In 1973, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus opened St. Cabrini Nursing Home to serve the elder population with quality services. Fifty years later, this ministry still thrives and has served thousands of elders in the skilled nursing facility and through other services to the community. To celebrate this milestone, the residents and staff came together for two special services: A prayer service on November 8th and the celebration of Mother Cabrini’s Feast Day on November 13th.
On November 8th, representatives from all 16 departments as well as the residents and volunteers were present in Cabrini’s chapel for a service of thanksgiving. Each department was asked to select a virtue that reflects what its purpose and mission are and to prepare a brief explanation to share. To begin the service, Fr. Ron Galt, Vice President of Pastoral Care and Mission gave a blessing which was followed by a scripture reading, song and presentation of each department’s virtue. The virtues were framed and a display was created that can now be seen in Cabrini’s lobby.
In closing the service, Patricia Krasnausky, President and CEO, talked about the virtue of perseverance and how Mother Cabrini persevered when she came to the United States when being told she was not needed. “Mother Cabrini may have felt defeated, but due to her perseverance, we are all here this afternoon in this chapel celebrating fifty years of caring for people. Thank you to all of you and to all who went before us for persevering in an excellent combination of qualities, so that the outcome is that Cabrini of Westchester remains standing here after fifty years as a shining golden tribute to Mother Cabrini.”
On November 13th, Cabrini of Westchester celebrated the Feast Day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini as well as the conclusion of the yearlong celebration of the 50th Anniversary which included both staff and residents. A Mass, with live music, took place in the Chapel and other planned activities took place throughout the day. The Missionary Sisters who are residents of the home gathered for a special meal. This meal was served to the all of the residents as well.
Later in the day, the Therapeutic Recreation Staff distributed ice cream to the residents as a treat in honor of the Feast. The staff was included in the celebration with the distribution of $10.00 gift certificates to Honda’s Cafe for each employee as well as raffle prizes.
Many thanks to all who participated in planning both of these celebrations and to all who have enabled Cabrini of Westchester to offer the very best services to elders for fifty wonderful years.
The clients spoke about the altar and the meaning of the different items. There were pictures of their loved ones on the altar. Special flowers, fruits, bread, sugar skulls and candles were also placed on the altar. Not only do the items have special meaning, but it is also important to have many colors exhibited.
On Friday, September 1st, Cabrini of Westchester celebrated a second group of Nursing Assistant Apprentices as they completed five weeks of training to become Certified Nursing Assistants! In February 2023, we began partnering with the 1199 NationalFund to bring a Nursing Assistant Apprentice Program to Cabrini. This allowed us to bring on eleven additional staff members that received training through a grant initiated by the 1199 National Benefit Fund who contracted with Westchester Community College. All of the eleven staff remain employed full time and all but one are now certified nursing assistants in New York State! The remaining Nursing Assistant Apprentice who has not yet passed the CNA exam will have up to three chances to pass.
They will take the nursing assistant exam this month. This addition to our workforce has helped tremendously to ensure we have the staff necessary to care for our resident population. The success of this collaboration with 1199 and Westchester Community College has allowed us to achieve staffing goals and we are currently offering training to a third group of Nursing Assistant Apprentices.
The Resident Council at St. Cabrini Nursing Home, wanted to reach out to the children from Cabrini Immigrant Services (CIS), Dobbs Ferry, NY. They held a Mission in Action fundraiser. They invited the residents, family, friends and staff to donate cereal during the month of August. They also added that they wanted ‘sweet cereal’ for our Cabrini Kids. Quickly the bins filled up in the lobby as different types of cereal were donated.
Recently, Philip Deans, the manager of the Cabrini Apartments on E. 19th Street in Manhattan paid the MSCs at the Sacred Heart Convent a visit.
April 13th was an exciting day for eleven nursing assistant apprentices as they completed five weeks of training at Cabrini of Westchester in order to become Certified Nursing Assistants. In conjunction with 1199 SEIU and Westchester Community College, each of the participants received five weeks of training under the instruction of Dr. Cynthia Thomas, consultant for the college. Each of the students will take the nursing assistant certification exam in the coming weeks.
Wednesday, April 19th was a special day at Cabrini of Westchester as we honored our dedicated volunteers with a blessing ceremony and luncheon. Pastoral Care Director, Fr. Ron Galt bestowed a beautiful blessing upon all during the ceremony and afterward, a luncheon was served in Cabrini’s board room.