Nominate your resident for
Every Senior has a Story
January 2, 2012
Dear IHCA ICAL Member,
The Iowa Health Care Association and Iowa Center for Assisted Living Public Relations Committee is sponsoring the 2012Every Senior has a Storyprogram, to helprecognize Iowa’s wonderful seniors and to put a face on those served by IHCA nursing facilities and ICAL assisted living programs, residential care facilities and senior living communities.
The IHCA ICAL Public Relations Committee invites you to participate in Every Senior has a Story. From the submissions received, the Public Relations Committee will chose several to be displayed at IHCA ICAL events including the Legislator Reception held at the 2012 IHCA ICAL Spring Quarterly in late March. Members are also encouraged to use their entry as a spring board for a feature story in their local newspapers and other publications to help promote the services and quality care provided by IHCA and ICAL member facilities. The PR Committee requests that each facility nominate one resident and share his/her heartwarming story in a one-page typewritten narrative.(Story examples on following pages.)
We are looking for residents who may meet, for example, any of the following criteria:
- Have a historically significant background;
- Have had unique or interesting accomplishments either while living in the facility or prior to admission;
- Have overcome either personal or health-related obstacles to achieve an unanticipated quality of life;
- Have served community, state or country (through volunteerism, civic organizations or US military);
- Who are considered pillars of the local community; OR
- Who have a “uniquely Iowa” life story.
For those residents whose submission is selected, IHCA ICAL will work with the facility to arrange a professional photographer to photograph the resident for thedisplay.The display will feature photographs, accompanied by brief biographies of theselected residents. This display will serve as a reminder to legislators and the public that Iowa’s State Legislature’s decisions have a local impact on human lives.
TheEvery Senior has a Storyproject helps us put the “human face” on long term care. This photographic tribute is our way of remembering resident contributions and saying thank you. Complete the enclosed nomination form and photo/information release form, along with a one-page narrative, to tell us about a resident you believe fits the criteria. (See the attached samples.) Forward the three pages to IHCA ICALbyFriday, February 3, 2012. If using the US mail, it must be postmarked by February 3, 2011 and received in the IHCA office by February 8. Please limit the focus and number of questions asked of a resident in order to keep the story within ONE page.
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact Claire Seely, IHCA ICAL Director of Communications at 800.422.3106 . Information is also available on the IHCA ICAL website at Thank you and we look forward to reading your nomination.
Sincerely,
Tom Swanson, Beth Fleming and Kumar Wickramasingha
IHCA ICAL Public Relations Committee Chairs
Nomination form
IHCA ICAL’s
Every Senior has a Story
DEADLINE: Must arrive at IHCA ICAL office or
be postmarked by Friday, February 3, 2012
PLEASE TYPE or PRINT CLEARLY
Resident’s Name: ______Age: ______
Facility: ______
Address: ______
City: ______Zip: ______
Facility Contact Person Name: ______
Title: ______
E-mail: ______
Phone: (______)______
Please attach a typewritten one-page narrative about your resident nominee. Be sure it explains why/how his or her background and/or accomplishments are of significant general or historic interest. IHCA ICAL reserves the right to edit submissions as needed. The resident must reside in the IHCA or ICAL member facility listed on the nomination form.
Submit your nomination by completing this form, then include your one-page typewritten narrative and signed photo/information release form (included) and return all three to:
IHCA ICAL
1775 90th St.
WestDes Moines, IA50266-1563
Submissions can also be faxed to: 515.978.2209 or e-mailed to
Nominations must arrive at IHCA or be postmarked by Friday, February 3, 2012 (and delivered by mail by February 8).
Every Senior Has A Story participant release form
I grant permission for the Iowa Health Care Association and Iowa Center for Assisted Living (IHCA ICAL) to use and share my biographical story and photos in the Every Senior Has A Story program and any subsequent public relations purposes related to IHCA ICAL. I understand that IHCA ICAL may edit the material for length or conciseness.
Name (please print) ______
Signature ______Date ______
Witness signature ______Date ______
Signed release should be faxed to 515.978.2209 or sent to
IHCA ICAL, 1775 90th St., West Des Moines, IA 50266-1563
All questions can be directed to Claire Seely, IHCA ICAL Director of Communications
at or 800-422-3106
SAMPLE
Evelyn Stevenson
Clearview Homes, Clearfield, IA
Evelyn was born on March 30, 1910, in Davis County to Elvin and Myra McMath. When she was 4 years old, her family moved to Clearfield in Taylor County, where she has lived for 97 years.
After graduating from high school in 1928, Evelyn used the “normal training” (teacher training course) she took in school to obtain a teaching job. She taught country school for five years, during which time she married Dwight Morey in 1930. She and Dwight raised their four children Jim, Ed, John, and Myra Bell, worked their farm, and owned and operated Morey's Dry Goods. In 1953, Dwight passed away leaving 43-year-old Evelyn with four children under the age of 18.
As sole provider of her family, Evelyn left the farm and moved the family into a small house she bought in Clearfield. Evelyn continued to run the store for a few years, then later went back to work for the Clearfield School District as school board secretary. She made enough money to support her family and saw that all four of her children graduated from high school. No small task in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1974, at 64 years old and after being widowed for 21 years, she married Joe Stevenson. They enjoyed 32 years of marriage before Joe passed away in 2006. They lived together at Clearview Homes for two years before his death.
Evelyn has always been known throughout the Clearfield community as a hardworking, caring, loving, and admirable woman. She has made a tremendous impact on not only the lives of her own children, but also on those she taught and those who learned from her example as a responsible single parent.
SAMPLE
Delbert Berninghaus
Lakeside Lutheran Home, Emmetsburg, IA
Delbert Berninghaus was born May 19, 1923, and it is by God’s grace that he is here to tell his story. A native of West Bend, Iowa, Delbert was inducted into the U.S. Army on December 29, 1943.
His unit, the 106th Division, Company One, 42nd Infantry, served with the motto “To Make History is Our Aim.” While in Belgium, on December 16, 1944, the unit was forced to surrender to the Germans. Delbert became a prisoner of war.
The Germans took all the prisoners’ personal items, but Delbert was allowed to keep his small Bible. He always wondered if he was allowed to keep it because he spoke fluent German (from growing up in the German-speaking household). He would later thank his father teaching him German.
As a prisoner of war, lice, hypothermia and extreme hunger were his constant companions. He and the other prisoners were forced to march hundreds of miles from one camp to another. After five months, the Germans released Delbert and the rest of the prisoners as American troops advanced. Upon his rescue, Delbert was sent to an army hospital to be treated for a ruptured appendix. While a prisoner, he dropped from 160 to 116 pounds.
Returning to West Bend after the war, he married Irene Balgemen and together they raised four children and owned and operated a century dairy farm. But he would never shake the memories of the atrocities he endured and witnessed as a prisoner of war. It was years before he could hear an airplane or fireworks without perspiring and shaking. In 1992, he decided to document his war experience and, with the support of his family, Delbert wrote the book “Prisoner of War…My Freedom.”
Today, true to his unit’s motto “To Make History is Our Aim,” Delbert shares his book and his history with others. He believes it was God’s strength and his faith that carried him through that dreadful time. His message to others is "Be brave and do something when the time comes. Do the right thing and stand up for what you believe in."