Spring Hills Cherry Hill Assisted Living is taking human kindness to the next level. Through their annual Enrichment through Literature program, the residents will read the book “Human Kind, Changing the World One Small Act at a Time,” a collection of essays about true and transformative accounts of kindness, by Brad Aronson. Each month throughout the year, the residents will be encouraged to create their own acts of Human Kindness. They will work with school groups, community groups and more to provide community outreach, opportunities for service, and positive engagement to combat the risk of isolation during the pandemic.
“Human Kind, Changing the World One Small Act at a Time” starts with the author’s own story of how his community turned out to support his family when his wife Mia underwent cancer treatment and traveled the long road to recovery.
Each month, starting in March, Spring Hills Cherry Hill residents will explore a chapter of the book and engage in acts of kindness that relate to the month’s given topic. Of particular interest are the chapters that involve service to animals, as Spring Hills is known for its Signature Touch program “PAWS” (Pets are Welcome) and other programs like “Care Cubes” and “Signature Dining.” Plans are also underway to involve local schools, intergenerational groups, non-profits and charities. Throughout the year, Brad Aronson will participate in Zoom meetings and virtual panel discussions, and the Spring Hills communities throughout the country will share their top three acts of kindness each month.
“Our top priority is always the health and wellbeing of our residents and associates. Being of service to others is a basic human need,” President/CEO of Spring Hills Alexander Markowits said. “By empowering our residents to help others and remain active through programs like this, they are engaged as well as mentally, emotionally and physically healthy.”
To kick off the program, the residents participated in a Heart-to-Heart art project. They made handmade hearts out of pipe cleaners and linked them together to form a chain. They were then strung together and displayed throughout the community’s common areas, symbolizing the “chain reaction” of kindness that the group hopes to ignite.
