TOMORROW THURSDAY 6-7 p.m. Community Engagement with
Angelica Patient Assistance Program Roosevelt Islanders are invited to find out more about volunteering with for
programs with our neighbors at Coler. This zoom meeting will take place next
Thursday, March 10th 6-7 p.m. We will hear from Coler residents as well as
meet Angelica Board members.
Please RSVP directly to this Evite here:
Powerful a nursing Home Lives Matter Message Projected on wall of Roosevelt Island Coler Nursing Facility last night at end of vigil remembering those who died and in support of those still in lockdown during Covid 19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/95xPgWNhKT
Residents gathered outside Coler Nursing Home on Roosevelt Island for a Covid-19 vigil, commemorating 1 year since the shut down. Signs were saying "Nursing Home Lives Matter" and "Isolation Kills Too".
... a network of neighbors, friends and family who care deeply about the people who live and work in Coler Rehabilitation & Nursing Care Center and who support connections between the Roosevelt Island community and Coler residents/staff.
Image From Friends Of Coler You Tube Video Screenshot
Friends Of Coler volunteers Julia Ferguson and Nicole Izsak report:
Dear friends in support of Coler,
Happy February 2022! Roosevelt Island children's groups spread lots of kindness this month! Youth of all ages created over 200 beautiful handmade Valentines cards that were given to Coler Recreational Therapy for 2/14 distribution on Sunday afternoon 2/13 while also visiting a few friends.
Roosevelt Island Youth Center cards were filled with full page drawings as well as wishes for both residents and staff. RI Girl Scout Troops made creative pop-up cards with handwritten messages of hope and the "Daisy" troop made special hearts that became a banner. Island Kids cheered everyone with hand signed and decorated posters, and Roosevelt Island Navigators brought in beautiful cards as well.
Save the date for March 10th 7:00 p.m. when Angelica Patient Assistance Program will present a zoom to talk about resuming programming and volunteer opportunities at Coler moving forward in 2022.
Pre-pandemic traditions at Coler included a Sweetheart Ball sponsored by Angelica Patient Assistance Program. With the Omicron variant still present and group gatherings still restricted in January/February this year, Angelica found a work around with Coler Recreational Therapy! They distribute Popeye's meals and Valentine's treats this year on Monday February 14th. One resident mentioned that the combination of the Super Bowl and the Valentine's event made for a very good February weekend! Coler residents and staff have also welcomed a new CEO this month: Stephen Catullo, MBA.
May more good news continue for all,
Ms Ferguson adds:
The work that RI Youth Center children and staff, Island Kids children and staff, RI Girl Scout troops and leaders, and RI Navigators put in was careful and so heartwarming. It is so in line with the kindness and generosity that does exist in our community. And we even had a small troop of Girl Scouts from Staten Island who heard and sent in greetings!
I asked Friends of Coler:
How have the Coler folks been doing recently with COVID issues? Any problems?
Coler resident Peter Yearwood says:
We are doing pretty good at Coler. No major issues to report. There was an outbreak of Omnicron but we are over that and all is well.
The Open Doors Poets have teamed with documentary filmmaker Alexis Neophytidis to show what it was like at the Coler facility during the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic. Take a look at the trailer for their upcoming documentary, Fire Through Dry Grass to see for yourself.
Many of the units remain quarantined because of exposure to positive staff.
375 days of confinement so far.
Also, during tonight's meeting, Roosevelt Island resident and Coler Auxiliary Volunteer Judy Berdy describes efforts to make life better for Coler Nursing Home residents.
UPDATE 3/30 - A Coler source reports:
Coler is now OPEN for outdoor visits! Indoor visits will resume on April 14th. Appointments need to be made with Social Work department. I'm sure there are caveats (such as quarantined residents) but at least it's a start!
A staggering 34% of Covid deaths in the US are linked to nursing homes.
March 13 marks a year since nursing home residents have been in lockdown.
Join us Sat. March 13th at 6 pm outside of Coler Nursing Home or virtually
on FB to mark this sobering milestone.
#HighRiskCovid19pic.twitter.com/HpZFzIH4G7
Coler nursing home residents on Roosevelt Island have been
#lockeddown
for over a year now. They only receive 45 minutes of outside time, and
cannot receive visitors. It is almost every week that new staff member tests
positive and entire units are locked down.
#HighRiskCovid19pic.twitter.com/gX0awHVxvJ
Many of the residents in Coler are Black and brown disabled people, and not
all of them are elderly. The deaths undercounted by the Cuomo admin are
largely POC.
