Butler Honored with Fannie Frank Award

CANTON – The United Helpers organization has more than 30 employees with 20 years of service or more. Only one of them though, began their career with United Helpers at the age of 57.

Gail Butler, of Canton, who was recognized with this year’s Fannie Frank Distinguished Employee Award, works as the front desk receptionist at United Helpers Rehabilitation and Senior Care. She started at United Helpers as a Certified Nursing Assistant in 1993, after spending most of her life working as a full-time mom raising 12 children. This year she will celebrate 30 years with the company.

“She is typically the first person to greet anyone entering or calling our building, and there is no one I would rather have to make that initial welcome,” said Rehabilitation and Senior Care Vice President of Operations Timothy Parsons. “Her people skills are impeccable, and her friendliness is infectious and brings comfort to all who interact with her.”

While Mr. Parsons said Mrs. Butler is “considered by all to be a wonderful receptionist and employee,” it is what she does outside of her regular duties that truly set her apart.

“In the mornings, before starting her shift at the front desk, she can often be seen or heard visiting with and singing to our residents in their dining room. She is known to join some of our musical guests, lending both her musical and dancing talents to our Activities Department,” he said.

That’s not all, though, as Mrs. Butler also brings her love of gardening to the building during the spring and summer months.

“She serves as ‘Master Gardener’ for our facility and maintains several large flower beds around the property, giving them daily attention and brightening the moods of all who pass by,” Mr. Parsons said. “She never seeks attention. She does all of these things naturally and never looks for recognition. She does enjoy gardening, but does it here primarily because the residents enjoy her talents. It is her pleasure to serve others. She loves her job and it shows.”

The Fannie Frank Award was established by longtime United Helpers volunteers Dr. Edward and Barbara Gordon in 2019 to pay tribute to Dr. Gordon’s grandmother, a Polish immigrant who moved to the U.S. prior to World War I with her parents and six of her nine siblings.

 The award is a $1,000 cash bonus and awarded based on the following criteria:

•  A remarkably caring demeanor
• Currently employed at United Helpers Rehabilitation and Senior Care
• Continuous employment with United Helpers for two or more years

Dr. Gordon grew up in New York City in close proximity to his grandmother and credits her with instilling in him a love of animals that would eventually lead to his career as a veterinarian.

Gail Butler, of Canton, was honored with this year’s Fannie Frank Distinguished Employee Award. Mrs. Butler, who has been employed by United Helpers since 1993, is known for her singing voice, her dancing shoes, and the smile she uses to greet employees and guests as they enter the building. She is pictured here with Dr. Edward and Mrs. Barbara Gordon, who created the award in 2019 as a tribute to Dr. Gordon’s grandmother. From left, Mrs. Gordon, Mrs. Butler, and Dr. Gordon

United Helpers Receives $611K Grant To Expand Behavioral Health Services

CANTON – As part of the Village of Canton’s $1,186,974 Community Development Block Grant, United Helpers Behavioral Health and Life Skills will receive more than $600,000 to help the organization expand its reach in the community.

United Helpers will specifically receive $611,974, which will be used to hire six new mental health clinicians and six new care coordinators.

Director of Behavioral Health Services David K. Nelson noted that more than 60% of the patients receiving mental health services through United Helpers do so from its Canton location, located at 22 State Highway 310. United Helpers also operates a Behavioral Health Clinic at 221 Hamilton Street in Ogdensburg. 

“Since 2019, we have built and grown mental health services in Canton, currently serving the community with four full-time clinicians and a part-time psychiatric nurse practitioner, who provides care for six hours each week,” Mr. Nelson said. “Presently, we receive as many as 50 referrals each month and have a wait list of more than 200 people. The average wait time for services is two weeks.”

United Helpers Health Home Care Coordination currently provides community-based services to 260 clients across the county, including many in the Canton area. Mr. Nelson said each care coordinator has a caseload of roughly 30 individuals, while each clinician is seeing as many as 80 patients at any given time.

“This grant will allow us to provide these much-needed mental health and care coordination services to as many as 432 new people,” Mr. Nelson said.

United Helpers Vice President of Development Christa J. Carroll worked together with Mr. Nelson and officials from the village on the grant application, which was submitted as part of the New York State Department of Homes and Community Renewal’s Community Development Block Grant CARES Program.

“We are thankful to the State of New York for this grant funding, and their recognition of our efforts to provide behavioral health services to the people of Northern New York,” Ms. Carroll said. “I am thankful to Dave and everyone from the village, especially Leigh Rodriguez, who worked so very hard on this grant application. We are excited about helping many more people.”

