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ST. ANTHONY, Minn. (Nov. 26, 2014) – Chandler Place, a senior living community managed by The Goodman Group, is proud to announce that Life Enrichment Assistant and Valiant Veterans Club Coordinator, Char Antoine, recently received the 2014 Life Enrichment Award through Care Providers of Minnesota, a state-wide association for older adult health services. 

Char Antoine, Life Enrichment assistant at Chandler Place in St. Anthony since February 2009, was presented with her award at the Care Providers of Minnesota Convention at the Care Providers Celebration of Caring dinner on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The award acknowledges the people, programs, and teams whose efforts enhance or enrich the lives of residents and strive to make life more meaningful. The nominee empowers and supports individuals at their establishments through personal engagement.

Char was nominated for her dedication and the outstanding work she has done with all of the residents at Chandler Place, and specifically the compassion that she has shown through her resident programming for Valiant Veterans. Her zest for life and caring personality are immediately apparent in her interactions with residents, their families, and staff. As a life enrichment assistant, part of her job is to help residents, but it’s the way she does it that has earned her this special recognition.

“Char has demonstrated a keen ability to deliver person-centered care through her dedicated support of our Life Enrichment program,” commented Jodi Saeko, executive director, Chandler Place. “She uses all her talents and boundless energy to coordinate programs that inspire, teach, and are fun and that honor the residents’ service to our country.”

“The program she initiated to honor veterans at Chandler Place epitomizes the Air Force core values of Integrity first, Service before self and Excellence in all we do,” said Timothy Cossalter, Brigadier General (Ret) Air National Guard Outreach Director, Office of Senator Klobuchar; and Steve Campos, CMSgt (Ret) United States Air Force & Air National Guard American Legion, AMVETs, Beyond The Yellow Ribbon Metro State University, in a letter of recommendation.

They went on to say, “Her attention to detail on the Memorial Day and Veterans Day events would be described as a ‘best practice’ for Minnesota and beyond! Not only did she provide the WWII veterans a special lunch to honor them, she went above and beyond to provide each one with a dog tag inscribed with the years they served, their service branch, and more importantly, the Chandler main phone number if needed. The veterans were joyous at receiving the special memento. Brigadier General (Ret) Cossalter and I witnessed the grateful veterans thanking her for thinking outside the box to provide the dog tags.

An important highlight of her efforts was the wall featuring the actual photos of Chandler’s veterans when they served, some over 70 years ago! This display, along with flawless events for Chandler’s veterans, has not gone unnoticed. Through her determination and passion to honor veterans, she has greatly improved the quality of their life at Chandler Place Assisted Living. One final example of excellence is her work to provide three Chandler veterans the opportunity to visit Washington D.C. and the WWII memorial. Making it possible for them to participate in an Honor Flight is a shining example of Minnesota’s way to honor WWII Veterans.”

Presenting the award was Patti Cullen, president and CEO of Care Providers of Minnesota; and Tom Pollock, administrator, Park River Estates Care Center and Board of Director’s Chair, Care Providers of Minnesota. Char was presented with his award during an awards dinner, which is part of the three-day educational convention for long-term care providers.

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