Comfort Keepers President Award 2010 given to Sallie and Clark Bongaardt - 6 years in row, outstanding in-home care for seniors

LOCAL COMFORT KEEPERS® FRANCHISEE NAMED TO PRESIDENT’S CLUB

King of Prussia, PA – Clark and Sallie Bongaardt not only provide interactive non-medical. in-home care services to local families, but were recently honored by CK Franchising, Inc. for their performance as Comfort Keepers franchise owners. The Bongaardts were recognized during the Celebration Dinner and Awards Ceremony during the Comfort Keepers® Annual Conference held in Orlando, FL. The Bongaardts first received this award in 2005, making this 2010 award, six consecutive years they were honored by the Comfort Keepers Franchise.

“To be recognized in front of my peers at the Annual Conference was a great honor,” said Clark Bongaardt, Esq. “Ask any senior and they will say that they prefer to stay in their own home. I am thrilled to own a business that can make their wishes a reality.”

Comfort Keepers provides in-home care services on an hourly, daily or weekly basis with tailored packages customized to an individual’s needs. Packages include companionship, meal preparation, light housekeeping, grocery shopping, incidental transportation, laundry, recreational activities, and more. All Comfort Keepers caregivers are employees and have criminal, driving, and credit background checks that ensure dependability and reliability.

About Comfort Keepers®
Clark and Sallie Bongaardt, local owners serving Delaware County and communities in Montgomery and Philadelphia county area Comfort Keepers has been in business since 2002. Since opening, The Bongaardts have provided service to numerous private and County Office Service of Aging Clients in the Delaware Valley area.

Comfort Keeper of the Year 2009 Delaware County, PA Rose Ritz, retired RN

Rose Ritz is a retired registered nurse who could have easily stayed home and enjoyed her retirement but Rose chooses every day to make a difference in the life of one our clients and his or her family. From learning her client’s interests and engaging them in their care to compassionately listening to family members who struggle to care for an aging loved one, Rose continually fulfills the mission of Comfort Keepers to treat every client as if he or she was a member of our own family. Every client Rose has helped has commented on her kindness and compassion. One family member wrote “Rose is the most generous and kind person I ever met. My mother looks forward to seeing her everyday. She gives 100% to her clients and for that I will always be grateful. I could never express how important she is in our lives. Rose is the best.” For continually being present with her clients, engaging them to participate in life and for her dedication and loyalty, Comfort Keepers is proud to announce, Rose Ritz, Comfort Keeper of the Year 2009.

Chris Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies Announcer, signs book in Newtown Square PA Dec 13, 2009

Philadelphia Phillies Broadcaster, Chris Wheeler is coming to The BrynChester Luxury Condominiums!
Chris will be signing his new book View From The Booth, Four Decades With The Phillies
Sunday, December 13th from 1-3
What a great gift for that special Phillies fan! Only $20.00 Signed and personalized by Chris.
Reserve your book today. Call: 610-353-0100 or email: MegSheaRealtor@comcast.net
The BrynChester is located at 3503 Rhoads Avenue, Newtown Square PA
(corner of Bryn Mawr Avenue and West Chester Pike)

