Spring 2020 · • Teammates created “Salt of the Earth” snacks to send to approximately the 600 teammates that serve our Residents. These bags of pretzels, have the famous verse

1Annual Report | Herald of Hope | Fall 2019Christian Care Communities & Services

Spring 2020

COVID-19SPECIAL EDITION

DEAR FAMILY & FRIENDS,What a year 2020 has been, so far, not only for our country, but for our world. As I write this, we have more than 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 world-wide and over 200,000 confirmed deaths due to COVID-19. This pandemic will go down into the modern history books as being one of the greatest world challenges in the modern era.

So, what are we to do? The reality is that some dismiss without concern, while others lock themselves in their houses and everything in between. We are in uncharted waters right now and everything we are doing, especially in Senior Living and Healthcare, is for the first time. We are not doing everything perfectly, I can assure you of that, but we are doing everything we can with everything we have. We are stepping into a gap that none of us have ever stepped in before by literally being the friends and family to our over 700 residents by connecting with, loving on, caring for and protecting them all with everything we have. They are more than residents to us because the men and women who call Christian Care Communities & Services their home are our family too. We have not and will not stop doing everything we can for those we serve.

To say that I am not anxious, to some extent, about the immediate future as the pandemic continues to move through our counties and cities, would be a lie. However, more than my anxiety is my confidence in the fact that we are in the hands of the Creator of the world, God our Father. I know that things are going to be ok, not because of all that we are doing, but because of who He is. We have instilled the strictest of regulations and mandates to keep our residents, patients and teammates safe and healthy, but that is not enough. We must ultimately put our trust and faith in God and that is what we are doing at CCC&S.

We feel a tremendous burden of responsibility to care for those we serve and I am so proud of all our teammates who going above and beyond to care for our residents and patients. It has truly been an incredible team effort all the way around! This is not over, but rest assured we serve a great God. A God who is not afraid of a virus and He will see us all through, to the very end, through His amazing grace and loving mercy which is made new each and every day.

Thank you for your continued support, well wishes, encouraging words and prayers most of all. If you are looking for hope and longing for joy, it is closer than you think. Through Jesus Christ we have been given a living hope that anchors our souls even in the mist difficult of season. I pray the words we read in Romans chapter 15 verse 13, that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then they will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. May God bless you and may He continue to watch over and protect all of us.

Gratefully yours,

Sabrina Porter

President and CEO

Christian Care Communities and

Services is a faith-based ministry

providing innovative and loving

care for those we serve.

Independent Living

Assisted Living

Memory Care

Nursing & Rehabilitation

O U R S E R V I C E S :

Hospice

Home Health

Home2Stay — Personal Care

Outpatient Therapy

32 Christian Care Communities and Services | Caring is Our Calling Herald of Hope | Spring 2020

• Easter goodie bags were made for approximately 300 Independent Living residents, with a personalized letter written by the Executive Director and signed by her team at the Mesquite community.

• Teammates created an Easter Church Service recording that was aired on resident TV channels during the Easter Holiday (Friday-Sunday). These recordings were available to all residents, as well as uploaded to Facebook for teammates, friends, and family.

• Meals are getting delivered by numerous teammates for up to 3 meals a day for approximately 700 residents in our Communities. These efforts use teammates that have other responsibilities too.

• On March 31, A Day of Prayer was coordinated with Social Distancing for over 1300 Teammates and Residents in each of the 3 communities. These efforts were led by our President/CEO, and community leaders and support services teammates uniquely coordinated these special prayer times.

• There are daily communications (via text messages and emails) that promote the Emotional, Mental and Spiritual wellness for Teammates, Residents and Families alike. Communities are also conducting Wellness exercises via the community TV channel for residents in their homes. Christian Care has been at the forefront of providers in this level of communication and promoting our stories on Facebook.

• Greenville Oaks Church of Christ members are making weekly grocery pickups for our residents at our Allen Community.

Acts of Kindnessfor residents & teammates during the pandemic

• All 3 of our communities teams have coordinated a Grocery Online ordering program for its residents with their local Wal-Mart Store.

• A campaign was organized to place “All you need is Love” and “#doing life together” signage at our 3 communities to encourage Teammates and Residents. The old Beatles song has created video opportunities to share with families and social media.