New York State Commissioner of Homes and Community Renewal Ruthanne Visnauskas said this particular version of the Community Development Block Grant was awarded to municipalities for efforts related to COVID-19 pandemic response.

In a letter announcing the awarding of the grant, Ms. Visnauskas wrote, “The projects selected for award will assist in the recovery of New York State communities by improving the resiliency of businesses and safety of homes and public facilities serving its residents.”

While United Helpers had been providing behavioral health and mental health services prior to the pandemic, Mr. Nelson said the pandemic led to a dramatic increase in the need for these types of services.

“United Helpers is seeing the highest levels of anxiety and depression we have ever seen since the pandemic hit in March of 2020. This is a troubling trend fueled by loneliness and isolation,” Mr. Nelson said. “We are beyond thankful that the state is recognizing our efforts.”

If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, or feel like you could benefit from counselling or therapy, give United Helpers a call. For services in Canton call 315-386-0264, for services in Ogdensburg call 315-541-3042. Services are offered to people of all ages, with Medicare, Medicaid, and most insurances accepted. Services may also be offered in-person or remotely.

Staff from the United Helpers Behavioral Health and Life Skills Mental Health Clinic in Canton are thrilled to hear their team will soon be expanding thanks to a grant from the New York State Department of Homes and Community Renewal’s Community Development Block Grant Cares Program. The grant of nearly $612,000 will allow for the hire of up to six new mental health clinicians and six new care coordinators. Front row, from left, Medical Assistant Danielle Jackson, Assistant Director of Behavioral Health Programs Brea Snyder, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Director Stacey Ryan; back row, from left, Director of Behavioral Health Services Dave Nelson, LCSW-R, Canton Clinic Receptionist Alicia Vallance, Clinical Social Worker Lisa Van Kirk, LMSW, and Supervising Social Worker Jeanine Forrester, LCSW.

Flanagan Honored With Fannie Frank Distinguished CNA Award

CANTON - A popular television sitcom that aired in the 90s and 2000s was titled “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and while that show had nothing to do with the medical field, a spin-off titled, “Everybody Loves Minnie,” could be filmed in the halls of United Helpers Rehabilitation and Senior Care in Canton.

The show would star this year’s Fannie Frank Distinguished CNA Award winner Minnie Flanagan, of Canton, who would be cast as herself playing the role of a CNA, a home health aide, and an activities aide. 

Rehabilitation and Senior Care Vice President of Operations Timothy Parsons said that while Mrs. Flanagan’s primary role at the facility, where she’s worked since 1988, is activities aide, it’s not unusual for her to work in two or even three roles all in the same day.

“There has been numerous times when Minnie has worked in three departments in one day,” he said. “She’ll start her day as a CNA from 1:45 a.m. to 6 a.m., then work as a home health aide in the ALP from 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. and then still have enough energy to work in activities until 3:30 p.m.”

When Mr. Parsons began looking for people to nominate for this year’s honor, he said Mrs. Flanagan’s name was one that come up often.

“It was astounding to hear everyone’s impressions of Minnie,” he said. “She is universally known for always putting residents first and taking time to get to know the people she is caring for. She is an expert when it comes to knowing their personal preferences, and in fact does weekly shopping for many of them.”

To learn a little bit more about Mrs. Flanagan, Mr. Parsons said he dug into her personnel file.

“The file was quite large and filled with evaluations year after year praising her compassion,” he said. “Her 2003 evaluation particularly stood out. ‘Minnie is indeed an exceptional worker. She always goes out of her way to provide excellent care to the residents. Her attitude of friendliness and warmth towards her co-workers, and especially new workers, is beyond approach. Everybody loves Minnie.’”

The Fannie Frank Award was established by longtime United Helpers volunteers Dr. Edward and Barbara Gordon in 2019 to pay tribute to Dr. Gordon’s grandmother, a Polish immigrant who moved to the U.S. prior to World War I with her parents and six of her nine siblings. Three of her older siblings were already married and stayed behind, he said. They perished in World War II. 

The award is a $1,000 cash bonus and awarded based on the following criteria:

•  A remarkably caring demeanor
• Remarkably competent care
• Continuous employment with UH for five or more years
• Nomination by the Vice President of Operations at her respective facility

Dr. Gordon grew up in New York City in close proximity to his grandmother and credits her with instilling in him a love of animals that would eventually lead to his career as a veterinarian.

Booze and Tattoos Leads to Lots of Laughs at United Helpers in Canton

CANTON – The laughter and cheering could be heard as soon as one walked into United Helpers Rehabilitation and Senior Care on Friday afternoon. The cause for celebration though wasn’t an overly competitive game of bingo or even a concert featuring hits from Elvis or Johnny Cash, rather it was a special event called ‘Booze and Tattoos.’

