Joanne Fanning
Resident Program Assistant, Fullerton Gardens
Many of our team members enter the senior housing industry profoundly impacted by the elderly loved ones in their own personal lives, particularly those who walk the journey of an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Today’s Heart of Caring nominee features a Program Assistant whose heart of caring nurtured her passion for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s after her own experiences caring for her family.
“Joanne’s experience with her own parents (her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and three months later, her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Their journey through these illnesses lasted for ten years) made her realized the enormous need for care givers to have training and compassion to provide quality of life to people with special needs that Dementia requires. With the help of Alzheimer’s Association, the French Center Publications and other organizations she learned many ways on how to care for loved ones with Dementia. This event in her life led her to a career of serving residents with Dementia.”
“Joanne shared what she learned from her experience. She showed by example how to preserve the dignity of our residents by respecting and treating them as normal adults, how to be compassionate, to empathize and reach out to them. She never ignores a challenging resident, tries everything to appease and offers comfort. She always strives to make a positive impact in the lives of the people around her.”
“With all that she gained from her experience, she still acknowledges that every day is a learning experience. She never stops learning about our residents and how to give them the best care possible through interactions and programs she provides. Joanne comes to work with enthusiasm and a smile. She always maximizes her time. You will never see her unoccupied even for a single minute. She is always doing something with the residents or for the residents. Joanne is not only a hard-working employee but a woman of integrity (you can trust that she is doing her job even without the presence of her supervisor), she takes pride in her work, she is dedicated, kind, and a genuine person.”
For Joanne, her heart of caring is “as essential to her daily life as breathing,” and earned her the 2015 Southern California Association of Activity Professionals (SCAAP) award after numerous families who had been touched by her caring heart voluntarily wrote letters of recommendation.
“She won the award because of the support of our residents’ families…Joanne’s HEART OF CARING is NOT limited within the walls of Fullerton Gardens. She visits residents in the hospitals after work or on her days off. She attends Memorial Services even during her vacation days. She is genuinely a warm and caring person. Joanne is deserving to be a recipient of this award because she has a HEART THAT NEVER FAILS TO CARE.”
We couldn’t agree more. Thank you, Joanne, for using your passion and heart of caring to provide best-in-class care to each and every one of the residents at Fullerton Gardens. Congratulations on the nomination!
This spotlight is part of Senior Lifestyle’s 100 Days of Heart of Caring series featuring nominees from our 170+ communities across the country. All nominations are anonymous. Our nominees represent the backbone of our commitment to our core values: Caring, Honesty, Appreciation, Respect and Teamwork; without them, we could never fulfill our goal of providing best-in-class care to every one of our residents. Join us as we celebrate these caring, passionate individuals and their commitment to our residents.