• Teammates created “Salt of the Earth” snacks to send to approximately the 600 teammates that serve our Residents. These bags of pretzels, have the famous verse attached from Matt 5:13- “You are the salt of the world. . .”

• We continue to meet the spiritual needs of our residents on Sundays by our Ministers and Chaplains by televising on their community TV channels.

• Our Life Enrichment Directors are tuning in to the Dementia Friendly Fort Worth’s weekly Dementia Friendly chapel services for our memory care residents. These services offer singing of familiar hymns, so residents can sing and worship together.

• Bluebonnet trips are commonplace for our residents each year as events are planned to Ennis, TX. Since we were unable to take these trips, teammates and families took pictures to post around campus to help residents “feel” like they made this annual trip.

• Hospice Chaplains are calling patients and families

in the community and singing well-known hymns, reading scriptures and prayers.

• Many teammates, out of the goodness of their hearts, are bringing snacks and meals for each other for the start of shifts.

• Residents of our Ft Worth and Allen Communities enjoyed a concert set up outside while they watched from their places of residence.

• Residents have been enjoying “party on wheel” celebrations for birthdays and holidays led by our Life Enrichment Coordinators.

• Church volunteers, Independent Living residents and friends of Christian Care have made masks and mask accessories for teammates and residents alike. This has helped Christian Care successfully maintain the health of all from the Coronavirus. Churches involved in this effort:

• Cedar Hill Church of Christ in Cedar Hill, TX

• Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas, TX

• Greenville Oak Church of Christ in Allen, TX

• Saturn Road Church of Christ in Garland, TX

• Highland Oaks Church of Christ in Dallas, TX

• Pleasant Hill Community Church in Dallas, TX

• Mesquite Church of Christ in Mesquite, TX

• A Plano, TX business named OnPoint, donated 300 N95 masks for our direct care teammates.

• The Huong Dao Temple donated numerous Personal Protective Equipment for the Fort Worth community, with the aide of a FW City Council Member.

• AFLAC, Insurance of Garland, TX sent a few of their teammates to our Mesquite community to form a cheering line, with homemade signage, at shift change for our direct care teammates.

• Uber Eats offered $25 online promotional discount to our 600 teammates. The local Jack in the Box and Domino’s Pizza have donated to the Mesquite community. Our Allen community continues to partner with local restaurants for discounted meal service.

• Lovejoy ISD students visited the Allen Community with notes of encouragement. There were numerous “high fives” exchanged through the window interaction with our residents.

• CCC&S hosted it’s first-ever Community Food Drive at all 3 CCC&S communities, partnering with local food pantries in Allen, Ft. Worth & Mesquite. Over 3,000 lbs. of food was donated throughout NTX by teammates, residents, families and community partners.

• Our residents and teammates were blessed by the showing and support of family, friends, and loved ones in a Social Distancing Drive By Parade.

To see more great photos of our journey and experiences go to www.christiancarecenters.org/herald-of-hope-covid-19


Don’t try to convince the Jose Montes family that miracles have ended. In these otherwise uncertain days of covid-19, Jose’s wife Maria and his daughter Valeria believe that God is still in the miracle business.

“It’s a miracle,” Maria said.Wiping away tears, Valeria

added, “Like my mom said, it was a miracle. It really was.”

Maria and Valeria are two of the three members of the Montes family who have recovered after suffering from the distress of the novel coronavirus. The third? Amara, the daughter-in-law of Maria and sister-in-law of Valeria, who tested positive for covid-19 while in the hospital to give birth March 24 to her son Ayden.

“It was mentally challenging for us,” Marco Dominguez, Valeria’s fiancée, said. “We had to keep our faith, stick together and pray. It kinda got real. I’m thankful we are united together now.”

Jose Montes, Sr., a familiar face in the Mesquite facilities department for Christian Care Communities and Services, also was praying

The Montes family’s testimony of

FAITH, MIRACLES AND COVID-19

for a miracle. “I just realized the hardest experience of all my life,” he explained. “It was hard for everybody. I was asking God to give us faith and get us out of all this. And He did.”

