ALLOUEZ – On Aug. 14, a little corner in an Allouez neighborhood gathered residents, families and staff of McCormick Assisted Living, along with their neighbors, to enjoy the fresh air and bright sun for their annual picnic.
McCormick Administrator Amber Hintz said that the event was “to celebrate our residents and their families and our staff.”
Hintz said that there is always a “large turnout.”
“Between the last couple of years, it’s been between 125-200 people,” despite the fact that “we probably have about 63 residents,” she added.
“We invited our neighbors because we’re tucked into a neighborhood in Allouez. We see them daily. They walk with us, with our residents, with our staff; so, just keeping them part of our community is the format.”
President and Chief Executive Sondra Norder elaborated, saying “We’d like to just thank them for being good neighbors to us and being understanding.”
Norder also views the picnic as a way to further connect the families within McCormick as well.
“Inviting the families here so that they can see our faces, visit with us and each other, enjoy our beautiful grounds and lovely meal together is my favorite aspect. Not a lot of us get a lot of face time with a lot of the family members, so having all of them here is helpful for all of us to know each other and trust each other and just celebrate all that we do together. I think it’s a way for the families to come and see that we are really focused on our mission, which is to enrich the lives of those we serve,” Norder said.
A resident of McCormick, Carol De Groot, shared her own experience with McCormick.
“It’s like a big family. They invited the neighbors, and then, of course, each resident can have two guests. I think that’s wonderful. And of course, it brings everybody together,” she stated.
McCormick’s goal is to provide residents with a voice in the planning of these events as well.
As Noder said, “We’ve really focused the past couple of years on culture change. We’ve been moving from a model of person-centered care to resident-directed life. Our residents, we bring them into decision-making because this is their home, and they should have a say in everything that we do and everything that impacts their life here. So that resident-directed life is kind of a new way of looking at long-term care and aging services. It’s a very progressive philosophy, and we’re really thrilled to be on that journey and give our residents that kind of dignity and that kind of engagement.”
The picnic was one example of this new model of management.
“We let them make some of the decisions about how to decorate, what to eat, what activities to plan and just put it in their hands so that it’s truly their home,” said Noder. “We’ve always wanted to maximize the independence and the dignity and the respect of our residents.”
De Groot felt drawn to McCormick’s smaller size and tight community.
“What’s nice about a place like this is I know practically every staff member and every resident except the newer ones…That’s what’s so wonderful. It’s family. Plus, being Catholic, it’s nice having mass so frequently.”
McCormick houses nuns and a priest, Father Willie Van De Loo, alongside their residents.
“We offer mass every day and rosary every day,” said Amber. “We offer nuns and priests the community to live with us, and usually they end up helping with mass daily or rosary.”
Amber added that the picnic was one example that, “What’s really special is we’re here to serve them.”
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