The Cedars Receives $1.5 million from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation

The Cedars, a comprehensive not-for-profit senior living community in Portland, has received a $1.5 million legacy gift from the Sam L. Cohen Foundation. The gift will help build the Sam L. Cohen Healthcare Center, a new facility that is at the core of The Cedars’ nationally recognized efforts to transform senior care in Maine and around the country.

“The Cedars is at the forefront of changing how Maine and the nation deals with aging,” said Jeffrey Nathanson, president of the Sam L. Cohen Foundation. “The board was looking for a meaningful way to honor Sam’s legacy. Since Sam was all about people and community, we decided that The Cedars’ pioneering work to create a new kind of senior community that recognizes every resident as a unique individual was a worthy recipient of this gift.”

The Foundation’s gift represents a major contribution to The Cedar’s $30 million “Grow Bold With Us” capital campaign to revolutionize senior care on its campus and throughout the industry. Key to the changes The Cedars is making is the Household Model™, which forgoes the traditional institutional model of care – with its hospital-like facilities and highly regimented mealtimes and activities – for an authentic home environment where residents can follow their own routines and make their own choices about how to go about their daily lives.

“Our households will be just that – homes where people have their own rooms and share a kitchen and living facilities,” said Kathryn Callnan, President and CEO of The Cedars. “People can get up when they want, eat what they want, and have friends and relatives visit whenever they want. In fact, if you come for a visit, you won’t check in at a front desk; you’ll ring the doorbell, just like at home.”

The Cedars will be the first facility in Maine, and one of just a handful in the nation, to make this transition.

Callnan added that this new type of facility and care also requires creating a new kind of workforce and changing the culture throughout the organization, work that is well underway. The Cedars is already partnering with colleges and universities, such the University of Maine, the University of Southern Maine, the University of New England and Southern Maine Community College, along with health centers and research institutions, to create The Cedars Learning Community, an in-house teaching program and learning lab to help train a new generation of healthcare workers focused on senior care.

“With too few healthcare professionals and a growing senior population, the need for certified nursing assistants is critical,” said Callnan. “The Cedars Learning Community is an innovative collaboration that helps motivated, nontraditional students become CNAs, learn about the Household Model™, and get the support they need to start a career in healthcare.”

“Sam’s quiet generosity made a difference in the lives of so many people,” said George Marcus, chair of The Cedars’ capital campaign. “He loved people. He loved the community. He was concerned for the most vulnerable among us. He was always there when someone needed him. I think he would be pleased to know that he is helping to create a real home for seniors. We are honored by this gift and hope that it will inspire others to support what The Cedars is doing.”

About The Cedars

The Cedars was founded nearly 90 years ago on Portland’s Munjoy Hill as the Jewish Home for Aged. Today, The Cedars serves people of all faiths and offers a full continuum of senior living and care, including Independent Living, Assisted Living, Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Care, at its modern campus on Ocean Avenue. Long recognized for its caring staff and attention to individual needs, The Cedars remains at the forefront of senior care in Maine and the nation as it transitions to the Household Model™, an authentic home-like environment where residents can follow their own routines and make their own choices about how to go about their daily lives.

About the Sam L. Cohen Foundation

The Sam L. Cohen Foundation is a philanthropic foundation supporting non-profit organizations. The Foundation honors Sam Cohen’s life and values and his continuing legacy of quiet generosity, supporting his community, helping the underprivileged, and promoting human rights and understanding among all peoples. The Foundation is based in South Portland and concentrates its grant making efforts in southern Maine.