Activities Director Dawn Kimble said she wasn’t sure what to expect when approached with the idea, but it didn’t take her long to realize this wouldn’t be the last time they hosted such an event.

“It’s certainly different from what we normally do,” she said. “As we were setting up residents were coming out of their rooms and we actually had a line of people waiting for tattoos at 1:30.” The event was slated to begin at 2 p.m. 

As one could expect, the tattoos weren’t real, but for the residents in attendance that didn’t matter. Beverages served included NA beer, sparkling grape juice, and wine.

“Sometimes we’re lucky if we have 10 people come out of their rooms for an event, but today, I think we had pretty close to 30 people here,” Ms. Kimble said. “We use music all the time to help bring people back to the good ole days, but I think the opportunity to enjoy a drink with their friends and maybe get a tattoo really resonated with them. I have no doubt that at least a few of them were transported back in time to a Friday night at their favorite watering hole.”

The idea for ‘Booze & Tattoos’ came from United Helpers Board of Trustees Member Marti MacArthur, who saw a posting on Facebook that had gone viral from when a senior care facility in Florida had hosted a similar event.

In an email sent to United Helpers CEO Todd Amo, she wrote, “Would we be allowed to do this anywhere? It looks like they had so much fun.”

Mr. Amo then forwarded the email to Ms. Kimble, who placed an order for temporary tattoos and began planning for the unorthodox festivities.

Flowers, butterflies, turtles, hearts, dragonflies, and more were among the tattoos available, and while most residents chose to have tattoos placed on their hands or arms, one resident had a tattoo of a butterfly placed on the small of her back, and another had a firefighter’s helmet placed atop his head. 

“While events like this may not be for everyone,” Ms. Kimble said, “People don’t want to stop living their best life just because Father Time may have forced them to slow down a little bit.”

Ms. Kimble said there were more than enough tattoos left over to host a similar event again in the future. “There’s little doubt in my mind we’ll do this again,” she said.

Massena Woman Receives 125-plus Cards to Celebrate 90th Birthday

CANTON – Walking into Lucia Johnson’s apartment in the Assisted Living wing of United Helpers Rehabilitation and Senior Care in Canton, one can’t help but to notice the unique décor on her walls.

 

There are funny cards and serious cards, religious cards and heartfelt cards, many even from strangers, on display. Some of the cards contain handwritten notes, while others just have a signature, but they all say one thing, “Happy Birthday.” 

Lucia (Catanzarite) Johnson with just a few of her cards.

 

Mrs. Johnson turned 90 years old on Tuesday, April 13, an occasion highlighted by Ellen Emery in her weekly column “Over Coffee with Ellen.” “So far I’ve received 125 cards,” Mrs. Johnson said. “I don’t know what to do with them all, but I have read each one.”

 

In addition to birthday cards, there are a couple of other items plentiful in her apartment… recipes and poems.

 

“I worked as a field editor for Taste of Home for 10 years or so,” she said, adding that over the years she’s had several of her own recipes published in the magazine. “If you go online, you can find my picture and some of my recipes there.” (see recipes at end of article)

 

“I’m full-blooded Italian, so you know that means I love to cook,” she said, noting her maiden name is Catanzarite. “Whenever we had guests or friends over I would always make something I had never made before.”

 

Mrs. Johnson even noted she’s self-taught in the kitchen. “My mother had six children, and she never wanted us in the kitchen while she was cooking, so I had to learn on my own,” she said. “I think I did alright.”

 

As for the poetry, Mrs. Johnson published a book of her poems as a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association, raising over $500 through sales of her book. That’s only a drop in the bucket though when considering that with three of her daughters, Marilyn, Stephanie, and Charlene, the family has raised more than $50,000 for Alzheimer’s research.

 

“That’s something we’re very passionate about,” she said. “My husband Leon passed away from that.”

 

Prior to moving to Assisted Living just over a year ago, she lived in Massena, where she was born and raised. “I lived there my whole life, until I came here,” she said. “I love it here though, everyone is always so nice.”

 

Mrs. Lucia said she’s not planning to go anywhere anytime soon.

 

“I had an Aunt who lived to be 108,” she said. “Her mind was fine all the way to the end. We used to love to hear her tell stories about Italy, because she grew up there.”

 

Mrs. Johnson also said that history was also a popular topic of conversation with her aunt. “She remembered when the Titanic sank and she would often tell us about that or other major events from her lifetime,” she said.

