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Speaker 1: Welcome to Get Connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly

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Speaker 1: conversation about fitness, health and happenings in our community on

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Speaker 1: one oh six point seven Light FM.

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Speaker 2: Welcome and thanks for listening to Get Connected. Based in Englewood,

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Speaker 2: New Jersey, The Actors' Fund Home is a short and

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Speaker 2: long term care facility like no other for generations. They

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Speaker 2: provided top tier care for actors, dancers, musicians, directors and

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Speaker 2: others who have made their lives in entertainment. Operated by

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Speaker 2: the Entertainment Community Fund, the Home has just become an

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Speaker 2: independent five oh one c three. My guest is Jordan Stroll,

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Speaker 2: executive director of the Actors' Fund Home and affiliate of

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Speaker 2: the Entertainment Community Fund. Jordan Stroll, thank you for being

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Speaker 2: on Get Connected.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you for having me.

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Speaker 2: The website is Actors Fundhome dot org. And I've just

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Speaker 2: given a little bit of an overview of what the Actors'

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Speaker 2: Fund Home is, but Jordan, please tell us more.

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Speaker 4: The Actors Fund Home is a skilled nursing and assistant

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Speaker 4: living facility located in and Go in New Jersey, and

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Speaker 4: it is catered towards people in the entertainment community all

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Speaker 4: walks of life of entertainment, as we always say, someone

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Speaker 4: that's certainly on the stage or on the screen, or

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Speaker 4: someone that is behind the scenes and musician, a dancer,

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Speaker 4: and any real form of entertainment, all stage hands, all

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Speaker 4: the grips, and the wardrobe, performers.

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Speaker 3: You name it.

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Speaker 4: As long as it involves in entertainment, then it's ultimately

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Speaker 4: someone that we take care of.

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Speaker 2: If we're lucky, most of us at this station and

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Speaker 2: at all the stations around here, and all the actors

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Speaker 2: will get a chance to avail ourselves at the facilities,

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Speaker 2: especially as we get older. I'm one of those people

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Speaker 2: who's in the unions and stuff for the public. Though,

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Speaker 2: I find there's like this idea that actors and people

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Speaker 2: in entertainment make these huge salaries and they can retire

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Speaker 2: with no problem and everything's taken care of. That's not

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Speaker 2: necessarily the case, though, is folks in this business enter

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Speaker 2: retirement and old age.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, unfortunately that's not always true.

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Speaker 4: In fact, in in the facility, about seventy five percent

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Speaker 4: of our long term care residence ultimately are in New

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Speaker 4: Jersey State medicaid. So certainly, to your point, many of

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Speaker 4: our residents don't make the big salaries in the check.

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Speaker 4: In fact, most live paycheck to paycheck, and when we

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Speaker 4: get to retirement age or the meeting of assistance at

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Speaker 4: our level, whether it be skilled nursing or assisted living,

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Speaker 4: they really don't have the means to pay for it financially.

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Speaker 4: And as a result, that really speaks to the mission

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Speaker 4: of what we do and who we are making sure

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Speaker 4: that we take care of these individuals regardless of their

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Speaker 4: ability to pay. We know that in a lot of

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Speaker 4: other facilities or in a lot of other parts throughout

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Speaker 4: the state or the country, they would have to pay.

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Speaker 3: For these type of services.

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Speaker 4: And at the actors go on home, we do take

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Speaker 4: people straight New Jersey state Medicaid. They're able to come

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Speaker 4: in with no minimum. A lot of facilities allow you

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Speaker 4: to spend down the home itself does not have any

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Speaker 4: of those requirements. We take people regardless of their ability

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Speaker 4: to pay for it, and most importantly, they get the amazing,

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Speaker 4: wonderful care that we're known for and that is certainly

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Speaker 4: the top in the state of New Jersey.

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Speaker 2: I want to talk about that, but just for a moment,

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Speaker 2: to stick with the people who make up your population,

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Speaker 2: the people who live there, because they're actors and people

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Speaker 2: in entertainment. I assume that makes just the atmosphere a

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Speaker 2: little bit different.

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Speaker 4: It's an amazing atmosphere. It's like the sense of a family.

