Celebrating Our Successes: A Message from the Executive Director

Dear Friends & Supporters,

I hope this week finds you well and adjusting to the new normal we are all experiencing. At the Center, we continue to look for fresh and innovative ways to ensure our community has access to the resources it needs and can easily obtain them. Our staff is adjusting to the challenges (and the joys) of telecommuting while our buildings remain closed through at least May 31. What I have realized is that much of the pleasure in what we do comes from bringing people together, and though we don’t yet have a vision of how or when that will happen, we are beginning to look ahead to when we can reopen and welcome back our staff, volunteers, members and participants. 

What we can do now is celebrate our successes. Within House of Welcome (HOW) Adult Day Services, participants of the Day Program and early memory loss program, Mind Matters, have been “meeting” twice a day. Our Alzheimer’s Family Support Group held its first virtual meeting last Thursday, and our virtual Memory Café debuted on Friday with 16 participants! If you are a caregiver of someone living with dementia, we hope you’ll join us soon. We recently received this note from a HOW family member: "My husband loves the activities! Today he really enjoyed the morning session, the most participation yet. I think the music activities are his favorite. I am so grateful you are providing these activities twice daily. It helps us so much and he looks forward to them." For more information on our HOW programs, email HOW@nssc.org or call 847.242.6250. 

We are celebrating our online Lifelong Learning classes which continue to be a big hit, with some filling to capacity. We encourage you to check the website frequently as classes are added on a regular basis. The classes remain free of charge, but registration is required.  

This week we are also celebrating the generosity of all who have made donations in support of those online classes. It’s difficult to express how appreciative I am for the donations we have received over the past few weeks. To all of you who have made donations, I thank you. Now more than ever, we are so grateful for the support. 

Please continue to check on your elderly family members and neighbors. Encourage them to reach out to us if they need anything by calling 847.784.6000. If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or anxiety, our Senior Options therapists are accepting new clients. To learn more, please leave a voicemail at 847.242.6270, and someone will call you back within 24 business hours. We are here to help, and if we can’t, we will guide you to one of our many partners in the community. 

Stay positive & find a reason to celebrate! 

Tish Rudnicki, MSW

Executive Director

P.S. I’m delighted to celebrate the creativity of staff as they find new ways to reach out to our members and participants. Enjoy this video HOW Kitchen Assistant Jennifer Zigman prepared for participants of the Day Program: Making Chocolate Chip Cookies.