The Innovative Program of the Year Award recognizes an individual or team that has tried something different in their delivery or provision of a program or service. It recognizes out-of-the-ordinary efforts to enhance the lives of residents/tenants/clients, or staff at a member organization.
Congratulations—you cracked the code...now tell us how you did it!

Holli Cogelow Ruter has been the Social Services Director at GlenOaks Senior Living Campus in New London for 17 years. Nominated by Sam Quam, administrator, here is what Sam had to say about Holli and the Meals on the GO program:

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Meals on the GO is a meal delivery services for residents who graduate form our rehab program and return home. We partner with a local catering company to deliver five frozen meals to each resident returning home from a rehab stay.

The idea came to fruition at a weekly marketing committee meeting.

The program allows us to do two key things: 1) to continue GlenOaks support even after the resident leaves the facility; and 2) to do a wellness check-in with the former resident to ensure the transition back to home was smooth. If we find that the resident is struggling with the transition, we can offer assistance to help them get the services they need or to admit back to the facility to get the extra help they need.

Overview: Meals on the GO (GlenOaks) is a meal delivery service for residents who graduate from our rehab program and return home. We partner with a local catering company to deliver 5 frozen meals to each resident returning home.

It was simple to get set up. I reached out to a local catering company to see if it was feasible and to get pricing. They quoted me at $6.50/meal, which equates to $32.50 for the 5 meals. Whenever we are anticipating a discharging resident, we will call the catering company and let them know when we need the meals. We like to deliver the meals anywhere from 1-3 days after they return home. That way, we can assess how they are truly doing after returning home. If we observe that they are not doing as well as we hoped, we can help them.

There are about 3 department heads that take turns picking up and delivering the meals. We thought about doing a formal signup sheet, but we just talk with one another to coordinate. Since some of us live in different towns in the area, we will delegate accordingly. For example, if there is a resident from Willmar, it makes the most sense for myself to deliver that meal on my way home from work since I live there.

It is wonderful press for a relatively small investment. It is a unique approach that truly carries out our continuum of care. It shows the residents, family members, and the community that we take the extra step to take care for our residents. Words of advice:

• Don’t worry about perfecting the program at first. The first step is to make the call to a catering company.
• Call around to different catering companies or restaurants to see which partner makes the most sense for your facility. The biggest factors are pricing and turnaround time.
• Utilize your marketing committee. Everyone was so fired up to get this rolling that it made it rather easy to start. Delegate duties accordingly as you start to develop the program. For example, identify certain team members to place the orders and to call the discharged residents.
• Before you deliver the meals, call the resident ahead of time to make sure they are home.
• This is a great time to take pictures or get a testimonial from a resident for marketing purposes. The residents are so happy to see us that they give us great reviews!