Dana M. Breslin: she lends a helping hand to Delco elderly

A Delaware County attorney who finds senior citizens fascinating has been tapped by an advocate to provide vital legal advice for the elderly.Dana M. Breslin, of Wallingford, with a law office in Brookhaven, first met Carl Clauss, also of Wallingford, at a now defunct community service program about ten years ago.Clauss had launched a new program at Senior Community Services (SCS) a couple of years ago to assist the elderly with their financial, legal and medical assistance issues."Dana is my prime elder law attorney," Clauss said. "She handles most of the legal problems they are having. I'll talk to Dana or Linda (Anderson) and get some help with providing a source of information."We are very fortunate in Delaware County to have an elder law group who really are concerned about representing their constituency. If somebody is having problems with a home or taxes at their house, or I see they are having problems handling their own affairs, I call Dana."Questions on should someone have power of attorney can be answered. Living wills are easy, but seniors have to very careful,” Clauss said.Breslin, who co-chairs the Delaware County Bar Association Elder Law Committee with Anderson, received her bachelor's degree from Immaculata in 1972 and her law degree from Villanova University in 1975.1975 was a monumental year for Breslin who was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and became actively involved in the Delaware County Bar Association (DCBA) where she continues to serve on a variety of committees.Since 1996 Breslin has been deemed a certified elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation. She is a Fellow with American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), and a member of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the PBA.She chaired the PBA Elder Law Committee in 1999, was the first chair of the Elder Law Section of PBA in 2000 and continues to serve on the council of the Elder Law Section. For the last ten years, Breslin has been an active member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys.According to Breslin, the DCBA has a variety of committees to address special concerns including Elder Law, Family Law and others."We started the Elder Law Committee eight to ten years ago so we could have training and discussions on issues concerning the elderly," Breslin said, naming Medicare Part D as an example. "It's a complicated government system. Attorneys can be more aware."Breslin is a frequent lecturer and current vice president for the Delaware County Estate Planning Council.A faculty member at the Estate Law Institute, Breslin also serves on the board of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project and Senior Community Services Inc."I like reaching out to seniors who need help," Breslin said. "Some senior citizens get caught up in an economic bind and it started before the economy went sour. Some people are using their credit cards for pharmacy bills."Carl will call me when he's at the center and needs an answer right away or he has a Social Security problem. I'm not the only one he calls. Carl is excellent in coordinating."Breslin cited other attorneys on the Delco Elder Law Committee who have assisted Clauss including co-chair Linda Anderson, Harris Resnick, Cyndi McNicholas, Jeff Lewin, Rob DeLong, Janet Lis, Dave Hennessey, Mike Defino, Ross Schmucki, Mike Friedman and Bob Gasparo, who have all helped.Clauss has partnered with SCS, Widener University School of Law, the Elder Law Committee of Delaware County Bar Association, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania and COSA, the County Office of Services for the Aging, to offer assistance to older adults.Both Breslin and Clauss have a special place in their hearts for the elderly who are particularly vulnerable to the problems that arise due to the lack of income."I wanted to focus my work on an individual basis to help seniors," Clauss said, noting he established the program together with other resources to assist senior citizens with all their problems."The Widener Law Clinic and the Elder Law Committee of the Delaware County Bar Association have been very supportive of the program," Clauss said. "Recently Professor Nick Nichols of Widener obtained funding for two fellowships this summer for two law students that have completed their second year. We have arranged for them to work with the elder law attorneys and me at the senior centers to expand our counseling program for legal, medical and financial help."According to Clauss, Widener is presenting a program for seniors on avoiding debt collectors."I like working with the elderly," Breslin said. "When I was in law school there was not anything on elder law. Older people tend to take more time. I find them fascinating; they have more life experiences."Breslin sees the biggest issue facing senior citizens is how they will pay for long term care."Their fear is that the nursing home will take it all," Breslin said. "The most recent problem, financial abuse of the elderly, starts with marketers who sell products like annuities, certain types of annuities, or the living trust mills to family members who are taken advantage of due to economic times."Right now Breslin is concerned about House Bill 1351 introduced by Dwight Evans regarding estate recovery."When someone 55 and older needs help at home or a nursing home, the state seeks to reimburse," Breslin said. "HB 1351 expands to non-probate access. The bill is really detrimental especially to the surviving spouse when a house is held jointly by husband and wife. The state would have an invisible lien. There's been a state outcry."Breslin continues to be at the forefront in developing continuing legal education courses for attorneys in the estate and trust areas and is the course planner for the Pennsylvania Elder Law Institute that encompasses the whole spectrum of estate and financial planning for the elderly.It’s comforting for Clauss and Delco elderly residents to know they have someone on their side.Dana Breslin, Esq. To read more about Dana go to: http://pappanoandbreslin.com/

