Dreams Can Come True

Orchard Hill hosts Dreams Can Come True event

Today, Orchard Hill assisted living community in New Ulm, Minnesota hosts their first Dreams Can Come True event.  You can watch the event live via our Welcome Home LIVE channel on our website.  Program starts at 2pm. 

A little background

Five years ago, we made a transformation in our activity program. This program was centered on providing our residents with more intellectual and fulfilling activities that would show to their families, and more importantly to each other, that they can make a difference in the world. It began with small changes such as residents volunteering to pack meals for needy children, to residents learning how to paint with water colors. Part of this new activity program was to build a “Make-a-wish” type of program for our residents.  Called “Dreams Can Come True”, the program has been a huge success in several of our communities.  It was a resident in their 90’s learning how to email their grandkids. It was our “Harley Mama” wanting to show her grandkids that she still has “it”.  And it was our residents wanting to go fishing with their families one more time. Our program is not just A Part of Them; it was living life and experiencing what we once took so much joy in doing. The resident in each of these instances and so many more, are our family members.

To date, six of our twelve communities have held Dreams Can Come True events, and one of them has done the program twice.  Other communities have begun to develop their programs, and are at various stages of accomplishing their goal of bringing the program to their communities.

From this program, the granted dreams range from big to small, but each of those dreams was significant to the resident that shared their dreams with us.  Following below is a short list of the over 150 dreams that have been granted because of this program and the dedication of the employees of Welcome Home Health Care.  They are:

• Throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game for a former minor leaguer
• Helicopter ride
• Airplane ride for a resident who wanted to see her homestead from the air
• Ride on a Harley Davidson
• A doll from a memory this resident had as a child
• A tea set donated by a local business with several varieties of tea included
• To visit his old Army buddies again
• To go fishing with my great grandchildren
• To have our life stories written down so our families can see what we’ve been doing all our lives that a local High School helped make come true.
• A makeover and a new outfit for her granddaughter’s wedding
• A ride in a limousine
• Was able to arrange a trip for a resident to see her ailing sister in another state by contacting businesses and working with family.
• A radio for a resident who had never had a radio of his own
• One resident wanted to donate money to find a cure for a disease that her son had passed away from (Lou Gehrig’s disease).  Staff came together and raised close to $200 to donate to the cause in her name.
• One resident wanted yarn to make mittens for needy people.  Local knitting club helped make the dream come true.
• A local business came and donated a dream for the entire community.  Staff from a local business took this time to donate their personal time to volunteer with the residents. 

Our program is not just “A Part of You”……A Part of You simply means that LIFE is an EXPERIENCE.  These people are still living, breathing people…they are our grandparents, our parents, our neighbors and friends,  and they deserve a lot.