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Speaker 4: There's so many amazing stories where residents, you know, sometimes

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Speaker 4: haven't seen each other in decades and then all of

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Speaker 4: a sudden, you know, they move in. It's like, oh

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Speaker 4: my god, we did Summer Stock and you know, fifty

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Speaker 4: years ago, how are you, how's your family, what have

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Speaker 4: you been up to? So there's all these amazing connections.

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Speaker 4: And the amazing part about it is they have this

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Speaker 4: appreciation of the arts, the entertainment people on the screen.

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Speaker 4: As we always say, there's no better audience than our residence.

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Speaker 4: And we certainly encourage people, if possible, even some Broadway

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Speaker 4: people when they're working on an actor there. You know,

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Speaker 4: before an act opens, whether it be a school or

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Speaker 4: local theater community, why not bring it here, give it

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Speaker 4: to our residents performance for them, let them see it,

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Speaker 4: and they're a great audience, and they're also going to

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Speaker 4: be real and they're going to give some great feedback

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Speaker 4: as well. Inside the facility, we have some talent and

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Speaker 4: amazing individuals, as you can imagine, So we have our

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Speaker 4: own theater community and other drama clubs that are certainly

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Speaker 4: part of the robust activity schedule that we have throughout

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Speaker 4: the day.

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Speaker 2: My guest is Jordan Stroll, executive director of the Actors

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Speaker 2: Fund Home. They are a short term and long term

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Speaker 2: care facility dedicated to people who've made their lives and entertainment.

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Speaker 2: Based in Englewood, New Jersey. You can find out more

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Speaker 2: at Actorsfundhome dot org. Jordan Stroll is the executive director

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Speaker 2: of the Actors Fund Home. You're listening to get connected

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Speaker 2: on one six point seven light FM. I'mina del Rio.

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Speaker 2: How long have you been in this position, Jordan? And

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Speaker 2: what's your role?

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Speaker 3: So?

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Speaker 4: I am the executive director of the Home and next

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Speaker 4: month in March, I celebrate my twenty sixth year at

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Speaker 4: the Actors' Fund. I started here as an intern twenty

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Speaker 4: six years ago, very quickly work through becoming an intern

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Speaker 4: to a director of emissions, to the assistant administrator, and

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Speaker 4: for about the last twenty years, I've been the executive

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Speaker 4: director slash administrator.

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Speaker 3: For the Home.

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Speaker 2: Congratulations, thank you. So the Home has just become an

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Speaker 2: independent five OHO one C three and formed a new

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Speaker 2: board of trustees. What does that signify. Can you talk

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Speaker 2: about that.

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Speaker 4: You know, as part of our strategic planning for the organization,

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Speaker 4: we are looking at, you know, how to better involve

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Speaker 4: and get connected to people in the state of New

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Speaker 4: Jersey with some programs and some other opportunities that the

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Speaker 4: home is going to be looking at. So this is

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Speaker 4: actually something that we've talked about for many years and

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Speaker 4: with our strategic planning in twenty twenty five, our board

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Speaker 4: decided to pursue this opportunity, which we certainly did, which

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Speaker 4: is why the new board was formed as a separate

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Speaker 4: five oh one c.

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Speaker 3: Three.

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Speaker 4: We have some of amazing board members, people that are

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Speaker 4: really very involved with both politics as well as the arts,

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Speaker 4: and we wanted to make sure that we brought the

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Speaker 4: right board together to allow us to continue to make

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Speaker 4: sure that this facility does amazing things for many decades

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Speaker 4: to come.

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Speaker 2: So that honorary counsel you're talking about is led by Brookshields,

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Speaker 2: who is the president of Actors Equity, which is the

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Speaker 2: Theatrical Performers Union. The members include Senators Corey Booker and

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Speaker 2: Andy Kim. There are several New Jersey governors former New

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Speaker 2: Jersey governors, including Chris Christy and Christine Todd Whitman. The

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Speaker 2: political figures, what role do they play.

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Speaker 4: You know for the success of the home is to

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Speaker 4: be able to tap into some of the programs that

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Speaker 4: New Jersey offers, whether it be New Jersey Medicaid itself,

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Speaker 4: and be able to make sure that there's opportunities extended

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Speaker 4: to the home or even potentially better opportunities available, as

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Speaker 4: well as some other grants and some other state assse distance.

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Speaker 4: So having these political people involved on the board is

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Speaker 4: going to allow us to rely on them and help

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Speaker 4: us pursue these opportunities as we move forward.