#NursingHomeLivesMatter
founder Vince Pierce created this video in response.
pic.twitter.com/4PhFshQsTN
The Friends Of Coler are a group
of Roosevelt Island residents organizing to help the patients and staff of NYC
Health & Hospitals Corp
(HHC) Coler Facility
during the Coronavirus pandemc. According to Friends Of Coler:
Dear Friends of Coler,
We invite you to join Nursing Home Lives Matter outside of Coler or on
Facebook live:
facebook.com/opendoorsnyc for
a Twilight Vigil
Join to listen and bear witness to the ongoing human toll of the pandemic’s
mismanagement. We will channel our grief into a call for more holistic
policies and practices to protect nursing home residents because
#IsolationKillsToo.
Join to read the names of lost friends, hold space for those who remain
nameless, and memorialize this year of catastrophic loss through
remembrances, protest, and poetry by Coler residents and remarks from local
faith leaders and elected officials. We will close with an awe-inspiring
temporal artwork that affirms #NursingHomeLivesMatter
Honoring those we’ve lost and mourning the loss of freedom and connection for
those who’ve been locked inside for a year.
Saturday, March 13, 6 pm EST (Rain Date: Sunday, March 14, 6 pm EST)
In person: Coler Nursing Home—900 Main St, Roosevelt Island, NY
& Virtual: OPEN DOORS Facebook Live:
facebook.com/opendoorsnyc
Last month the New York Attorney General’s office released a report
declaring that the state vastly undercounted nursing home deaths. It is
unacceptable that these lives were erased and politicized, and once reported
became statistics. March 12th will be one year since the state' lockdown on
nursing homes began.
Join us on Saturday, the 13th, at 6pm, outside of Coler Nursing Home and
online, to mark this sobering milestone. From both sides of Coler’s fence,
we will honor those we’ve lost, known and unknown, and mourn the loss of
freedom and connection by those still confined inside Coler and other
congregate facilities, cut off from their agency and loved ones.
One Coler resident describes their experience of isolation this past spring,
summer, fall, winter by saying, “This isn’t a life, this is an existence.”
We will listen and bear witness to the ongoing human toll of the pandemic’s
mismanagement. We will channel our grief into a call for more holistic
policies and practices to protect nursing home residents because
#IsolationKillsToo.
We will read the names of lost friends, hold space for those who remain
nameless, and memorialize this year of catastrophic loss through
remembrances, protest, and poetry by Coler residents and remarks from local
faith leaders and elected officials. We will close with an awe-inspiring
temporal artwork that affirms #NursingHomeLivesMatter.
Roosevelt Island Friends Of Coler and their supporters organized a Valentine's Day Walk n Wave around the Coler Rehab Nursing Facility outside perimeter and gave out gift boxes to show support and love for the residents who have been under a lockdown since the beginning of the Covid Pandemic.
Friends Of Coler volunteer Julia Feguson declared to the Coler residents
that:
... on Roosevelt Island we are here for you and thinking of you today and ongoing...
and presented gift box donations to Coler representative Margaret Lopes who thanked Friends Of Coler saying:
... this will uplift the spirits of residents tremendously, that's what we need at this time...
After dropping off the Valentine's Day gifts, the Friends Of Coler began their Walk n Wave.
Supporting Coler residents and staff is quite a long standing tradition on Roosevelt Island going back many decades. This long running tradition started by the local community groups ( our local religious congregations, Coler Auxiliary, Roosevelt Island Disabled Association), has grown during the past decade with Angelica Patient Assistance Program, the 2018 service day funded by iDig2Learn’s grant from CCNYC used for a day of courtyard renovation which brought Google service employees to the Island. The Roosevelt Island Branch of NYPL events and Cornell Tech have also supported various collaborations. Recently through the art, poetry, theater, film making, music making, and activism of Open Doors NYC, we have witnessed a kind of renaissance in our connections to Coler.
As the COVID-19 pandemic brought stress and hardship in different forms, the Friends of Coler network stepped up as is the tradition to show the residents of Coler that Roosevelt Islanders remain united in strength, kindness and camaraderie. During a year that has been very hard and dealt us all immeasurable loss, it has been an honor to get to know Coler residents and other neighbors on Roosevelt Island.
The Valentine's Day gathering to greet and give gifts followed by our “Walk n Wave” around the building was made possible by donations from many Roosevelt Islanders to the Covid-19 fund hosted by Angelica Patient Assistance Program as well as by donations in kind from many others. Special thanks to Coler Recreational Therapy Department and other staff at Coler, to Shelton Haynes at RIOC, to Main Street Theatre and Dance Alliance, to Haki Compost Collective, to local elected officials who listen, and to so very many more RI neighbors and friends.
