News and Events

  St. Luke's Home August Newsletter       National Charity League Shares Long History With SLH   The National Charity League designated St. Luke's Home as one of its non-profits long enough ago that no one remembers the exact year. However, one of the volunteers who has graced St. Luke's the longest is Page Chancellor Marks, Management Attorney at Goldberg & Osborne. She captured the feeling NCL volunteers have about our community. As Marks put it, "NCL loves St. Luke's," she said, "It is literally our best charity!" NCL is a national non-profit organization comprised of mother and daughter members. Its mission is to foster mother-daughter relationships in a philanthropic organization committed to community service, leadership development and cultural experiences. Volunteers from NCL spent Saturday, August 4 at St. Luke's…

  St. Luke's Home July Newsletter       Med-Start Students Create Elder Profiles Thanks to the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona!    Forty-five Med-Start students and 35 Elders sat down together to share their life stories as part of Who We Are, a special program funded by a stART grant from the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona. Who We Are brought together individuals who would not typically spend time listening to one another.  Elders and students met weekly for lunch and filled out a simple questionnaire about their parents, grandparents and family tradition. Profiles included words, collage, photos and drawings.  The third-year cohort of the University of Arizona's Med-Start Summer Program wound up July 1 with a special ceremony at St. Luke's. The program runs through the College…

    St. Luke's Home June Newsletter         Stronger, Longer Health Initiative Ramps Up   Spend a few minutes chatting with Melissa Hernandez, Culinary Director and Executive Chef, at St. Luke's (pictured above) and her enthusiasm is infectious about St. Luke's implementation of the Stronger, Longer health initiative. St. Luke's is celebrating the strong role of better nutrition, daily movement and mental stimulation in healthier aging by offering a wider range of choices in each of these areas for Elders. Since January, Melissa and Selina Miramontes, Lead Cook, have attended three conferences on nutrition including one sponsored by the Association of Food Service Professionals and a Nutrition Alliance Conference one-day intensive in Phoenix. “I have loved the challenge of learning how to move the culinary program at St.…

  St. Luke's Home May Newsletter     A Tribute to Mothers from L'Don Sawyer: In honor of Mother's Day on May 13th,  I wanted to take the opportunity to  thank every mother in the St. Luke's family and offer a few of my own memories of how profoundly my mom, June Sawyer, (pictured above left) influenced my life. Our relationships with our mothers are typically fraught, fragile and fierce with feeling. Not one of us arrived on this earth without a mother whose own body grew, fed and gave us life. The beat and pulse of her provided the rhythms of our earliest days, and her touch imbued us with our sense of safety and love. My own mother inspired in me the deep love of Elders that has informed…

St. Luke's Home April Newsletter St. Luke's Represented at ALFA Conference   St. Luke's CEO L'Don Sawyer and Board Member Terri Waldman attended the Annual Spring Conference and Expo sponsored by the Arizona chapter of the Assisted Living Association of America. The Conference and Expo were held April 3-5 at the Wa-Ko-Pa Resort & Conference Center near Scottsdale. "The conference provided great information and discussion on issues facing assisted-living caregivers," Sawyer reported. "There was very good data on the caregiver shortages faced in our state and the changes that are being proposed in terms of training requirements for certified caregivers." The conference, which is held each spring, was attended by assisted-living providers from all over the state. Training sessions were offered on a range of areas including Elder Care, Medication…

  St. Luke's Home March Newsletter      Monthly Town Hall Meetings Invite Elder Input   St. Luke's Elders gather monthly for Town Hall meetings, a key component of St. Luke's Eden Model of assisted-living that invites Elders to fully participate in their community. Town Hall meetings always begin with an opening question that all are invited to answer. This month's query: what is your favorite flower? For the record, there were many roses and daisies with a few lotus and wisteria thrown in for good measure. But the meetings are not just frivolous and fun. St. Luke's CEO, L'Don Sawyer, (pictured above with microphone) presides over the meetings, which feature reports and discussion by Elders on a range of concerns and challenges. These have included how to live respectfully with…