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Speaker 2: The Actors Fund Home has lots of accolades, named by

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Speaker 2: Newsweek as one of the best nursing homes in America

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Speaker 2: for twenty twenty six, the highest five star rating from

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Speaker 2: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. What does all that

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Speaker 2: signify to you?

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Speaker 3: Certainly for us, it's about success.

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Speaker 4: We're always very proud of our history and who we

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Speaker 4: are in the level of care that we provide. So

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Speaker 4: to have all those accolades, first of all, not many

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Speaker 4: facilities in America have those ratings, especially in a post

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Speaker 4: pandemic world. You know, we're still dealing with the industry

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Speaker 4: that's still coming together, and there's been a lot of

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Speaker 4: challenges and a lot of changes, both from the regulation

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Speaker 4: side as well as from labor. So to be able

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Speaker 4: to continue to be one of the top performers is

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Speaker 4: really a level of success and accomplishment for the organization.

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Speaker 2: By the way, are there equivalent or sister short term

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Speaker 2: and long term care facilities for performers in other parts

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Speaker 2: of the country, La or Chicago or is this a

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Speaker 2: unique model?

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Speaker 4: There is a facility in California known as the Motion

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Speaker 4: Picture Home, separate entity than we are, and they do

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Speaker 4: cater to people in motion picture a little bit different

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Speaker 4: than what we do. We of course take care of

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Speaker 4: people all walks of life of entertainment, certainly on the

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Speaker 4: theater with our close proximity to New York and the

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Speaker 4: amazing Broadway community, and obviously California is a very different structure.

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Speaker 2: The Actors Fund Home is an affiliate of the Entertainment

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Speaker 2: Community Fund. That's been an operation since eighteen eighty two,

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Speaker 2: so this has been going on a really long time.

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Speaker 2: But what is the Entertainment Community Fund and what resources

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Speaker 2: do they offer?

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Speaker 4: The Entertainment Community Fund is an amazing national human service

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Speaker 4: organization a five to oh one C three that provides

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Speaker 4: really a whole array of services, from financial assistance to

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Speaker 4: social service programs, to housing to crisis intervention. These last

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Speaker 4: few years, of course, the Entertainment Community Fund has certainly

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Speaker 4: been very evolved, with everything from wildfires in California to

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Speaker 4: subsidizing or helping financially during the writers strike, and then

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Speaker 4: of course to the pandemic during the COVID years when

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Speaker 4: both the motion picture industry as well as Broadway was

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Speaker 4: shut down. So it's really, you know, a whole gamut

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Speaker 4: of services. We have an amazing career assistance program. Health

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Speaker 4: insurance certainly a very hot topic in today's world, with

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Speaker 4: a lot of people and a lot of focus and

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Speaker 4: attention on health insurance is one of the staples of

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Speaker 4: what the Entertainment Community Fund offers and provides.

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Speaker 2: So are these services, whether the Entertainment Community Fund or

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Speaker 2: specifically the Actors' Fund home are they open to just

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Speaker 2: union members or people who work in entertainment or even

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Speaker 2: the general public.

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Speaker 4: So it depends on this system of the program. It

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Speaker 4: depends on what the program is. Some of the programs

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Speaker 4: are related to people that of course have qualified, whether

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Speaker 4: it be you know, directly through the industry or specific union,

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Speaker 4: but you know, it really is based on each program

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Speaker 4: has its own a little bit of separate criteria. The

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Speaker 4: home itself, I could speak to that more. And the

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Speaker 4: home itself is really for people. If they're going to

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Speaker 4: be a long term resident, it's got to be someone

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Speaker 4: that was affiliated with the industry for you know, greater

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Speaker 4: than ten years. If it's a short term resident, meaning

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Speaker 4: someone coming in from the hospital during a short term rehab,

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Speaker 4: then we are open to everybody. It just has to

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Speaker 4: be whether it be a New Jersey or a New

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Speaker 4: York resident. It's just based on medical eligibility as well

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Speaker 4: as financial approval through their insurance company.

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Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit about that short term care.

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Speaker 2: Then what do you provide?

