Saint Elizabeth Manor

Saint Elizabeth Manor, a local nursing home in Bristol R.I., located on One Dawn Hill Road, is a quaint facility which provides care to up to 133 elderly men and women. Windows and flowers surround the facility, which send out positive vibes for people who enter.

Sound typical? Sure. Until you discover the petting zoo. There you’ll find three lamas, two donkeys, and a couple dozen ducks-all of which help to keep the residents morale upbeat. In additional, the facility also houses four cats-also adding to the home-like feel of the center.

And let’s not forget Arnold, who recently transferred to that great pig farm in the sky. Gone, but not forgotten by his friends at Saint Elizabeth.

Saint Elizabeth Manor is also a place for rehabilitative and transitional care, along with Specialized Alzheimer’s Disease and/or dementia care.

Pam Morang, 81 has been a resident for 2 ½ years. Prior to being a resident she was a social worker. Morang enjoys the company of the people at Saint Elizabeth. “For the most part the food is okay. But I’d like to give them a few lessons,” Morang said. For entertainment purposes she writes for a paper doing biographies on willing residents.Morang has regular visits from her children and grandchildren. “The staff is very nice. Best part of the residency. They are pleasant people,” Morang said.

The petting zoo has a ceremony every year where the animals are blessed by the Reverend and Priest. The residents all go to the ceremony and really enjoy it, partly because there is a large buffet for anyone who joins.

“My grandchildren come every weekend to feed the animals. They bring the right foods; celery, carrots, and apples,” said Morang.

Reverend David Proctor, Director of Spirituality and Community Services, has been working at Saint Elizabeth Manor for the past 3 years. His role in the community is to listen and to help people and provide spirituality on their journey.

Proctor, 59, doesn’t dress with the typical collar similar to what a typical minister would wear. He instead dresses in normal dress clothes. “The collar turns a lot of people off,” Proctor said.

Proctor has been ordained as a minister for 35yrs. Part of his background as a minister is training in education. “Not to judge to walk with them,” Proctor said explaining his duties in this facility. He provides worship services, which are open to all.

“Meeting with the residents and getting to know them is very meaningful,” Proctor said. There are many friendships formed throughout the facility including residents, staff and even volunteers. “When they die there is a real sense of loss. The reality is when you care for people there is always a sense of loss,” Proctor said. And for many, it is their last home. Saint Elizabeth looses 50 to 60 residents a year.

The facility, which provides for all ages even including a nursery school which is located across the way from theAlzheimer's unit. Morang explains how the residents watch the children play on the playground from their rooms. “I was very impressed with the nursery school. The kids will come around to the residents rooms and sing happy birthday,” Morang said

“I don’t do well when it’s dark, I need light,” Proctor said. He explains that there were times when he felt like giving up. The Reverend enjoys his work at the facility and makes himself available for any residents, staff, and volunteerswho need guidance or someone to confide in.

Adriana Canario, a nurse at Saint Elizabeth’s Manor, not only cares for the residents but also volunteers with the petting zoo. “99% of the residents want to spend their time with the animals,” Canario said.

Canario goes above and beyond her duties at the facility and goes back every night to Saint Elizabeth’s to check on the animals. She considers herself to be a mother to the animals, and even has prescriptions for the animals made out with the animals names following her last name, Canario.

“Pete and Jane are similar to a married couple,” Canario said. Referring to the llamas, who gave birth to Liberty the youngest llama in the group who is 5 years old. Liberty received her name because she was born on the third of July. “Pete and Liberty are constantly butting heads like any parent with a teenager,” Canario said.

The two donkeys are called Molly and Gabrielle who are jealous of one another explains Canario. Canario is so dedicated to helping the animals she even decorates the barn with a Christmas tree and leaves music playing quietly every night.

Canario misses Arnold the pig, who died January 26^th, 2009 from cancer.Arnold was a unique pig. Canario would play music for him, along with the rest of the animals.