This article appears in the August 6th edition of The Town Talk newspapers at: http://www.delconewsnetwork.com/articles/2009/08/07/media_town_talk/news/doc4a7b32fae379b628343628.txt

The Pennsylvania Veterans Museum Invites You…
Our special friends, neighbors and volunteers…
RIBBON CUTTING
Korean War Exhibits
and the New Entrance on State Street (Trader Joe's Side) WHEN: July 26, 2009 Sun, 12.00pm
LIVE OUTDOOR MUSIC FEATURING :
Theresa Agostinelli , Guitarist Vocalist @ 1 pm
WHERE: Pennsylvania Veterans Museum
12 East State Street
Media, PA 19063
610-566-5196-museum, 619-566-0788-office
***If you know any Korean War veterans who may have any memorabilia that they would like to share with the museum for that weekend, please contact the museum offices at 610-566-0788***

Refreshments will be served

Back to School: Are you a teacher who is taking care of your aging elderly senior loved one during the summer?

Have you been making meals, driving to doctor's appointments, helping with bathing or reminding a loved one to take their medication this summer? If so, you might be concerned about how he or she will manage when you got back to school next month. Well, we might have the answer for you. Hire a Comfort Keeper!
At Comfort Keepers®, nothing is more important than helping people live full, independent and dignified lives within the comfort of their own homes. Comfort Keepers is dedicated to providing in-home care that enriches our clients' lives and helps them maintain the highest possible level of independent living.

Comfort Keepers provide you or a loved one in-home assistance that may include:
companionship,meal preparation,transportation to doctor appointments or other commitments
light housekeeping or in-home safety technology. From Interactive Caregiving where our employees deliver care that encompasses physical activity, mental stimulation, social engagement and emotional health that can genuinely change a person’s life to the Personal Emergency Response System (more commonly known as Help Me I Fallen machine), our Comfort Keepers in the Delaware County, PA area can help as little as 2 hour visits up to 24 hours a day. Our offices nationally can provide to your loved one in states other than PA as well.

All of our Comfort Keepers are employed, bonded and insured with workers' compensation. They have criminal background checks completed prior to our office providing them with hands on training. In Delaware County PA, our Registered Nurse trains all of our staff and assists families in coordinating care at home and with the doctor when family cannot be there.

Let us help take some of your stress away this fall. Call for more information about our services in Delaware, Montgomery, Philadelphia and Chester Counties, PA. FREE in-home consultations as well as FREE Installation on the (PERS)Personal Emergency Response System when you mention this blog. PERS have a monthly charge in Delaware County of $29.99 and the charge is month to month. No long term contracts. Once installed, our staff can remove the equipment at anytime with no penalty. Call today 610-543-6300 for more information or go to our website:
http://www.comfortkeepers.com/caregivers/326/. For an office outside the state of PA, go to http://www.comfortkeepers.com/ and click on Locations.

PA Veterans Museum in Media, PA celebrates new Korean War exhibit - Veterans and families invited FREE

Invites
Korean War Veterans and their families
to the opening of our
Korean War Exhibits
and the New Entrance on State Street
Our unveiling is in observance of the 56th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. The new interactive kiosks present inspiring and educational information in the Museum’s traditional method of providing firsthand accounts by those who experienced service and sacrifice during wartime.
WHEN: July 25, 2009 Saturday, VIP reception from 4 PM - 7 PM
The museum will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at
5:00 PM for the Korean War Exhibits.

WHERE: Pennsylvania Veterans Museum
12 East State Street
Media, PA 19063
610-566-5196

***If you have any memorabilia that you would like to share with the museum for that weekend, please contact the museum offices at 610-566-0788***
Refreshments will be served
The Exhibits will open to the public Sunday, July 26, 2009. The museum will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony to open the new entry on State Street located to the right of the armory’s classic iron gate. The museum will be open from Noon to 5 PM
Visit our website at http://www.paveteransmuseum.org/