GDGC TEAMS UP WITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN TO HONOR NURSING HOME RESIDENTS FOR MOTHER'S DAY

    On Friday, May 9th, partners of Genser Dubow Genser & Cona (GDGC), elder law and estate planning firm in Melville, and children from the West Side School in Laurel Hollow honored Mother's Day with a visit to nearly 50 residents of Hilaire Rehab and Nursing in Huntington, a 76 bed skilled nursing facility. 

At this event sponsored annually by GDGC and held at different nursing homes on Long Island, the children make paper flowers and cards at school to deliver to the residents.     

Hilaire’s associate director Jennifer McGrath noted that they appreciated the law firm coordinating this effort.  The residents love when kids come to visit.  Seeing the children is reflective of their past.  Since not everyone has family to visit them, this kind of event really enriches their lives and makes the residents feel like valued members of the community. 

“I think it’s great to have the kids come here,” said 99 year old Ann Lettieri.  “What a nice gesture to make us cards and flowers for Mother’s Day.”  Ann has 3 children and 5 grandchildren and lived in Corona, Queens in the same house for over 70 years.   Many years ago, she made straw hats and worked in a factory.

Even a couple of men participated in the program.  81 year old Vincent Orlando who is president of the resident council at the nursing home also received flowers and a card.  Once a professional ballet dancer with the Egelvsky troupe, Vincent eventually had his own dancing studio called Orlando Ballet in Lloyd Neck where he had students living with him and his wife Betty while they were in training. 

GDGC believes in bringing young and old together as they can learn from each other.  “The children are often wary when they enter the nursing home because they don’t know what to expect.  Talking with the residents and engaging with them breaks down that barrier.  In a small and simple way, this Mother’s Day event helps improve the quality of life for our seniors and brings awareness to the younger generation,” says Jennifer Cona, Esq., managing partner at GDGC.  “It is wonderful to see the children learn to appreciate the older generation and see the value of community involvement.”

The firm also runs Senior Dreams Come True, a program that grants wishes to low-income seniors. Recent grants included dental care for Anna Castoro in Riverhead, the building of a ramp so a wheelchair bound woman could remain at home, free limousine service for a mother to visit her disabled daughter at a group home upstate, and a mattress for a man with a bad back. 

Genser Dubow Genser & Cona is recognized as a leading elder law and estate planning firm on Long Island.  The firm was ranked the #1 Elder Law firm by Long Island Business News in 2012, 2013 and 2014.  The firm provides creative advocacy and cutting edge planning strategies and has been featured in many publications including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, L.I. Business News, Kiplinger’s, Reader's Digest and many others.   GDGC attorneys are frequent contributors to Newsday’s Act II “Ask the Expert” column and have appeared as guests on WNBC-TV, CNN-fn, News 12, News 55, Channel 21 "Act II With Newsday" and many radio stations including WOR, WCBS AM and WFAN.

For more information on GDGC and elder law/estate planning, visit the website at:

www.genserlaw.com.

Hilaire Rehab & Nursing in Huntington is a skilled facility where the comfort and well-being of every resident is priority.  Limited to 76 residents ensures that highly individualized care is given with treatment directed by registered nurses around the clock. Some of the services they provide include:

-        Specialized rehab and cognitive therapy

-        Physical, occupational and speech therapy

-        Medically complex care

-        Wound care

-        Alzheimer’s/Dementia Care

-        Pain Management

-        Hospice/Palliative Care