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Speaker 4: We provide skilled nursing is part of skills is a

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Speaker 4: high level of filled care nursing assistance. Residents that come

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Speaker 4: from a hospital setting. Usually that we're in the hospital,

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Speaker 4: whether it be a few few days or a few weeks,

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Speaker 4: they have ultimately come into the facility requiring a higher

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Speaker 4: level of care. In addition to nursing, we also have

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Speaker 4: physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and in order to

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Speaker 4: get these people to go back home or transition to

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Speaker 4: the next phase of their life. Usually, when we talk

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Speaker 4: about short term, you're talking about an average on the

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Speaker 4: stay of around twenty five days. So we know that

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Speaker 4: after those twenty five days, what's the next path that.

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Speaker 3: That resident's going to take.

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Speaker 4: Are they going to be able to go back to

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Speaker 4: home and be back in whether it be working or

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Speaker 4: back in their community, back in their home, or of

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Speaker 4: course require some higher level of assistance, whether it be

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Speaker 4: staying in assisted living or of course in a skilled

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Speaker 4: nursing environment.

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Speaker 2: I would assume it's more related to long term care.

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Speaker 2: But the Actor's Fund Home does have a special accreditation

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Speaker 2: for Alzheimer's disease and dementia care.

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Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely so.

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Speaker 4: We are very proud of our affiliation accreditation with Comfort Matters,

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Speaker 4: which is an amazing way to take care of residents

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Speaker 4: that have both Alzheimer's and dementia. We've been accredited with

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Speaker 4: that organization now since twenty sixteen, and it's an amazing

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Speaker 4: way to care for residents. It's very very person centered

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Speaker 4: for residents with that type of diagnosis or disease. We're

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Speaker 4: able to, of course have a personalized care plan. And

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Speaker 4: be able to really meet them where they are and

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Speaker 4: provide quality care for them, very different than the old

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Speaker 4: standard for residents, whether it be Alzheimer's or dementia or.

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Speaker 3: Any other disease.

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Speaker 2: Again, you're about to celebrate I think you said your

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Speaker 2: twenty sixth anniversary. What drew you to this work and

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Speaker 2: what does it mean to you to lead this community

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Speaker 2: at their most vulnerable.

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Speaker 3: So I have a unique background a little bit. I

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Speaker 3: can't sing or aunts.

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Speaker 4: I was drawn to the work by really my family

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Speaker 4: business that was around for many decades in the theater community,

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Speaker 4: both at and my grandparents. I as a young kid,

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Speaker 4: I was very motivated and very close to my grandparents,

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Speaker 4: and seeing them age and go through their their life

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Speaker 4: was certainly a motivating factor. My family owned a restaurant

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Speaker 4: in midtown Manhattan which was basically a theater hangout for

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Speaker 4: a lot of people in Broadway. The name of it

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Speaker 4: was called Kathe Edison and it was around for about

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Speaker 4: thirty four years.

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Speaker 3: My grandparents were.

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Speaker 4: Tony Award winners honorary Tony Award winners, not because of

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Speaker 4: what they could do in terms of performance, but to

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Speaker 4: provide the type of food that they provided to people

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Speaker 4: in the industry. So I always had this amazing appreciation

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Speaker 4: of people in the arts, and to be part of

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Speaker 4: the organization that ultimately cares for those people in the

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Speaker 4: time and need is very self rewarding for me and

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Speaker 4: certainly something that I love to do. Me to honor

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Speaker 4: my grandparents' legacy of who they are is they're both

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Speaker 4: Holocaust survivors and very important to me personally.

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Speaker 2: It seems like they would be very proud of your

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Speaker 2: career and what you've done so far.

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Speaker 3: Yes, certainly, thank you.

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Speaker 4: I think they would certainly, and at one point, unfortunately

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Speaker 4: they both passed, but at one point I was able

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Speaker 4: to care for them here in the facility at the

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Speaker 4: later stages of their lives. So it was certainly very

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Speaker 4: rewarding for both me, for them and as well as

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Speaker 4: my family.

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Speaker 2: Jordan Strouhl is executive director of the Actors Fund Home

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Speaker 2: and affiliate of the Entertainment Community Fund. You can find

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Speaker 2: out more at Actorsfundhome dot org. Thank you for being

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Speaker 2: on to get connected.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you for having me.

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Speaker 1: This has been Get Connected with Nina del Rio on

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Speaker 1: one oh six point seven Light FM. The views and

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