“He was all black two tufts Vietnamese potbelly pig who had a personality.I would play music for him and Arnold really liked John Denver. His tail would wag in time with the music, and if he really liked a song he would jump up and down,” Canario said.

The petting zoo has a couple dozen ducks, including white ducks, which resemble the Aflec duck. She has even trained the ducks so every time she says “Aflec, Aflec, Aflec” the ducks swim out of the pond and follow Canario, imitating the Aflec commercial. These families of animals are quiet unusual and very entertaining. The petting zoo is a great feature for the nursing home and gives the facility an extra welcoming feeling.The residents, children, staff and volunteers all frequently visit the animals and enjoy watching them.

Saint Elizabeth’s Manor is an interesting facility that provides above and beyond the requirements of a typical nursing home. Saint Elizabeth is truly a home to its residents and all who work around the area.

Diandra Gordon: Interview with Lt Hall

Catching bad guys and serving the public in many other fashions was apart of the daily routine for now retired 59 year old Police Lt. Steven Hall.  He served on the Providence Police Department for twenty-two year and has currently working in an administrative position for the past seventeen years.  Lt. Hall worked his way up in the ranking system starting off as a patrol officer in 1972.  He was promoted to Sergeant in August 1978.   Ten years later in 1988 he was again promoted but this time to the rank of Lt.  In order to serve on the force every officer must complete the proper police training. The police academy consisted of physical training and classroom instruction. Training at the academy lasted for about fourteen weeks which was extremely intense. 

 After graduating from the police academy Hall was assigned to a mix of both foot patrol and cruiser patrol.  Following a year on the job he requested a patrol car and was a patrol officer from February 1973 until August of 1978.  Lt. Hall went to Roger Williams College and attained a degree in administrative justice which then followed his promotion to Sergeant. When asked what was the most frightening experience he had during his career Hall says, “In all honesty there was almost never time to get frightened.”  Afterwards looking back he realizes he was put in quiet a few scary situations. 

            A common question asked when working in law enforcement is how to handle the obvious risks that an officer could encounter by criminals trying to seek revenge.  Hall’s response was that he never encountered a criminal seeking revenge on either on him or his family as many other officers have experienced. Officers are required to carry a gun at all times, even when off duty.

Law enforcement is a definite passion for Lt. Hall who says “I love the chase, chasing the bad guys.”  In particular capturing rapists Hall says was extremely rewarding seeing the victims faces when the offenders were caught.  One evening Lt. Hall was having dinner with his daughter and wife at a local restaurant and noticed a man was walking to the bathroom.  The man looked Hall recognizing him and says hey what’s going on, Hall immediately recalled having several encounters with the individual and had taken weapons from him.  Hall laughs and says “not a pleasant experience when I’m having dinner with my family.”  He explains that law enforcement agents “have to deal with that kind of stuff.”  Officers are use to that kind of material and are almost immune to the danger. 

He says that being a Lt. was not as exciting as the role of Sergeant.  The role of a Lt. required more administrative work and rarely patrolment.  When asked if he had ever been threatened by criminals with any potential dangerous weapons Hall says “ I’ve been stabbed in the side of the head, bitten badly a few times, almost lost a thump, had chairs thrown at me and guns pointed at me”  He was fortunate enough that no such encounter ever resulted in anything life threatening. Lt. Hall loves the law enforcement he says “It’s almost like being a professional athlete, you’re getting paid to do what you love, but I would never encourage a young person today to go into law enforcement.”  He explains that it’s much more dangerous than it was when he first began in the force due to the numbers and the wide variety of types of weapons which seem to be more available to criminals presently

Thankfully Lt. Hall never had to kill anyone when on the job but used force when needed.  Now a days he says its better because officers have pepper spray and tasers  which helps out enormously instead of having to use deadly force.

