Concordia Blog

At Concordia Lutheran Ministries, our employees are at the heart and hands of our mission – they care for our residents and patients with their hard work, kindness and empathy and keep our organization running with their leadership, vision and dedication.

Watching our amazing staff handle the unprecedented challenges of 2020 that continue into this year has been truly inspiring, so we chose to highlight just a few in our 2021 Concordia Calendar as a proclamation of gratitude for their many contributions. Though we wish there could be 3,000 pages in the calendar to feature all of our employees, this small sampling is representative of our extraordinary staff as a whole. Each month, we’ll introduce you to the talented, compassionate team members featured in our calendar.

The new year invites a lot of positivity into our lives. The turn of the calendar is a time many of us focus on resolutions, achieving goals and a healthier lifestyle. In much of the country, it is also a time that is marked by the cold and dark days of winter. The lack of sunlight and the blustery temperatures tend to keep us indoors and more susceptible to the winter blues.

Did you know Concordia has multiple senior care locations that offer retirement living in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio and Tampa, Florida? We hear a lot of great things from our residents and their families about our services, and we wanted to take the opportunity to share one of those stories with you.

Bill and Ione Cowen first moved to Concordia at Sumner in August 2020 after looking at several different retirement communities.

The holiday season, which generally commences with Thanksgiving and extends through early January, is a time when many choose to give back. It’s a time to take inventory of the many blessings we’ve received throughout the year as we celebrate the greatest gift bestowed upon all of us – the birth of Jesus Christ. It is also a time to inspire hope through volunteerism and donations to the communities in which we live and serve.

This year was unlike any other and the way our Concordia home and community-based services team came together to support our community members who have have felt the greatest impacts of the pandemic was a direct reflection of our mission. From bringing the joy of bird watching to our senior friends living in isolation to giving the gift of fun and freedom to disabled children by means of customized bicycles, our team turned to creativity in their pursuit to spread holiday cheer.

This year at Concordia has certainly been like no other. While we’ve experienced unprecedented challenges, we’ve been blessed to continue to provide quality care for our residents and patients, thanks to the dedication and commitment of our employees and the support of the communities we serve.

More than anything else, this year has been a testament to the Concordia family – the compassion of our staff, the commitment of our donors and communities and most importantly, the unwavering dedication of our residents, patients and their families. What sets us apart, and helped us to remain true to our mission of service, is that we truly put our faith in caring.

Each year, we celebrate the true meaning of the season with a live nativity at our Concordia at Cabot campus. This year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to keep the tradition while ensuring the safety of our residents, patients and event attendees, so we put together this video retelling, with the help of the Concordia family!

At Concordia, we are incredibly blessed to have the support of the communities we serve throughout the year. But during the Christmas season, especially this year during our Season of Hope, we are especially grateful for your prayers, gifts, volunteerism, encouragement and faith in our mission of caring for others. To acknowledge all of the wonderful individuals in the Concordia family from our residents to our staff members, we have a special Christmas video to share with you (see below), featuring a message from our President and CEO Keith Frndak and Director of Chaplaincy Services Rev. Jack Hartman. We hope you have a happy, healthy and peaceful holiday season. Merry Christmas!

The Concordia Team is comprised of many talented and compassionate employees who have graciously served our mission in a variety of ways – and we are excited for you to meet these fantastic individuals. Let us introduce you to Kathleen Evanochko!  

In today’s senior care landscape, it seems like there are SO MANY terms and expressions that one can easily become confused or overwhelmed. As much education as we try to provide, we still get a lot of questions about the different terminology. Here are some commonly asked questions we get at Concordia from families and individuals just starting their search for home care, home health or hospice care services. (Here are links to past articles on this subject: February 2019, January 2018, January 2017 and October 2016).

We all love to decorate for Christmas, and sometimes the decorations can have more meaning then just celebrating the season and keeping up with our traditions. Concordia at Cabot Haven resident Jack Brown uses his woodturning skills to create beautiful ornaments and other projects to help those in need.