 

Now Mrs. Johnson is the one telling stories, looking back at an incredible life full of accomplishments, and changes in the way we live that no one could have ever imagined when she was growing up.

 

“One of my daughter’s wanted to post something on Facebook as a way to thank people for all of the cards. She asked me what to write. “I told her to say, ‘I had a wonderful 39^th birthday,’” Mrs. Johnson recalled with a laugh.

 

On the web:

 

Quick Potato Corn Chowder - https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/quick-potato-corn-chowder/

 

Zucchini Onion Pie - https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/zucchini-onion-pie/

LaRock Honored With Inaugural Fannie Frank Distinguished CNA Award

CANTON – Longtime United Helpers CNA Deborah LaRock was recently honored as the winner of the organization’s first “Fannie Frank Distinguished CNA Award.”

United Helpers volunteers and donors Dr. Edward I. and Barbara K. Gordon, who created the award as a tribute to Mr. Gordon’s grandmother, recently met with Ms. LaRock and presented her with the honor. 

From left, Barbara "Bobbie" Gordon, Deborah LaRock and
Dr. Edward Gordon

Ms. LaRock, of Gouverneur, has been a United Helpers employee caring for residents at the company’s facilities in Canton for more than 27 years.

United Helpers Rehabilitation and Senior Care Canton’s Vice President of Operations Kimberly Blair nominated her.

In her written nomination, Mrs. Blair highly commended Ms. LaRock.

“She treats the residents as she would her own family and gives them the care and respect they deserve. Deb does not think that she is special or deserves any recognition,” she wrote. “In her mind, she is doing what she must do to take care of her residents. In my mind, she is a gem. She is the type of CNA that makes a nursing home a home.”

The Fannie Frank Award, which is $1,000, is awarded based on the following criteria:

• A remarkably caring demeanor
• Remarkably competent care
• Continuous employment with UH for five or more years
• Nomination by the Vice President of Operations at her respective facility

According to Dr. Gordon, Ms. Frank was a Polish immigrant who moved to the U.S. prior to World War I with her parents and six of her nine siblings. Three of her older siblings were already married and stayed behind, he said. They perished in World War II.

Dr. Gordon grew up in New York City in close proximity to his grandmother and credits her with instilling in him a love of animals that would eventually lead to his career as a veterinarian, noting that he and his grandmother were the only “animal lovers” in his family.

In addition to paying tribute to his grandmother, Dr. Gordon said the award will serve as a way to honor his family’s legacy.

“Now, her name will live on forever,” he said.

Woman Returns to United Helpers for Physical Therapy

CANTON – When Roxann Koch’s husband David was receiving skilled nursing care he lived at what was then known as Maplewood Health Care & Rehabilitation Center in Canton.

“The care my husband received was great,” she said. “All of the staff were very nice to him and very understanding.” 

Physical Therapist Assistant Jena Cryderman w/ Roxann Koch

​So when the time came for Mrs. Koch to decide where she would like to spend a brief inpatient stay after knee-replacement surgery, the choice was a simple one.

Three days after her surgery she was discharged to United Helpers Rehabilitation & Senior Care in Canton.

“I spent ten days here and everything was very good,” she said. “I received my pain medication when I asked for it and all of my needs were taken care of by the staff. I was very pleased.”

When Mrs. Koch first came to United Helpers following her surgery, she was using a walker all of the time. However, after a ten-day stay, she was able to switch to using a cane, at least most of the time.

“I still do sometimes use my walker in the house, but when I go get the newspaper I use my cane,” she said, explaining that to get the paper, she must walk down her driveway, across the street and back.

Physical Therapist Assistant
Jena Cryderman w/ Roxann Koch

Physical therapy now consists of outpatient appointments three times a week, and if all goes well, Mrs. Koch said she is hoping to once again walk without the assistance of a cane or walker, although for her own peace of mind, she said she is not planning to get rid of her cane.

“I will always have my cane, just for the comfort of knowing it’s there if I need it,” she said.

Physical Therapist Assistant Jena Cryderman, who has been working with Mrs. Koch, said walking without a cane is a good goal to have. 

“That’s certainly reasonable and a goal we’re working towards,” Ms. Cryderman said.

When asked if she would recommend United Helpers to others, Mrs. Koch said it did not matter what the service was, whether it be skilled nursing, inpatient therapy services or outpatient therapy services, she would, and she has recommended United Helpers to “anyone and everyone.”

For more information on therapy services in Canton, please call (315) 386-4541 ext. 3217. For information on therapy services in Ogdensburg, please call (315) 393-0730 ext. 2156. You may also like United Helpers on Facebook or visit www.unitedhelpers.org.