           Along with the usual duties of a law enforcement there have been several medical  emergencies that Lt. Hall was confronted with and had to respond to.  One of the most  interesting stories he recalls was when he was told to rush to Rhode Island Hospital and was given a little cooler with eyes in them.  They were going to be rushed up to Boston for an eye transplant.  I found that story to be unusual for a police officer to encounter. According to Hall the most troubling and frustrating duties that he was obligated to perform were responding to crimes where children were involved.  There was one case in which Lt. Hall vividly recalls a father with a mental condition who use to like to play with guns.  The father pointed the 44 magnum at his four year old daughter, claiming he was not aware the gun was loaded, shot his daughter and “blew her skull apart.”  Hall still has nightmares about the case and was able to charge the man with manslaughter. He even was proud to be apart of helping out with getting a warrant and arrest for a serial killer.

My interview of Lt. Hall was extremely insightful and interesting.  This made me even more aware of the vast variety of situations that a police officer encounters during his career.  I thoroughly enjoyed hearing first hand of the many experiences that this police officer had preformed throughout his career.  It made me appreciate even more the responsibilities and the limitless number of experiences that these men and women are presented with during their career.  We should all appreciate their dedication and respect them for their courageous and incredibly important job that they inquire.

 

 

Rachel Ellis

Rachel Ellis, the youngest of girls, is a competitive individual who will not take no as an answer. After graduating from a local Catholic high school in Bridgewater Massachusetts, Rachel applied to Roger Williams University. Unfortunately Rachel was not accepted and instead attended Suffolk University in Boston. She attended Suffolk University with her twin sister, fraternal twins, and did not feel that the city life was for her. Rachel decided to try applying again to Roger Williams University and was then accepted in her graduating class at the University she so longed to attend. When asked Rachel why she chose to reapply to Roger Williams University she stated: “Even though I didn’t get in the first time I was determined to get good grades at Suffolk, that way I knew I would have a better chance to get in.”. Along with her hard work and determination she was able to reach her goals of attending her dream school.

All of Rachel’s life she has been very athletic and competitive. This can be due to the fact that her father was an influence in her interest in sports. Her father, a huge NASCAR fan, had Rachel involved in many sports growing up. She danced for six years, played basketball for eight years, figure skated for seven years, played soccer for two years, played volleyball for four years and did track for her junior year in high school. Her father is constantly saying, “Don’t ever say ‘I can’t” especially when participating in sports. Sports have continued to play a significant role throughout her life.

She is a Public Relations major and hopes someday to work out West in Arizona at a Public Relations firm or hopefully open her own firm. Another reason why she was attracted to RWU is due to the fact that her boyfriend of three years attends the University. When asked about an usual fact about herself and her relationship with her boyfriend she said: “It was ironic because when we first started dating both our parents told us that we went to nursery school together. Basically we’ve known each other since we were in diapers.” Rachel now says that she “couldn’t be happier” with her new life and school. She believes that Roger Williams University can help her future by making her dreams come true.

"mad as hell"

Last class we watched the clip from the movie Network which news anchor Howard Beal got “Mad as hell!”  There have been several instances in the media that have displayed similar behaviors as being “mad as hell.”  Republic Joe Wilson is one example by his outrageous remark calling President Obama a liar.  He clearly did not agree with the President’s remarks and felt the need to add his feelings on the situation.  Wilson later made a public apology for his inappropriate actions. 

         After watching the VMAS last night, I was mad as hell at Kayne West.  He made a disgusting remark to Taylor Swift basically telling her that Beyonce did a better.  Well that comment sure made Kayne West look like a jerk and now a lot of fans are mad as hell at his remark! 

"waking life"

Language is such an important aspect of our lives. It provides us with a way to converse with one another.  Along with language we use symbols to communicate with.  By using symbols and signs this makes the communication process more complex.  In the “Waking Life” clip speaks of how our life experiences are intangible.  We use different words to describe an experience, which is occurring, thus creating a language.  To describe a word or experience life we use symbols such as words or facial expressions etc.  Words are important symbols, which we use everyday to communicate with.  We also communicate by using expressions to describe how we feel.  Words are the most universal use of language because words assist our daily functions.  In conclusion words help us have a better understanding of language and the different forms of communication.