Janie Slaven: The Gift of Good Friends and Springtime
Apr. 21—Christian Care Communities of Corbin has been blessed with longtime partners and friends at Parkway Ministries. Parkway Ministries has poured their hearts into our mission of senior care by engaging and encouraging our residents in special and unique ways, such as taking our residents on fishing trips, performing music concerts, providing Valentines Day Cards, delivering flowers on special days, and praying with our residents in times of need. Parkway Ministries (PM) believes in and practices the power of outreach and the staff and residents at Christian Care Communities in Corbin are grateful for our relationship. Our entire community extends a special thank you to Brock Allen, PM's Outreach Director, for his efforts to serve seniors with grace, love, and dignity.
Last month, PM brought smiles to our faces and tears to our eyes when they donated five wheelchair accessible outdoor planters, gardening tools, bags of soil, and beautiful flower seedlings to our Corbin residents. Our residents were overjoyed to start planting and tending the garden beds, with both residents and staff commenting on how thankful they were to start watching the various flowers grow. One resident shared, "I already loved going outside but now this gives me a reason to go check on the plants even more!" The wheelchair accessible planters were placed inside Christian Care's courtyard and back patio, making sure all can enjoy them!
The fun did not stop here because on the same day the garden beds arrived, a large group from PM celebrated this incredible gift by providing the joy of song with a concert for our residents. Many remarked it was "The best worship service we had ever had".
Chaplain Sherman Ramsey said, "When the service was over no one wanted to leave. After the service there were many hugs and smiles when they passed out new blankets and stuffed animals — it was a really wonderful day."
In May, staff plans on adding regularly scheduled gardening sessions to the community activity calendar to encourage residents to get their hands a little dirty and experience the joy of nature and growth! Christian Care is also hopeful to add some vegetables to our garden beds a bit later. Last year our residents planted tomatoes and grew enough to feed the whole campus a fantastic meal of fried green tomatoes!
A heartfelt thank you to our Chaplain and Activities Staff who worked alongside Parkway Ministries to ensure this year's gardens are assessable and inviting to all of our seniors. Christian Care Communities could not be more grateful for the partnership we have with Parkway Ministries. If you want to know more about living or volunteering at Christian Care Communities in Corbin, please call 606-523-1095 or visit us online at ChristianCareCommunities.org/Corbin.
