Concordia’s 2024 Year in Review
Concordia’s 2024 has been full of great events, impactful mission and volunteer work, celebrations of our excellent employees and, as always, heartfelt caregiving. We’re looking back at some of the many highlights from this year and looking forward to more great things to come in 2025!
January: Concordia Highlights Our Team
At Concordia, we’re always focused on building a strong employee culture where everyone who works here is celebrated. Our Concordia Careers Facebook and Instagram pages are designed to do exactly that and share open healthcare jobs at every level of our organization. In January, our pages showed careers of the week, celebrated graduations and recognized employees who grew in their careers by obtaining certifications and licenses. Follow us for more updates throughout the year. We also opened nominations for our highest employee honor, Concordia’s Stephen W. Johnson Mission Award – keep an eye out for a similar announcement in January 2025!
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February: Concordia Focuses on the Heart
In the month of love, we took the opportunity to celebrate Valentine’s Day in a fun way with our retirement living residents – by asking them to recreate famous movie scenes! Since February is also dedicated to the physical health of our hearts, we shared valuable information about managing heart disease at home, focusing on how home health care and home care can make a difference for many patients.
Related: Concordia’s Valentine’s Day Video 2024
March: Concordia Gives Back at Easter
To celebrate Easter, Concordia residents from our assisted living, personal care and retirement living communities shared their favorite memories from the holiday. The Concordia Missions Committee, comprised of staff from virtually all Concordia locations and home and community service agencies, celebrated the Easter season by participating in a project to create Blessing Blankets. Our team donated the blankets to local social service organizations, and the project was just one of many the Missions Committee took on in 2024.
April: Concordia Recognizes Our Volunteers
Concordia has been awarding our highest volunteer honor, the Horst & Eleanor Schwalm Faith in Caring Volunteer Award, since 2017. This year, three winners were recognized: two from the Concordia Haven retirement community and one from Concordia Hospice of Washington. We’re thankful for the many volunteers across Concordia!
May: Concordia Welcomes Bridgeville to the Family
In the first of Concordia’s two senior care community acquisitions this year, we welcomed Concordia of Bridgeville to our family of services and locations in May. This picturesque 15.8-acre community in Bridgeville, Pa. offers supportive retirement living, personal care and memory care.
Related: Concordia Lutheran Ministries Adds Bridgeville Community to Family of Locations
June: Concordia Team Members Take Center Stage
Concordia’s employees go above and beyond every day, and we took the opportunity to highlight many of them in June. We announced the winner of the 2024 Stephen W. Johnson Mission Award, and recognized the winner and finalists at a banquet held in their honor. June is also Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, so we focused on how many of our employees honor those with the disease and other forms of dementia by taking part in the national Alzheimer’s Association’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s® events with a blog post.
Related: 2024 Stephen W. Johnson Mission Award Finalists Celebrated
July: Concordia Holds Annual Summer Events
Every July, Concordia holds two staple summer events: our Concordia Golf Classic and our Summer Festival. This year we were blessed to raise over $140,000 at the Golf Classic for charitable care, and over 1,300 guests came to the Summer Festival on the Concordia at Cabot senior living campus – the biggest crowd in recent years!
August: Concordia Grows Again and Hosts Butterfly Releases
Our Concordia family of services and locations grew a second time when we welcomed Concordia at Weatherwood in August. Located in Greensburg, Pa., in the foothills of the Laurel Mountains, this location provides personal care. The month was extra busy with bereavement butterfly releases held by three of our hospice companies: Concordia-IRMC VNA, Good Samaritan Hospice and Concordia Hospice of Washington. Hundreds attended the events to remember their loved ones.
September: Concordia Supports Bereavement Care for Kids
Good Samaritan Hospice hosted the third annual Power of the Purse event in September and raised over $46,000 in support of its Youth Bereavement Care program. This program hosts events throughout the year designed for youth, but Good Samaritan Hospice also hosts one-time grief workshops as well as long-running grief support groups for all ages. Check out our bereavement program page for more information.
October: Concordia Toasts to Our German Heritage
Another yearly tradition at Concordia is our Oktoberfest, which we began holding in the 1970s on the Concordia at Cabot campus to honor the German heritage of our founding pastors. This year, Concordia of Bridgeville and Concordia at Sumner also hosted public Oktoberfests, and our other campuses celebrated with their residents at their own events. Check out the Concordia Lutheran Ministries Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the many great senior activities our residents take part in!
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November: Concordia Gives Thanks
Residents and patients at Concordia shared in a blog post how living at Concordia gives them the freedom and security to celebrate Thanksgiving and other holidays on their own terms. Concordia at Sumner was thankful to host the inaugural Louise Sumner Board Gala, which raised over $12,000 to support enhanced activities for residents.
December: Concordia Hosts 11th Annual Live Nativity
Concordia celebrated the reason for the Christmas season with our 11th annual Live Nativity, which featured residents, staff and their families as actors; indoor and outdoor live music; live animals; and more. In the December issue of Concordia’s Faith in Caring magazine, staff and residents shared what puts them in the Christmas spirit – all recent issues of our magazine can be found on our resources page!
Concordia had even more great moments from this year than can fit in one list, and we’re thankful for all of our residents, patients, employees, families and local community members who made 2024 as fun and impactful as it was. From all of us at Concordia – Happy New Year!
As we begin 2025, stay current with everything going on at Concordia by visiting our upcoming events page and following us on Facebook and Instagram!
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