Community Updates Week of 6/14/2021

Calm, Proactive Preparedness

June 18, 2021: Update to Residents

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, as well as all men who have been influential in the lives of others, and in honor and memory of men who have been guiding and nurturing influences in our lives! It takes a Village–it takes every one of us!

Good News! The State of Ohio Rescinds the State of Emergency and Visitation Restrictions in Nursing Home and Assisted Living Communities!

Governor DeWine announced that the state emergency in Ohio caused by the COVID-19 pandemic would be lifted on Friday (today). He urged those who have not yet received the vaccine to find a clinic near them by visiting www.gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov. Governor DeWine also released new information regarding visitation to nursing homes and assisted living facilities…the state regulations which describe how visits should occur will also removed…Ohio nursing homes are expected to continue to follow federal guidance from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and both nursing homes and assisted living facilities will be expected to follow CDC guidance. A testing requirement still remains for staff members who are unvaccinated, and they will need to continue to be tested twice per week.

What this means for Kendal…

In light of this WELCOME announcement, Kendal at Oberlin is reviewing what elements of our current procedures are required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the Stephens Care Center (SCC). We do know this will mean fewer limits on visitation and relaxed requirements for communal dining–hooray! These changes will also give us an opportunity to review current requirements in our public areas shared by SCC and Independent Living residents. We look forward to announcing by the end of next week the new liberties these changes will bring to our community!

Update on Community Bulletins

Starting in July, we will transition from our 2x a week COVID News Update to a weekly News Update. We’ll distribute it on Tuesday, so be thinking about preparing your items for submission over a weekend.

LGBTA+ Interest Group is hosting “Conversation Circles” 

“We’re here. We’re glad to be here, and this month we’re celebrating. We’re grateful for our Allies, and we welcome you to become one. Come, talk with us!”

As part of our Pride Week celebration this year, our LGBTA+ Interest Group is hosting “Conversation Circles” on Friday, June 25. These “circles” will be informal small groups (8-10 people) gathering in conversation, a time to get to know each other in an LGBTA-context as we re-emerge from months of quarantine. 

There are four locations reserved for these circles on Friday, June 25 — Crossroads Room, Green Room, Education Center Training Room, and Central Venue (outdoor tent on the south lawn near Marketing) — with two time slots reserved for each location: 10:00am-11:30am and 4:00pm-5:30pm. Each circle will be limited to 8 people plus 2 co-facilitators. All KaO residents and staff are welcome. Just choose a time and location and sign up! Sign-up sheets are available on the long table in front of the windows in the Heiser.

Questions? Contact Nancy Lombardi or any member of the LGBTA+ Interest Group. —shared by Nancy Lombardi

Fitness Update

The Fitness Center is asking you to complete a quick survey to indicate what your programming preferences are. If you received a paper copy in your box, please put it in the Fitness Center mailbox when you complete it. Our open mailbox is located through the Administration doors, behind the resident open mailboxes. Thank you for your feedback and participation in this survey.–Jill, Saun, and Laurie.

Ice Cream for Fun Fitness!

ALL residents and staff are invited to get a scoop of ice cream any day to celebrate the completion of Fun Fitness Week. Residents should have received vouchers in their open mailboxes and staff will receive a voucher from their department head or supervisor. Staff can go to the Fox and Fell from 11:30am-1:30pm or from 2:30pm-4pm to get their ice cream.

Delta variant could become dominant strain in U.S. this summer, CDC head says

The unusually contagious delta coronavirus variant, first found in India, could become the dominant strain in the United States this summer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said Friday. “It is more transmissible than the alpha variant, or the U.K. variant that we have here,” Walensky said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday. “We saw that quickly become the dominant strain in a period of one or two months, and I anticipate that is going to be what happens with the delta strain here.” Repeating calls for people to get vaccinated, Walensky said she fears that a new strain could prove resistant to vaccines but emphasized that full vaccination protects against the delta variant. “As worrisome as this delta strain is with regard to its hyper-transmissibility, our vaccines work,” she said. –Washington Post Live Updates, free to all

Delivery Reminders

This is a reminder to arrange for anything you order to come to 600 Kendal Drive with your name and cottage number. While package amounts are much reduced, residents are also appreciating to have their needs met by companies like Amazon. Having package delivery come to Heiser is in the best interest of campus safety. If there is a much larger item (example, furniture), you can alert Facility Services or the Receptionist who will alert the front gate of the day/approximate time so we can direct them to your home with staff rather than wandering all over the community. Again, this is important for campus security. Delivery folks wandering around at all hours looking for unit numbers that are difficult to figure out inevitably leads to all sorts of issues putting our campus and residents at risk.