Although sad that many Coler residents of the C building received notice of a lockdown in their units on Saturday before the Walk due to staff testing positive, we know they felt our good cheer even if they were unable to be outside or at the corridor windows. We were heartened to see some residents’ families doing window visits with relatives in the lobby and just so glad to wave at friends.
Happy Valentines Day 2021 to all.
From Coler Recreational Therapist:
Thanks it turned out very nice. The residents were so very appreciative!!!
They couldn't really hear you guys outside but they were waiting n watching.
One of your resident friends said “Thank you so much!” It was very special...to hand deliver with love from you all...through us...Thanks again!
From Lynne Shinozaki with Coler Task Force:
I'm hoping people are feeling that we are thinking of them and that we care.
From Julia Ferguson with Friends of Coler:
So glad. In my mind as we walked we encircled all with friendship and love and the magic of both! We needed bagpipes or drums to be heard, but the tambourines loaned by Main Street Theatre were going strong. Thank you for all!
Thank you, Friends of Coler, for organizing and spearheading the Valentines celebration! We have plans in the works to follow up with a meal for residents very soon!
It’s so important to show our dear friends and neighbors experiencing the brunt of isolation that we see them, care for them and love them. Deep gratitude to the amazing folks of Friends of Coler for their kindness and generosity.
From Coler Resident:
THANK YOU ❤️for the wonderful Valentine's Day surprise!! Thank you for your thoughtfulness, your kindness, your generosity and all your hard work! You truly made our day and lifted our spirits! And we had so much fun! Above all, thank you for your friendship.
We look forward to the day that we can stand outside with you!
Danika Lam shares more photos from the Friends Of Coler Valentine's Day Walk n Wave.
The Friends Of Coler are a
group of Roosevelt Island residents organizing to help the patients and
staff of NYC Health & Hospitals Corp
(HHC) Coler Facility
during the Coronavirus pandemc.
This Sunday, February 14th at 2:30 p.m. join us for our first "Walk n Wave"
event outside Coler Rehabilitation Nursing Care Center
Come outside in the winter sun to spread some Valentine's cheer with our
friends. Wear some red or other bright warm colors. Show up and bring several
friends out for a walk
Kids both young and old join to wave ribbons or hold up a ❤Coler sign Stay
safe. All will be masked and physically distant during this outdoor
walk.
We will send our friends inside Coler Nursing Care Center this message:
💕On Roosevelt Island and beyond, we are here for you all. We support each
of you ongoing and during this extended time without visits from your
families, friends, and other volunteers.💝
This is a collaborative fun event for the residents - an example of our
wonderful RI community. All ages are welcome.
Angelica Patient Assistance Program
is working with Coler Rec Therapy to also provide a restaurant meal for
residents later this week. Cornell Tech donated snacks and many other friends
donated funds or treats.
We will have 13 gift boxes for all units (plus more donations that won't fit
in the boxes!) Main Street Theater is loaning some little instruments to help
us spread some cheer as we walk. Haki Compost Collective,
I read about other nursing facilities where kids were making snowmans outside
the windows so if people are interested...that sounds fun, too! Currently,
Friends of Coler is in conversation with the RI NYPL branch learning
how to get books that residents can check out down to Coler with a regular
system.
Inside Coler,
OpenDoorsNYC members
are letting residents know so that they can look out the windows. This collage
from one artistic resident friend shows their views and we hope to fill those
views up with smiling friends sending in support.
Supporting and thanking the hardworking Coler staff is included in our
messaging. It is our understanding that they have been receiving some meals
from Bloomberg funding. We have heard that Coler Auxiliary gave some new TV's
for resident day rooms and is in the building ongoing in support of all.
It is a hard winter for so many and we hope to spread some cheer in the giving
and in the receiving. As my kids were growing up Valentine's was celebrated as
friendship day at their school. The work and connections and learning I
experience with friends of Coler is definitely about new friendships!
Watch the latest trailer from the
Fire Through Dry Grass
documentary by Mr Molina and Alexis Neophytides showing the devastation
inflicted upon our Roosevelt Island Coler residents by the Coronavirus
Pandemic.
The Friends Of Coler are a group
of Roosevelt Island residents organizing to help the patients and staff of NYC
Health & Hospitals Corp
(HHC) Coler Facility
during the Coronavirus pandemc.
Please join us on Sunday, February 14th at 2:30 p.m. for our first "Walk n
Wave" event outside Coler. We will spread some Valentine's cheer with our
friends by wearing red and showing up in numbers to celebrate and drop off
treats. We hope to give our friends the message that, as a community, we are
here for them and thinking about them ongoing during this extended time
without visits from their families or other volunteers.
