Pastor Paul Kirkman has been a resident here at Elmcroft of Fairborn for a 1 1/2 years now.  Even though his health has been failing, he is always trying to make others laugh and bring a smile to their faces. 

Paul has had the privilege of riding a train, but says he has never been able to fly  in a helicopter.  We would greatly appreciate your help in making his dream come true.

Many thanks in advance. 

October 18^th will be a very special dream here at Elmcroft of Timberlin Parc. We will be taking 3 of our ladies out to celebrate the friendships they have made. This is no ordinary friendship. They are all from different generations! Marlene Rebb is in her 80’s, Ellen Hayden is in her 50’s and Natalie Matchett is in her 30’s. These ladies are in-separable…. You will catch them in each other’s apartments all the time.  They live life to the fullest and they inspire others. We will be taking them out for an afternoon with their families for a picnic lunch and a customized visit to the Pumpkin Patch. They will be greeted by staff that will assist us in a hayride and finding our way throw the maze. The ladies are called the Rasinette’s because we find them visiting in each other’s apartments and you guessed it…they love eating Raisinets!

Donnie has lived in our community for only a few months. He is a very special man. He and his wife have 3 children and they fostered 5 brothers and sisters keeping the siblings together after the death of their children.  Donnie's wife then suffered a tragedy and passed away 5 years ago, but he has kept his faith. Donnie is a very kind man and I would like to do something special for him and a friend. He says he likes the casino and would like to take his friend with him.

Here at Prestige Assisted Living at Henderson we work to help our residents celebrate life at every age. We serve a population of vibrant seniors that want to live better, meet new friends and make a difference. Many of our residents have contributed greatly to our community and our nation. They take pride in their heritage and the legacy they wish to leave behind for those they love.

Recently, the idea emerged from our residents that they would like to know more about who they are and where they came from. One of the residents mentioned they had seen Oprah’s special on ancestry and DNA testing and how meaningful it would be to give the gift of their heritage to their family. The idea spread like wildfire and we now have ten residents anxiously looking for ways to link together their ancestors and their posterity.

Because many of our residents live on fixed income, they cannot afford to do the testing on their own. We would love to utilize the Second Wind Dreams program to help us purchase the kits that will help our residents unearth their genealogy, some of whom are approaching 100 years of life experience.

We believe this could also be a wonderful opportunity to invite press coverage while our residents share their stories and gets their results. Additionally, we would love to invite sponsors to participate and get to know our residents and community.

Mary is a Heartland Village resident at the Elmcroft of Mid Valley community. She has a long passionate love for pizza and candy! Mary's favorite pizza was always from Revello's! She also loves candy. We would love to take her to the penny candy store so she can relive what she used to do and LOVE IT!

Tom is a Heartland Village resident at the Elmcroft of Mid Valley community. He enjoys many activities to do and LOVES his beer. Elmcroft decided to take Tom on a brewery tour at Lion Brewery. People are always hungry after a few beverages so we also want to take Tom out for lunch after his eventful experience from the brewery! Tom is an all American guy.. He is undecided what he would enjoy the most, but he is thinking steak. Whatever Tom decides I know he will LOVE it. He has already thanked us numerous times for giving him the opportunity to go to the brewery! Lunch would make the dream day complete.  Makes my heart melt, and I hope it makes yours as well.

Judy LOVES Paul Anka and always dreamed of seeing him perform in concert.  Thanks to ARCADA Theatre in St. Charles, IL, Sunny Hill, family and dedicated volunteer, Larry Lindholm, Judy's dream came true!

The dream was a complete surprise as her daughter shared that Judy was in shock.  Sunny Hill staff had scheduled an appointment to get her hair done in the morning.  Judy's daughter picked her up and they went to dinner in Geneva Illinois, then on to the show.

Judy and her daugher had amazing seats in the third row and had a great evening.  Judy enjoyed the show immensly as the smile has not left her face.

On September 14, 2017, Elmcroft of Heritage Woods helped Ursula Prince celebrate her Second Wind Dream. The morning began with an exciting police escort to Dauphin Island. (Courtesy of Renetta’s connections with the Mobile Police Department). Along to help her celebrate the dream were Renetta McMillan, Heartland Village Leader and Aegina M. Jokela, Healthy Lifestyles Director.

The ladies met with Martha Caldwell, Ursula’s good friend and were able to tour the historic Ft. Gaines where Ursula had worked for over 20 years. The staff at the fort welcomed Ursula back home with hugs and smiles and enjoyed reminiscing with her about her years of service. The group then went to the Little Red Schoolhouse where they were greeted by Dauphin Island’s Mayor- Jeff Collier and shown around the museum and new lending library.

The cherry on the top was when Ursula was able to eat at her favorite Chinese restaurant where the owners were waiting to greet her with open arms and hearts. They remembered her favorite dish and enjoyed reminiscing with her about her frequent visits to their establishment. Ursula returned to Heritage Woods with a full tummy and a smile on her face.

Added note:

(The fort for those not familiar with it was established in 1821, it is best known for its role in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the American Civil War. Exhibits include the huge anchor from the USS Hartford, Admiral David Farragut's flagship on which he gave his world-famous command, "Damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead!" The fort also has the original cannons used in the battle, five pre-Civil War brick buildings in the interior courtyard, operational blacksmith shop and kitchens, tunnel systems to the fortified corner bastions, and similar features.)

Today we celebrated the 20^th anniversary of the Second Wind Dreams organization.  We made two dreams come true today.  This morning Helen’s dream was fulfilled.  She invited all of her friends to a Bingo Marathon! She was honored as the “Bingo Queen”.  Thank you, Sue (SWD volunteer), for assisting me with this wonderful party!

This afternoon the owners of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Marietta made the afternoon special for Mary and her family.  Josh Crenshaw came to be her dance partner. Mary was born in Argentina and misses the Latin &  Spanish style of dancing.  A big dance party was held in her honor to celebrate Mary’s  zest for life. 

I want to thank Mechelle Flowers (Fred Astaire Dance Studios), Al Urezzio (our fabulous musician) and our friends at Second Wind Dreams for making this day possible!

Happy International Second Wind Dream Day

Wanda wanted to have a special lunch with her family at her favorite restaurant.  Sunset Family Restaurant is a special place for her and her family to share a lunch. 

Wanda has made  a wonderful recovery from a health concern.  During this concern her family was here and spent 24 hours a day with her.  She wanted a chance to have a special lunch with them to show her appreciation.

This was a special Dream for National Assisted Living Week.  Family is Forever!  After the lunch some special time on the front porch to rock off the lunch.  

Resident, Nella,  has been asking Elmcroft of Ontario's kitchen staff for a nice steak and eggs breakfast.  Unfortunately, steak is not one of our regular breakfast menu items. On International Second Wind Dreams Day, we served Nella her favorite breakfast. She enjoyed a 16 oz. sirloin steak cooked medium-well, eggs over medium, and buttered wheat toast. She ate her breakfast with a big smile on her face! Nella said the only thing that would make it perfect would be eating her breakfast "on a porch in Virginia overlooking a nice river sipping on some tea", but we got it as close as we could!

Thank you to Atlanta Dream basketball team for making a former high school basketball player's dream come true!