By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor @Blogfinger
Ordinarily, Blogfinger would not take much of an interest in this story. However, when I went over there to get some photographs, I met a resident of FAM who was strolling about with her walker. She told me how happy she was living at that facility. She could see Fletcher Lake and the Ocean out her window.
The woman said that practically all the residents there loved the facility and she expressed fear that promises made might not be kept by the new owners. In particular she said, “If my money were to run out, they said that we could continue living there and that Medicaid would provide for their continued stay.”
So we decided to continue covering this story because, after all, these residents are Grovers like the rest of us who live in this beautiful historic town. We depend on citizen reporters who are familiar with the FAM to continue providing new information.
It occurs to us that perhaps the new owners of “Allegria at Ocean Grove” might be interested in inviting the community at large to get to know their residents as volunteers and friends.
Eileen and I gave a lecture there a year ago about preventing heart disease, and it was well received, although we had to do a little arm twisting to convince those seniors that prevention was in their best interest, despite their ages. Eileen spoke, as she usually does, about preparing heart healthy meals, but the audience found a bit of irony in that since they don’t cook anymore. But Eileen pointed out that they could share the information with their children and grandchildren who do cook and who might need such advice.
It is the sort of community involvement that we need more of in Ocean Grove, a town in search of its inner community.
We have acquired copies of two letters that were sent to residents to reassure them about the future of FAM. A Blogfinger citizen reporter sent us a file consisting of these two letters which were sent to the residents and their families. If you are interested, just click on the link below.
