June 25, 2020

Dear Family and Friends,

I want to give you a little update on our Covid situation here at St Joseph’s.

The SNF Residents were offered a second series of testing last week and all came
back negative. So, we feel reasonably confident that our Home is free of the germ. We then tried to look at some safe ways to lessen the restrictions on the Residents.

They have been pleased to have personal contact with their loved ones visiting on the property. The Residential Care folks are able to come to Mass and sit in socially distanced places, as marked, in the chapel. The Craft room is going to open next week and there will be some group dining arrangements for small groups.

Staff testing is scheduled to take place July 6-7. The State Department of Health is organizing that project. They continue to pay us regular visits, often accompanied by the National Guard.

The SNF Residents are still under pretty strict restrictions. It has been hard for them. In fact, the other day, one said to Sr. Regina, “I can’t wait until this is over and I can talk to some real people.”

We asked about allowing our wonderful volunteers (real people) to come again and were told that “Guidance” would soon be forthcoming from the State. The limitations have not stopped some wonderful folks from coming to work in the garden, re-painting furniture, planting vegetables and flowers, refreshing the shrines.

This week, we celebrated the 100th birthday of Pauline Jahn. She has been in our Home for 18 years and is still on the 4th floor. She is the first one in the chapel in the morning and walks every day to Route 5 and back.

We hope you are faring well with this unique summer experience. Thanks for thinking of us and helping us with the items on our wish list. Have a safe 4th of July and all that follows. We do have to pray especially hard for our country these days.

Count on our grateful prayers, as well, for you and yours.

Sincerely,
Sr Genevieve Regina and all the Little Sisters
Administrator

CLICK HERE for our list of current needs

Previous Updates:
June 5, 2020
May 31, 2020
May 15, 2020

Click here to read a letter from Mother Genevieve
Click here for prayers for healing the Coronavirus
Click here for a statement from the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health
Click here for information from the Department of Aging and Disability Services
Click here for strategies and suggestions from Garfunkel Wild, PC

Additional Resources:
Message from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
State of New Jersey Department of Health: https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/ncov.shtml
New York State Department of Health: https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/