With his voice at times breaking with emotion, Montes thanked God for the miracles of birth and recovery, for the prayers of his teammates at Christian Care, where he has worked diligently 14 years, and for the support his family and newborn grandson received from Christian Care.

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.” (Job 5:9)

“All the people at Christian Care helped a lot,” he continued. “I really appreciate that. And I thank God for prayers. I didn’t even imagine we would be together again like we are now. You cannot explain to nobody until you live the real life it is.”

Maria was the first to experience symptoms after returning from a recent three-day trip to Florida. She had fever for three days and a cough that persisted for two weeks, but she said doctors diagnosed her condition as bronchitis.

Then Saturday, March 21, Amara awakened with fever, which subsided after a dose of Tylenol. But the fever returned so her husband Jose, Jr., accompanied her to the emergency room so doctors could

examine her and her unborn child. They went home that evening.

Three days later, Amara and Jose, Jr., returned to the hospital for the birth of their son at 1:17 p.m. Her fever had returned so she was allowed to hold Ayden only for about an hour. Her covid-19 test returned positive so “that was the last time I got to hold him for two and a half weeks,” Amara said.

Doctors told her March 26 that her baby’s test for covid-19 was negative. But Amara’s dire experience with the virus wasn’t over. She said during the evening of March 30 she awakened in her hospital bed and sat up because she couldn’t breathe. “My breathing got worse,” she explained. “I couldn’t breathe at all. My chest was hurting….

“All I remember about that night was five or six doctors rushing in, and then the nurse said, ‘We’re going to have you sleep for now.’ I woke up probably two or three days later. I had tubes down my mouth, and I was strapped down. The nurse said, ‘Calm down.’ (Amara had been trying to pull the ventilator tubes from her mouth.) So I went back to sleep. Then I remember waking up and asking, ‘How’s my son?’ I just wanted to see my son.

“It was hard,” Amara said. “I’m just grateful today that I’m here. I’m breathing fine now. I got to hold my son finally. Sometimes you have to go through hard things just to appreciate what you have.”

Amara said she kept the television in her hospital room tuned to a worship channel. “My faith was getting stronger,” she remembered. “I was getting better. I was feeling better. I was very grateful to Christian Care for prayers

and everything my baby needs.”Maria and Valeria also tested

positive for covid-19 while Amara was hospitalized, but tests of the three men – Jose, Sr., Marco and Jose, Jr. – were negative. Marco lamented the fact that the family was separated during quarantine and unable to help each other. “It’s crazy to think that somebody you know and care about could be there, and you can’t do much but sit and wait,” he said. “I’m thankful she’s here with us now and that my nephew is okay.”

Valeria said she suffered from chest pain, breathing problems, sore throat and congestion, but no fever. “I was scared because I’m pregnant,” she said. “It was just really hard because I didn’t know what was going to happen. But I’m thankful it wasn’t as bad for me.

“This time showed me a lot about being grateful for what we have,” Valeria added. “It changed the way I see the world. It was really hard for us. We just kept praying she would come home. Faith did bring our family close.

“And I can’t thank Christian Care enough. They helped us a lot. They didn’t have to do this for us. They were there every single day, making sure we had food to eat, praying for us. May God bless them.” Valeria said her faith also was strengthened. “It’s an amazing feeling. It’s unexplainable just knowing He’s listening to you and He’s here with you.”

Maria said she told her daughter-in-law, “You’ve got a lot of prayers around you.”

Many of those prayers were Maria’s. “I went to my knees, and I thanked God. What Christian Care did for us you can’t pay back. We didn’t expect that. I told my

husband, ‘We got a lot of people around us. They’re blessing us a lot.’ I want my family to pay back something to God.

“We realize we need to be more in prayers,” she continued. “We need to be more near to Him. This is not His fault. We need to learn more of His words from the Bible to understand more about Him.

“I thank Christian Care a lot for what you did, diapers, milk, everything. We didn’t expect that from them. I bless them a lot. They’ve been with us all this time even if we don’t know them. They are here with us with prayers and with love.” In addition to meals for the family for about two weeks, Jose’s fellow employees in Mesquite provided diapers, formula, clothes and other supplies for Ayden.

And Maria continues to pray. “I love God a lot,” she said, “and I love people a lot. I pray for all this to come out okay.”


