There are 25 Continuing Care Retirement Associations in New Jersey with Resident Associations that are members of ORANJ — the Organization of Resident Associations of New Jersey. This post provides information about ORANJ, its mission, research, publications, and meetings through a series of links to the organization’s website.
ORANJ ONLINE
By “ORANJ Online” we mean both the website and the electronic distribution of our newsletter
The ORANJ Tree. The printing and mailing of 300 copies of this newsletter is by far the largest ORANJ expense. Consequently, we hope that those who receive it electronically will forward it on far and wide. It is emailed to the presidents of ORANJ member associations, to ORANJ liaisons, and to all those who SUBSCRIBE by sending their name, email address, and name of their CCRC or organization to
oranjnewsletter@gmail.com.
A resident from Cedar Crest does a terrific job as webmaster and I hope this article will encourage many of you to spend some time at our website. The main section of the
Home Page has basic information about ORANJ and its purpose, with links to its
mission statement, the websites of allies and some of the major sections of the website:
members, leaders and standing committees, and
history.
What is easily overlooked, however, is the table of contents: the two rows of links in the beige areas at the top and bottom of each page. The newest link (at the extreme right of the longer row) is
“Bill of Rights.” It goes to a page with a series of links concerning the rights of New Jersey residents in nursing homes, assisted living, and independent living, with links to the relevant brochures and to the laws themselves.
The link to
“Research and Surveys” is at the extreme right of the shorter row. This amazing page provides a summary paragraph and for each of these 18 studies and links to the complete studies: 2005 Pet Policies; 2006 Meal Credit Survey; 2006 Finance Committee Survey; 2007 Health Care Survey; 2007 Gift Shop Survey; 2008 Report on Dining Room Computer Systems; 2008 Income Tax Deduction Survey; 2009 Report on Subsidization Practices of CCRCs; 2010 Transportation Survey; 2010 Study of Resident Board Members; 2010 Transparency Study; 2011 Survey of Fire Emergency Preparedness; 2012 Meal Plan Survey; 2012 Report on Assisted Mobility Devices; 2012 Report on Hurricane Sandy Survey; 2013 Transparency Update; 2013 Hurricane Sandy: Lessons Learned, Preparations for the Future; 2014 Survey on CCRC Libraries.
An archive of the annual surveys of Residency (Occupancy and Fees) is also available from the
Research Page.
The
Publications Page links to the
Finance Guidebook, the
Legislative Handbook, the
Trifold Brochure, and to an archive of our newsletter,
The ORANJ Tree and our new 2-page electronic publication
ORANJ Leaf.
The
first issue of ORANJ Leaf is a summary of the talk given by the News Jersey Ombudsman, James McCracken, at the November 2014 ORANJ plenary meeting.
The second issue of ORANJ Leaf is about NaCCRA, the National Continuing Care Residents Association.
The
Members Page is especially cool. It has a Google Map that shows the location of the 25 CCRCs that are members of ORANJ. There are links to the corporate website of each member CCRC, to websites of four residents associations, and to driving directions for each of the CCRCs.
Here are a few highlights from the
January, 2015 issue of The ORANJ Tree.
- In his President’s report Ron Whalin of Fellowship Village announced that the Ombudsman’s Office has published a brochure covering the new CCRC Independent Living Bill of Rights.
- Lantern Hill is a new Erickson Community. It is very “high end” with deluxe large open-style apartments and top-of-the-line appliances, free underground parking, and three eating venues “with enough choices to appeal to the most demanding palate.”
- An article “Expanded Resident Education” described both the Medford Leas Pathways program and the “Academy” at Meadow Lakes.
- The “Setting Priorities” article listed a number of suggestions from recent events and provided the newsletter editor’s email address so readers could let her know which suggestion they considered the highest priority. Examples:
- Expand health and medical services including wellness centers
- Provide more options and amenities to attract younger residents.
- Carry out surveys on how different CCRCs welcome new residents and supply them necessary services
- Study and enhance policies and programs at CCRCs to protect residents wo have run out of funds.
by Maggie Heineman, resident of Medford Leas, Communications Chair for ORANJ
