Homeland accountant Cindy Zelko: Family ties to Homeland quality

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This year Cindy Zelko celebrates her 25th anniversary as an accountant in the Homeland finance office, but her ties to Homeland go far deeper.

Cindy first worked for Homeland as a secretary during a gap year between high school and college. Recently, her father was a resident who made excellent progress following a stroke under the care of Homeland’s physical therapy services.

“Everybody here is so friendly and personable,” Cindy says. “The care is really good.”

Cindy grew up in the Harrisburg area while her father worked for American Airlines and its predecessors, USAir and Allegheny Airlines. With free flights as a benefit of her father’s work, travel was a constant for the family. The travel itinerary might be to such destinations as Florida, Boston, Arizona, or Hawaii.

“We always got taken out of school during the school year because he had to work during the summer,” Cindy says. “We went to Los Angeles, which was fun because we got to see Hollywood. We went to ‘The Tonight Show,’ and we saw Jay Leno’s first show after Johnny Carson retired.”

Of course, Cindy and her two brothers recognized that their family vacations were different.

“All of our friends went to the beach, and sometimes we wanted to go too,” she says. “But looking back when we were older, we certainly appreciated being taken to these different places.”

Cindy’s decision to work at Homeland for a year after high school was influenced by her mother’s best friend, who was Homeland’s director of nursing at the time. After a year of working as a secretary, Cindy attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, graduating with a degree in accounting.

She worked in public accounting for about two years, followed by another couple of years with a Harrisburg-area nursing home. When Homeland reached out to her again, the accounting position with its payroll and financial reporting duties was the right fit.

Cindy’s husband also is an accountant. They grew up in the same neighborhood and she has known her husband since she was 15.

Cindy and her husband have two daughters, who are grown now. The whole family has always been “big Disney people,” Cindy says. They visit Disney resorts several times a year, enjoying the food, rides, pools, and customer service.

After her father’s stroke, he had hospital and rehab stays, but the experiences couldn’t match the quality of care at Homeland Center, a Five-Star Medicare facility. The family got him into Homeland’s skilled care as soon as possible, and the difference was palpable.

“The therapy department has been great,” she says. “He’s come such a long way. He’s walking way better than when he came here. They have definitely improved his quality of life.”

Cindy takes pride in her work, especially in the meticulous preparation of financial statements and accounts so that everything runs smoothly when auditors arrive. In 25 years, the workload has increased as Homeland expanded its in-home services – Homeland at Home — but she and her colleagues in the finance office continue to uphold the strictest standards.

“We don’t miss deadlines,” Cindy says. “We’re always on time for everything. I love my job here. I like to make sure that everything’s in order for our auditors and our residents.”

Homeland resident Charles Wilson: An inveterate traveler

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Charles Wilson took a career with the former Allegheny Airlines and turned it into a lifetime of travel that has taken him to 23 countries.

Until quite recently, he was a resident of Homeland skilled care, joking with staff and rediscovering the joys of walking with help from Homeland’s physical therapy partner, Genesis Rehab Services.

As a child, Charles first lived in Johnstown before moving to the small town of Hooversville, in southwestern Pennsylvania. There, his father was a coal miner. After graduating from high school in Hooversville, he attended school in Kansas City.

He then returned to Pennsylvania, where he worked for the state Department of Labor & Industry, operating an Addressograph Multigraph. Addressographs were early and once revolutionary machines that mechanized address labeling.

At L&I, Charles met his wife, Jayne and they were married in the Hershey Rose Garden on a beautiful day in June. Today, they have been married for 60 years.

The work at L&I wasn’t very inspiring, so Charles looked for a new job at the New Cumberland airfield, making repeated visits before landing a job with Allegheny Airlines. The company would soon move to Harrisburg International Airport, and he would work for Allegheny and its successors – USAir and American Airlines – for 40 years before retiring.

“I’d have gone back any time if they would have called me,” he says.

He worked on the tarmac, fueling planes and deicing the wings in the winter.

The best benefit was free flights to the airline’s destinations for himself and his immediate family.

“It’s nice when you don’t have to pay,” he says. “My mother and father flew all the time, and it didn’t cost them a dime. My kids flew until they were 25.”

Charles has visited 23 countries, but his favorite spot was in the U.S. – Alaska.

“It was daylight all day there in the summertime,” he says. “I could get up in the morning, and the sun would be shining, and it didn’t matter when.”

He wanted to see the sun rise and set simultaneously, so he asked lots of questions about how and when to do that. He would set up a chair “and wait for it to happen.”

“It was hard to tell because when the sun was going down, it was also going up,” he says. “When it got right over the North Pole, that was when the day changed.”

At Allegheny Airlines, the board chairman would make it a point to greet every employee when he stopped in Harrisburg.

“He talked to every person,” Charles remembers. “Every single one. He bought us a meal, too.”

Today, Charles and Jayne have three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Before and after retirement, Charles and Jayne took the opportunity to fly worldwide, taking trips once or twice a year.

“My wife didn’t like the idea of flying, but once she went, you couldn’t keep her out of planes,” Charles says. “For a woman that didn’t like flying, she sure did a lot of it.”