76 Christian Care Communities and Services | Caring is Our Calling

Help!We at Christian Care Communities are blessed

to serve with what we believe is the greatest team anywhere. We are so thankful for the tireless work they diligently perform day and night to live out our mission of Doing LIFE Together (love, integrity, faith and excellence). These are not just words to our teammates; these exemplify the lives of all our people we love.

But during the covid-19 pandemic there have been added expenses to normal operations. For example:

• Our most urgent need is to equip our clinical team with the required tools to care for patients and residents. These unbudgeted needs include personal protective equipment, increased cost in clinical staffing, increased medical supplies, and isolation, sanitization and decontamination supplies.

• To protect residents and patients, we also have changed how we safely provide food and meals. We have restricted communal dining and now serve everyone in their individual rooms which creates additional expenses for our CCC&S dining program. The changes result in the need for additional staffing, an increase in disposable supplies, and more sanitation and cleaning products. We also are providing seniors with other staple food items since they cannot shop for groceries.

• So far this spring we have incurred approximately $2,000 per day in extra expense to combat the virus. However, if we have an outbreak at CCC&S, these costs likely will increase substantially.

In addition to confining residents to their rooms, we have been forced to restrict all visitors and non-essential personnel. And we desperately seek to combat isolation throughout all levels of care and services.

• CCC&S needs additional technological equipment to allow residents and patients to interact with their families, loved ones and each other and generally to allow engagement with others outside the CCC&S communities.

• Improvements in technology also will allow our senior adults to have increased access to telehealth services, including mental health.

Herald of Hope | Spring 2020To see more great photos of our journey and experiences go to www.christiancarecenters.org/herald-of-hope-covid-19

$1000

$360

$150

$75

250 N95 Masks or 67 washable, reusable gown

One-year program service subscription for a resident iPad

Sponsor PPE for one teammate for one week (includes: gloves, gown, N95 mask, cap and foot coverings)

Above and beyond advanced antiviral/antimicrobial environmental cleaning supplies per day

* Unexpected expenses due to the COVID-19 outbreak has reached approximately $150,000 as of 5/6/2020.

For 73 years Christian Care Communities and Services has served our community’s most vulnerable people. Today the work we do is crucial. We are thankful, as of May 8th, to remain covid-19-free in our three communities, and we continue ongoing care to our

patients in hospice, home health and therapy. This is great news that we celebrate with

WE NEED YOUR HELP

To give online, please go to www.christiancarecenters.org/donate/donation/

$15,500 OF PPE PER DAY is needed to keep our CCC&S residents and teammates safe and protected from the Covid-19 virus during this pandemic.


Caring for each other

DURING COVID-19



KEITH MALONEY IS THANKFUL FOR

Herald of Hope | Spring 2020

In the summer of 2015 we needed to find a senior care facility for my parents. My 88-year-old mother had fallen and broken her hip. Following surgery she spent a few months in a rehab hospital, but my 91-year-old father was physically unable on his own to provide the care she required when she was released. This was a difficult move for them because they had always been fiercely independent. All their lives, they had been the ones caring for others. They were foster parents, Bible class teachers, leaders in every church they attended, and devoted to helping those who needed special care in a variety of ways. At age 91, dad was still mowing his lawn at home and leading the World Bible School ministry at the Burleson Church of Christ where they had been members for over 40 years.

After visiting several of the top senior communities in the Fort Worth area, we realized that Christian Care Communities and Services/Fort Worth was by far the best place for them to live. They shared a spacious two bedroom apartment that allowed them to keep with them most of the furniture from their home. They were particularly thankful to be able to attend worship each Sunday without having to drive. The meals were good, the residents were very friendly, but most importantly the staff at Christian Care Communities was incredibly competent and caring.

Our parents celebrated 70 years of marriage in June of 2016, and we had a reception for them in the community room that was delightful. Then, when mother passed in 2017, it became necessary for my father to move to the memory care wing. Because of our experience with them we were confident that he would receive the best possible care right there at Christian Care Communities. Once again, the care he received in that environment even exceeded our high expectations. The staff were consistently kind, caring and conscientious as they helped him in this new environment. Because he had severe hearing loss, he had become increasingly more withdrawn over time despite our efforts to get him to engage with others socially. So we were quite amazed at how the staff were able to help him become more interactive with others than he had been in years. Whenever we visited, we would almost always find him out in the common area, and often with the staff members engaging with him in a kind and lighthearted way.