Secondly, you may have read about the NY Attorney General's just-released
report
about undercounting coronavirus-related deaths of NY State Nursing Home
Residents as well as other incidents of poor management and standards of
infection control during Covid. Nurses and residents of Coler are some of
the people who contributed to this important investigation.
Molly Schwartz will interview Nursing Home Lives Matter founder, Vincent
Pierce, and Fire Through Dry Grass Co-Director Andres “Jay” Molina.
This event will go live on the
OpenDoors Facebook page
at 7pm on Thursday, February 4th, 2020. Please join them for an illuminating
and important discussion as well as to show support to our friends inside
Coler.
Watch the latest trailer from the
Fire Through Dry Grass
documentary by Mr Molina and Alexis Neophytides showing the devastation
inflicted upon our Roosevelt Island Coler residents by the Coronavirus
Pandemic.
Long time resident Julia Ferguson (pictured on right) and newcomer Foluke
Ogunyemi (pictured on left) are among the Roosevelt Island residents who are
Friends of Coler.
Ms Ferguson says the two met:
... by volunteering online together and then later ran into each other
on Main Street in masks! It is so encouraging to meet new friends in many ways
even during these very challenging times.
Ms Ogunyemi describes herself as :
... just a regular Roosevelt Island mum that is glad to have found the
best place in New York city to put down roots, I very recently migrated from
Lagos, Nigeria to work for UNICEF--and have worked in development for children
and women for 12 years.
Ms Ogunyemi introduces us to our Roosevelt Island Coler resident neighbor
Francene Benjamin.
According to Ms. Ogunyemi:
Roosevelt Islanders do love and appreciate the Island. Indeed, most of the
long-term residents cherish the neighborhood as does Francene Benjamin. She
has been a resident for a decade and half at the north end of Roosevelt
Island—within the historic Coler Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Center.
Francene loves living on the island, the peaceful quiet, the crashing of the
water against the rocks and the Lighthouse makes for good reminders of her
time in Antigua and Barbuda where her family and elderly parents still live.
Living on Roosevelt Island in 2020-21 has been different, it is now over 280
days of lockdown and not being able to walk outside the grounds of Coler.
Accustomed to going out for long walks, crocheting, gardening, singing and
going to church, Francene has had to adjust to new ways of appreciating life
on Roosevelt Island.
“I will say in 15 years here, Roosevelt island through the years has been
really good ... there used to be a fruit stand close to us that we loved
to visit, although the island had some changes, it remains comfortable,
safe and a nice place to live in New York--really nice at night. Most of
the time this year, to pass the time, I watch people walking, it has
become therapeutic for me, watching people walk along the riverbank which
I am currently unable to do has increased my appreciation of walking as a
great and refreshing exercise. I watch people walk past, it is a joy to
see the mothers who go past with children in strollers, early morning or
evening joggers, those who are committed to walking daily or simply just
leisurely strolling—it is a gift to have a place like Roosevelt Island in
a year that has been so tough on us all.”
“My crotchet work used to be a truly relaxing past time--I did a lot of
filly patterns and using simple instructions, I made a queens size bed
spread, scarves, hats, chair backs, arm rest and table center pieces. I
love crocheting and there are a few--about 3 of us here interested in
crocheting and we have plans to make things but are not yet be able to
fulfil that, currently my wrists are not in the best shape but I am not
giving up on that dream.”
Please watch the first few minutes of my recent Crochet Artist video made
as part of a series on ‘Skill Share Videos’ curated by Niti Parikh from
MakerLAB at Cornell Tech.
This video documentation started with a simple goal: to provide a space
for conversation starters with makers of all abilities and backgrounds
which can hopefully lead to inclusive and participatory design projects to
improve people’s everyday life.
This lockdown has been quite challenging and isolating, but I value the
moments when I was able to schedule to go out to enjoy some fresh air.
Thankful for phones and zoom, technology making it possible to still
connect with family and friends but most importantly, it is comforting to
be able to watch the East River and Roosevelt islanders walking past to
remind myself I still live in this beautiful community.
Happy 2021 and a safe, healthy time for all the islanders, I am hopeful
for the new year to bring new grace and a chance to walk around the island
again. For now, do wave whenever you walk past, we at Coler are waving
back from inside and wishing all Roosevelt Islanders a Happy New Year!"
Roosevelt Island is a mixed income, racially diverse waterfront community situated in the East River of New York City between Manhattan and Queens and is jurisdictionally part of Manhattan. The Roosevelt Island Tramway, which connects Roosevelt Island to the rest of Manhattan, has become the iconic symbol of Roosevelt Island to its residents.
The Purpose of this Blog is to provide accurate and timely information about Roosevelt Island as well as a forum for residents to express opinions and engage in a dialogue to improve our community.
