RESIDENT VOICES

A “Positive” COVID-19 Story from Edwin Berry Manor

With nonstop news reports surrounding COVID-19, anxiety and worry are everyone’s symptoms, especially those of seniors. Nicole Bridges, a Resident Services Coordinator (RSC) at Edwin Berry Manor in Chicago has made it her duty to perform wellness checks on all 60 residents in the complex. This past week Nicole had concerns that residents were suffering from lack of food, hand sanitizer, disinfectant, and other basic necessities. With that in mind, Nicole reached out to a close friend, Jahmal Cole, founder and CEO of Chicago’s fastest growing social impact organization, My Block, My Hood, My City a non-profit organization. Nicole reached out to Jahmal informing him about the seniors in need with whom she worked. With only very short notice he was able to do something special for the residents at Berry Manor. 

On the morning of March 17, 2020, Jahmal, several volunteers and camera crews from local NBC TV News came to Berry Manor to deliver care packages to the residents. The packages contained hand sanitizer, healthy supplements, canned goods, snacks, playing cards, and frozen pizza. The residents were very grateful to receive these items, as many of them have been unable to get to the store. The local news interviewed the residents and they were far from camera-shy and excited to see themselves on today’s news report! Seeing the smiles on their faces made Nicole and all involved beam with joy.

As a precaution, Berry Manor has closed its community room and stopped all programs for the foreseeable future. To stem the inevitable boredom Nicole has instituted some remote programming. First, she rolled out a new service called “Telephone Topics”. It provides residents a way to connect with other people without leaving their home. The toll-free number offers a wide range of interesting discussions and programs ranging from wellness, education and music reviews, to live performances. The toll-free number is 888.600.2560. Just click here to learn more. Nicole is a shining example of ingenuity in trying times. We would love to hear more ingenious solutions to issues arising from the COVID-19 quarantine.

Where you live matters.

Edwin Berry Manor Apartments, Chicago, Illinois

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