As we head into this Memorial Day Weekend, we want to take a moment to thank those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country as well as recognize all veterans who have served. In our communities we have the great honor and pleasure of serving residents who have storied military lives crossing many wars, as well as veterans within our employee ranks. We cannot share enough gratitude for your service. We are in your debt.

An update on our response to COVID-19: our tireless work to prevent the virus from entering our communities continues as we manage a small number of cases this week. We are pleased to report that we have no new communities affected. Currently we have reports of 9 residents and 8 staff members who have tested positive of our 4,500 people. Those communities include Aegis of Las Vegas, Kent, Kirkland, Rodgers Park, Marymoor, and Fremont. In a few communities there is only one positive test. Three of these communities are working through final medical clearances as their residents and staff are all fully recovered.

We continue to conduct contact tracing testing – identifying and testing those staff or residents that may potentially have been in contact with the positive person in the community. Families are always notified immediately if their loved one is being tested and are informed of any new test results. We remain vigilant in our heightened sanitation and protection protocols that continue to help us manage the spread of the virus, including asking our residents to wear a surgical mask each time they leave their apartments. Meantime, we have new resources for families and neighbors to take advantage of on our website.

New Expert and Family Resources

Explore our website to learn more about our protocols, get quick access to great resources to help keep your family safe and well at home and enjoy some of the hero stories from our frontline employees. Each day they are creating moments of joy in our communities. Their tireless commitment to entertain, engage and raise the energy and smiles of residents is undaunted. And enjoy the heartfelt stories of our teams and their good Samaritan acts of kindness. We will be adding much more to this website, so stay tuned.

Intergenerational Love and support from all ages!

Without being able to welcome visitors into our communities over these past few weeks, we’ve been particularly missing the energy and happiness of children in our halls. Intergenerational programs are an important part of our communities. But like all other things we are adjusting and finding new ways to connect kids and seniors together.

We are thrilled to share an online art gallery provided by San Ramone students – all sisters. We want to thank Apara Sai Jella, a caring high school sophomore, and her sisters, Ghrini 4^th grade, and Sri Tulaja Jella, a preschooler. Recognizing that seniors sheltering in place could use all the color they can get in these challenging times, these sisters created an online library of hundreds of pieces of uplifting artwork and they were kind enough to give us access to all of it so that we can share them with our seniors! These kids are proving that heroes truly come in all shapes and sizes, and no effort to help is too small.

If you know someone who could benefit from seeing children’s artwork, you can view it all: click here. We’ve been given permission to distribute this art to residents and share the love in our communities.