Afternoon Exchange

Thursday, June 24, by Zoom or KOTV & KSCC – Join Zoom Exchange Meeting; Meeting ID: 921 4392 7958a

We look forward to having staff and resident leaders from Kendal at Longwood and Crosslands from Kennett Square , PA.

Speaking of Shop Local

Oberlin has a new jeweler in town in the same place where Herricks was located. Willow Jewelry is operated by the same owner as the store at Chestnut Commons and is open the same hours as the Chestnut Commons store: Tuesday – Friday, 10am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 3pm. Enjoy checking out this new Oberlin business.

Correction: The financing for Kendal at Sonoma (Enso Village) is being handled by Ziegler and closed at $297,030,000 (incorrectly reported at $397M on Tuesday).

Today’s Statistics

Kendal at Oberlin (KaO)

Lorain County (as of 6/18/2021)

Cuyahoga County (as of 6/18/2021)

State of Ohio (as posted on 6/18/2021)

June 15, 2021: Update to Residents

Lorain County Positivity Rate Drops Below 2%

Kendal Staff Vaccination Rate now at 78.8%. Our combined overall vaccination rate is over 90%.

This week’s time block set aside for the Afternoon Exchange is being used for the Strategic Planning

Session 2, Thursday, 6/17, at 4pm on Zoom

If you have not participated, you can still sign up near the open mailboxes. The sessions have all been well led with excellent engagement. We even heard “fun” referenced numerous times. Thank you for your participation in this important process!

June 17: Join Strategic Plan Zoom – Session 2 – Meeting ID: 968 3916 2008; Use computer audio or dial: +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

KORA Council Meeting

Thursday, June 17, at 10:00am – Join KORA Council Zoom; Telephone: 646 558 8656; Webinar ID: 934 9901 2297 —shared by Mary Behm, KORA President

Lorenzo’s Pizza and Lasagna

We had reduced orders ($500+) for this last pizza party. Deliveries will be on Wednesday.

Good Reads

NIH study suggests coronavirus may have been in US as early as December 2019

A research study run by the National Institutes of Health has turned up evidence of possible coronavirus infections in the United States as early as December 2019, weeks before the first documented infection in this country. The new report, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, bolsters earlier studies indicating that the virus entered the country under the radar and may have been spreading in the first two months of 2020, well in advance of warnings to that effect from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A volunteer in Illinois who gave blood on Jan. 7, 2020—in a study unrelated to the emergent virus—tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, according to the NIH report. It noted that the antibodies typically take 14 days on average to develop, and this “suggests the virus may have been present in Illinois as early as December 24, 2019.” —The Washington Post, free access to all

COVID Travel Advice from Medscape ––shared by Don Parker

Some tips to cut back on plastic use

Speaking of Refinancing the 2013 Kendal at Oberlin Bonds

With work advancing and approvals almost all in place, Oberlin anticipates the refinancing of our bonds to be done with a combination of Huntington Bank and Buckeye Community Bank. The deal will close sometime between late June and July bringing considerable savings (almost $3M) over the next 10 years.

Other Kendal Financing:

There was public announcement this week that the financing for Kendal at Sonoma (Enso Village) is being handled by Ziegler and closed at $397,030,000 and will be built on 16 acres in Healdsburg, CA.

Enso Firsts:

• First life plan community committed to achieve net zero energy status;
• First Kendal community in the western US;
• First Zen-inspired senior living community;
• First community to train staff in the practice of Contemplative Care.

Courtyard Garden Blooming in Color

Mary Louise and Don Van Dyke don’t miss one blooming color in the Courtyard Garden. They could entice anyone to get outside often to see what is changing. Here’s a sample of photos for a few things they were pointing out this week. David Benzing’s vision for this garden is a marvel to follow

Today’s Statistics

Kendal at Oberlin (KaO)

Lorain County (as of 6/15/2021)

Cuyahoga County (as of 6/15/2021)

State of Ohio (as posted on 6/15/2021)