Special Bond, Families Say, with Shrewsbury’s Memory Care Coordinator

When she saw her mom’s memory start to decline, Jennifer Rabinowitz initially tried home care. First, it was two times a week and eventually grew to nearly every day.

Rabinowitz lived in North Jersey at the time while her parents were in South Jersey. As a mom of three, driving back and forth to help care for her mom, wasn’t an option. After her father passed away, her mom was alone, and she needed more than just 24/7 care.

“To bring her someplace where she automatically had 20 friends as opposed to being by herself, it was just really no question in our minds that this was the right decision,” she said. “Maura and the staff have truly been a blessing to my mom and to me and her family since day one.”

Maura Belfiore is the Country Cottage Coordinator at The Chelsea at Shrewsbury, an assisted living and memory care community in Monmouth County. She’s been in the senior living and health care field for more than 40 years in different capacities, but she feels working in memory care with residents who have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease is truly her calling.

“What I like to do most of all is let them enjoy the best of what’s left of their lives,” she said. “Let’s just have fun.”

Memory Care at The Chelsea at Shrewsbury Assisted Living in Monmouth County, NJ.

As typical, there are activities in Memory Care each day. But, Belfiore said that some of the fun is through her personal conversations with the residents.

“When you build that relationship with the resident, I find then they will try something new,” she said. “So, it’s really based on trust.”

Cindy Palermo’s mom has been a resident at The Chelsea at Shrewsbury since the day the community opened four years ago.

“A [community] like this has enriched her life because she’s been able to socialize,” Palermo said. “She was a very social person, and for so many years she was isolated unless family or friends came to visit her.”

Before moving to the memory care community in Shrewsbury, her mom had lost significant weight, and she wasn’t able to keep up with activities of daily living (ADLs).

Celebrating 100 at The Chelsea at Shrewsbury Memory Care in Monmouth County. NJ.

“I didn’t know how she was going to adapt to this kind of [community],” Palermo said. “I had to figure out how everything was going to be paid for. And it was a lot of work.”

But through consistent and reliable communication with the staff, they helped put all of that at ease.

Since coming to The Chelsea at Shrewsbury, her mom’s health and hygiene are the way they should be.

But the transformations and person-focused care are evident throughout the memory care community. That includes Nancy Ryan’s husband.

“Recently, we had a medical procedure for him at the hospital,” she said. “The entire staff was totally aware of it to make sure he didn’t eat after midnight, and he was ready for the operation. They couldn’t do more.”

While Belfiore is passionate about making strong connections with her residents, she cares equally about the relationships she has with their family members.

“Maura has a special bond with each of the residents in the Cottage,” Rabinowitz said. “She shows each and every one of them that they’re seen, and they’re heard, and that they still matter. And as a daughter of one of the residents in the Cottage, that to me is priceless.”

“The hardest part is when you have to let them go…that’s pretty hard,” Belfiore said with her voice trailing off and her eyes welling up. “But, while they’re hear, let’s have fun. That’s my thing. Let’s have fun.”