a day as we have fun with music, face painting, water games, a bounce house, and let’s not forget the hotdogs, cotton candy, and popcorn on October 18^th from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm (RSVPs to 239-542-3121 appreciated but not required)!

Please look through our calendar to celebrate the spirit of autumn with us and Show Your Colors!

"Tapping Into Your Talents" Case Managers Event

Juniper Village at Cape Coral along with Coral Trace Rehab and Preferred Care Home Health sponsored our first "Tapping Into Your Talents" event on Friday, August 29^th. The event was our way of giving our busy hospital case managers a chance to de-stress after a long week of work. Vino & Picasso is definitely the way to obtain this goal, as not only was the event a lot of fun, but it was truly a unique way to end a stressful work week. As we sat painting our wine glasses the time flew and before we knew it, three hours had gone by. The results of our wine glasses were absolutely beautiful.  The three sponsors plan on hosting a "Tapping Into Your Talents" evening monthly.  Our goal is that each month, we will be learning a different medium, such as making pottery and beading.

At our  next event on September 26^th will be learning how to make jewelry using metal. We look forward to sharing the creations as we expand the left side of our brains. 

Juniper Village at Cape Coral Sponsors Tony Rotino Senior Center's Friday Night Bingo

Can you say " BINGO"? This was the winning word for the night as Juniper Village sponsored the Tony Rotino Senior Center's monthly fun filled BINGO night on August 8th.  Not only was it a night of fun and games it was an opportunity to raise food for the Lee County Senior Friendship Center Food Bank, as well. Each member in attendance brought a canned food item which then allowed them to be entered for a chance to win one of the many prizes Juniper Village donated for the event.  Everyone was winning, whether playing Bingo or having their name drawn for a Juniper Village prize, it was a lot of fun. Oh!, and let's not forget the delicious refreshments that Juniper Village brought, as well.  The theme was "The 50's" and you would think everyone would come in bobby socks and poodle skirts, but the only who dared to dress up, was Shellie with Juniper Village. That said, the center did a fabulous job decorating and playing music from the 50's. We hope that everyone who attended enjoyed themselves and look forward to doing this again next year.

Lee Memorial Health System's Annual Case Manager's Meet and Greet

A big thank you goes out to Lee Memorial Health Systems for hosting their Annual Case Manager's Meet and Greet on August 25^th at the Araba Shrine Temple in Ft Myers.  Vendors included assisted living communities, skilled nursing facilities, home health companies, DME and other medical providers. Numerous vendors helped by donating breakfast and lunch from Panera Bread which was "yummy" to say the least. The case managers from all four Lee Memorial Hospitals came ready to hear about the services we each had to offer and not to mention get the "goodies" we all brought.  Juniper Village gave away their infamous "Frog Bags" which are made of recycled bottles in support of our "Green Canopy" Program.  Not only did the case managers grab the bags, but the other vendors were just as eager to get one, as well. Coincidently, we were lucky enough to have the designer of the bag, Vickie Stotler-Smith from our corporate offices, in attendance.  We were pleased to share with the case managers; Juniper Village's 2013-2014 low re-hospitalization rates, which has become a main focus for hospitals today.  The hospitals want to work with those who strive for successful outcomes. We at Juniper Village put the care of our residents over anything else, and I'm certain the case managers could see how well we do.  All in all, we had a great turn out and met quite a few case managers and it was good to see our community colleagues all in one place.

Spread Your Joy: September Events

September signifies the end of summer with Labor Day celebrations and the Autumnal Equinox on the 23^rd. In this last month of our “Stay Connected” series we aspire to connect with our friends and embrace the theme of Spread Your Joy.

The Mayo Clinic tells us that friends are good for your health. They can help you celebrate good times, provide support during bad times, prevent loneliness and give you a chance to offer needed companionship, too. Friends increase your sense of belonging and purpose, boost happiness, reduce stress, and improve your self-confidence and self-worth. Friends can also encourage you to increase healthy habits – it’s always better to walk, run, swim or exercise with a friend. And friends don’t always have to be of the human kind either! Several studies have shown that heart attack patients who have pets survive longer than those without.

Our fabulous activity offerings this month include our Craft Class where we will be creating colorful floral Aloha Wreaths on September 11^th at 10:30 am; our Cooking Demonstration with Lisa making authentic Hawaiian cuisine using traditional fragrant herbs and spices on September 17^th at 2:30 pm; or our 7^th Annual “ComeOnIWannaMeetALuau” where we say Aloha from Juniper featuring festive Hawaiian decorations with music and food to match on September 19^th at 2:30 pm.

Please look through our calendar and join us for any events that can help you stay connected, cultivate friendships and Spread Your Joy!