After breaking a hip at the age of 94, my dad’s recovery also required a stay in a rehab facility. He, as my mother had before, went to one of the highest rated facilities in the area. They were competent and professional in their care for him, but the contrast between the way our parents were cared for in both of these facilities versus what they received previously made us realize just how special was the unparalleled care they received at Christian Care Communities.

It was difficult when the COVID-19 quarantine prevented us from visiting my dad, but we were absolutely confident he would receive the best possible care and completely supported the precaution. After a few weeks, we received a call from the hospice nurse that dad was near the end and so immediate family would be allowed to visit him and say our goodbyes. Those last visits by his children and grandchildren were so precious to us. We laid our father to rest with a graveside service at the cemetery that was limited to ten family members. It was difficult to be unable to appropriately celebrate the life of this man who was an army veteran, an elder in the church, and a lifelong supporter of missions. But we are blessed to have called him our father, grandfather and great-grandfather. And we are thankful that he had such a wonderful home in his last years at Christian Care Communities.

STAY CONNECTED

Life Enrichment Coordinators from different areas of our Mesquite community have brought together couples that have been separated and cannot visit during the coronavirus. One spouse may live in Independent Living while the other spouse is in Nursing and Rehab. These examples are of spouses who have been married from 60-to-70 years without previous separation.

During this time of social distancing, Christian Care Communities and Services is making sincere efforts to connect its residents to their loved ones. Here are a few examples of different methods of staying connected that have been effective in CCC&S communities.

• CCC&S uses FaceTime to connect residents with families. Many of our residents initially were hesitant because they were not familiar with technology, but now they are requesting times to connect with their families.

At our Fort Worth community, the use of a live streaming camera was initiated and has provided “in person” communication daily that is televised on the community television channels. We touch our residents seven days a week with a full day of programing every day. They typically offer exercises, devotionals, announcements, radio stories, bingo, jokes, skits and community safeguard instruction.

Residents and families have coordinated their own balcony singings and birthday celebrations. Recently a 92-year-old resident was brought to the upstairs patio to be surprised by her family, who sang to her from the grounds below and made signs of their love and “happy birthday” wishes.

“Unparalleled Care”



Dad & I have been amazed that we find ourselves not worrying about Mom, although we cannot visit. We know in

our hearts that everyone at CCC&S is working hard to take care of her and all the residents.

— Roque, CCC&S Family Member

Thanks for taking such good care of our grandma. She looks so happy. We are grateful for the love and care that everyone CCC&S shows. Thanks for all of your team’s efforts and sacrifices during these difficult times in keeping everyone safe, healthy and their spirits lifted.

— Susan, CCC&S family member

Our motto, “Caring is our Calling” is something we live up to each day. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that is in the heart of all of our staff.

— Danny, CCC&S Teammate

Making masks for CCC&S was a very fulfilling venture to do during this time of great uncertainty. I am very grateful for the help friends and church family gave when it was sorely needed. There was no way any one person could have made that many masks in that short of a time.

— Joel

FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU,” DECLARES THE LORD, “PLANS TO PROSPER

YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

Father, we thank you, that you have a plan

for “everyday” for each of our lives. May our hearts be

filled with peace knowing that you are directing our

paths. We rejoice in you great and almighty Savior

and King and declare that you are Lord over our past,

present and future and it is only in you that we place

our trust. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

900 Wiggins Parkway Mesquite, TX 75150

Stay Tuned! Our next issue in Fall 2020 will

have a new name...and still filled

with #doinglifetogether!

CCC&S hosted it’s first-ever Community Food

Drive at all 3 CCC&S communities, partnering

with local food pantries in Allen, Ft. Worth &

Mesquite. Over 3,000 lbs. of food was donated

throughout NTX by teammates, residents,

families and community partners.

Documents

Spring 2020 · • Teammates created “Salt of the Earth” snacks to send to approximately the 600 teammates that serve our Residents. These bags of pretzels, have the famous verse