The New Spirit of Dodge Park
What makes a company great? There has to be a vision, of course, but what keeps that purpose moving forward? It is the people. People bring their hearts, and that brings concepts to fruition; people bring their passion, and that brings reality to the dream. Here at Dodge Park rest Home and Day Club, our people have made us more than the sum of our collective parts – it is the spirit of the people that has made Dodge Park to come to LIFE in the past 43 years!
We believe that nothing is more important in life than family. This principle guides us in providing care for our clients. We view the older adults who live at Dodge Park Rest Home as members of our extended family. This unique philosophy separates Dodge Park rest Home and Day Club from other facilities ensuring the best possible care for our clients.
So, what is the Spirit of Dodge Park? It is our associates and their families, our residents, clients and their families, who share themselves generously and without expectation. It is the courage of honesty, given in kindness. It is the desire to make the world a better place.
We knew that Dodge Park had a great reputation in the community thanks to the original founders. But as we get involved with the operation, we realized that something was missing due to the fact that the original owners founders were no longer involved in the past years. Dodge Park was lacking a spirit.
Our mission was to create a unique spirit at Dodge Park. Without a doubt, Dodge Park associates are incorporating this spirit .. But I think we learned it from our families first! The wife who stays until her husband falls a sleep, the son who faithfully comes for Sunday lunch, the husband who strolls through the yard with his wife on his arm… these are just a few examples of the courage and kindness of Dodge Park families.
It isn’t always easy to be there, in the spirit. Sometimes you have to be completely selfless, giving more than you thought you had. So, how does that happen? Where does that strength come from? And how do you keep the boogeyman at bay? One of our new guiding principles as we incorporate as of December 2007 is that LOVE is greater than FEAR. As you will come along to visit, you will see all our associates wearing this button.
LOVE>Fear. It’s a simple statement, but it is going to change our philosophy at Dodge Park and our world.
Whatever your version of God, or Creator, or Higher Power may be, surely it is a compelling spiritual force. And that force is what gives Truth to this statement. For me, that is where LOVE comes from. It is what makes the impossible come true.
As we took over last year, there was so much doubt, so many to say what we couldn’t do. And, yes, it was a gut check. But our LOVE of the vision to give “LIFE” to our customers including their families and our staff was compelling. We have been know for over 25 years as set out to change the way the world views and treat memory-impaired disease… and we’re done this and going to do this at Dodge Park!
Was it a leap of faith, or maybe, just a deeper listening? By believing in this dream we could hold on to the LOVE and the let go of the FEAR.
When we first bought Dodge Park there were nay-sayers in the wings chorusing out what we could not accomplish. But we saw this need, and we believed we could do it.
Yes, clearly the Spirit of Dodge Park beats within the heart of all our people. We are truly blessed to have on board with us our wonderful director of nursing Ms. Carrie Lindberg who is transferring the legacy and care at Dodge Park to anew dimension, and so many good and courage souls here.
May blessing be yours throughout this coming years.
Ben Herlinger and Micha Shalev, MHA
