A Caring Community: Jackson Manor’s employees treat residents like family

Occupational therapist Fortune Alipala helps a resident with their fine motor skills at Jackson Manor. Treating residents as family is the norm at the assisted living facility.

Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

From buying residents’ favorite candy bars to mending their clothes and remembering birthdays before they appear on the calendar, employees at Jackson Manor strive to create a community through little acts of caring. Director of nursing Cheryl Hanners says employees care about their residents as if they’re family, going to great lengths to ensure the happiness and well-being of each resident.

Community relations and admissions director Charlene Foeste says employees let residents use employees’ personal phones to call loved ones despite not being reimbursed for minutes. She has seen employees help residents on their days off and pick up items for them such as Cardinals gear for a resident they know is a Cardinals fan.

“You can’t teach compassion. You can’t train empathy,” Foeste said. “It’s in their hearts.”

Certified dietary manager Brandi Little will have worked at Jackson Manor for 14 years in January. Little served as a certified nursing assistant for more than 10 years and now works in dietary, but what she loves most about her job is interacting with the residents. To Little, the most important part of her job is bringing happiness to the residents and putting a smile on their faces.

With Veterans Day approaching, Jackson Manor employees are always looking for new ways to show their appreciation for their residents who served as veterans. Typically, they celebrate by throwing a party where each veteran is thanked for their service and given donuts or cake. Visitors are encouraged, and children from local elementary schools will walk to Jackson Manor to deliver handmade cards to the veterans. Foeste says they have residents who have served in every branch of the military, so in the past, they have put signs outside the building for each branch. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, Jackson Manor was not able to host their usual party or allow visitors, and this weighed heavily on Little’s heart.

“I wanted them to know that even though they couldn’t have their veterans’ parade and kids couldn’t come in with cards, they were still remembered, and we were still thankful for them,” Little says.

Last year, to make certain Veterans Day was special for Jackson Manor’s residents, Little wrote a heartfelt letter to their veterans and read it aloud at an assembly. Throughout her letter, Little continually thanked veterans, complimenting them on their strength and acknowledging their many hardships.

From the perspective of a certified nursing assistant, she describes how honored she is to be in the presence of so many veterans and how she hopes her letter “reflects at least a fraction of the gratitude” she feels toward them. Of seeing veterans’ smiles, Little writes, “Those smiles are without a doubt some of the most incredible sights I have witnessed in my 34 years.”

In the last lines of her letter, Little ensures veterans feel appreciated by writing in all caps, “We thank you for all you had to be and all you still are. You are not forgotten, nor shall you ever be.”

Foeste says she was amazed by Little’s letter, calling her a perfect example of the talented and compassionate staff at Jackson Manor.

“Everybody in our building has so many wonderful gifts and talents,” Foeste says. “We have a lot of creative people in our building and caring people.”

Even outside of work, Foeste says employees go out of their way to make sacrifices that ensure the safety of their residents. Foeste is proud to say their facility went almost a year without a single case of COVID-19 among their staff and residents.

“People made changes in their outside lives. They weren’t asked to. They just did it,” Foeste says.

This is just one example of Jackson Manor employees demonstrating how much they care for their residents, treating them like family in every area of their lives.

As Little said, “[Jackson Manor may be called] a nursing facility, but it’s more like a community.”

To read the full thank you letter to veterans by Jackson Manor employee Brandi Sue Little, visit Jackson Manor's Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/jackson-manor-nursing-home.