They have been all through Europe. Their excursions included a 10-city cruise of the Baltic Sea, including St. Petersburg and Estonia.

After his stroke, Charles spent time in a hospital, a rehab facility, and a local nursing facility while the family waited for a Homeland opening. Homeland Center’s superior quality made all the difference in his recovery.

“The therapy department has been really great,” says his daughter, Cindy Zelko, a Homeland accountant. “He’s come such a long way. He’s walking way better than when he came here. They have definitely improved his quality of life.”

Wherever he goes, he laughs and smiles.

“He’s a jokester on the unit,” says Cindy. “Everybody knows to kid around with him.”

Charles agrees that “this place is pretty darn nice to me. I like just about everything. There are a lot of good things happening here.”

Homeland’s activities offer something that everyone can enjoy. Charles especially likes the performances of Roy Justice, the “Singing Historian” whose history lessons through song help spark memories and generate intellectual engagement for the residents.

“That guy is really good,” says Charles. “He has old songs that I’ve never heard of, which was great.”

Charles looks forward to traveling again, perhaps this fall.

“I’m getting ready to get better and see if I can do something,” he says.

Since this article was prepared, Charles returned home following his rehabilitation at Homeland Center.

Betty Hungerford: A Tapestry of Friendship and Professional Success

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Betty Hungerford: A Tapestry of Friendship and Professional SuccessMentor. Friend. Champion. Ask those closest to Betty Hungerford, director of development for Homeland Center, and these words immediately come to mind. Whether her friends and colleagues have known her for decades or days, one thing rings true. To know Betty is to love Betty for her compassion, strength, and empathy for others. Homeland Center will pay tribute to Betty at its 155th Anniversary Celebration Event on Sunday, May 15, 2022, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., at the Hilton Harrisburg.

Kelly Lick and her late husband Ted knew Betty and her late husband Paul socially for many years. When Ted was in his end-of-life journey, he received services from Homeland Hospice. Kelly was impressed by Homeland’s support and found comfort and peace knowing Ted received the best care possible. After Ted’s death, Betty reached out to Kelly and offered her an opportunity to volunteer. This began a close personal friendship and professional relationship which has lasted more than 10 years.

“Betty took me under her wing,” Kelly says. “She knew how it felt to lose a husband and helped me begin to move forward.”

Kelly began volunteering on fundraising efforts with Betty to benefit the residents of Homeland Center and the clients and patients receiving services through its outreach efforts. Kelly wanted to personally express her gratitude to Homeland by giving back charitably to the organization. She helped support the development of a library and the purchase of a van for Homeland’s residents.

With each meeting and event, Kelly slowly began to find her footing in the circumstances of her new life. Each step of the way, Betty was there to offer her support. As the years passed, Kelly and Betty’s friendship grew deeper in admiration and respect.

“We can all learn so much from Betty,” Kelly adds. “She is always thinking of others and how she can help ease their troubles.”

Today, Kelly is supporting Homeland’s upcoming 155th Anniversary Celebration Event honoring Betty by serving on the sponsorship committee. She is incorporating the lessons she learned through Betty into a magical event to honor her friend.

Like Kelly, Carlyn Chulick, a member of Homeland’s Board of Trustees, grew to become a close friend of Betty’s when she began volunteering for Homeland. Betty recognized Carlyn’s potential for volunteer leadership and helped her take on the role of chair for development committee.

For Carlyn, her involvement with Homeland has grown because of the organization’s culture of caring practiced by leaders like Betty as well as Homeland’s dedication to new and innovative ways of supporting families in their time of need.

Carlyn is currently helping to lead the planning efforts of Homeland’s upcoming celebration event. Throughout the planning process, Carlyn has seen firsthand many busy professionals stepping up to volunteer because of their admiration for Betty.

“Betty has impacted so many lives in our community,” Carlyn says. “Personally, I have learned the importance of building lasting relationships.”

Betty, affectionately known as the “Queen B,” has created a commendable personal and professional life by building and maintaining strong relationships. Betty’s pride and love for her children and grandchildren is abundant as is her belief in her “adopted children,” a name Betty uses for the countless men and women who were friends of her children or neighbors. Betty has remained by their side as they have grown into adulthood. She is never too busy to stop to listen about their professional achievements or milestone events in their personal lives.

With a full social calendar, Betty still finds time to indulge in her love of sports. She loves attending baseball games at Yankee Stadium with her grandson who works for the organization. She is an avid college basketball fan – especially when Duke is playing – and tries to catch most football games.

Spend a few minutes with Betty and it’s easy to wonder how she keeps up her busy schedule, but there lies the secret to Betty’s success. Love what you do and surround yourself with people who are destined to bloom, and a bee will pollinate her world with purpose, compassion and a legacy that will be remembered for generations.

“When you think of Harrisburg, you think of Betty,” Kelly says. “People will remember her for years to come because of the extraordinary impact she has made on our community.”

For more information about Homeland’s 155th Anniversary Celebration Event honoring Betty Hungerford visit homelandanniversary.org or call (717) 221-7885. Proceeds will benefit Homeland’s benevolent care programs, which provide financial assistance for individuals in need of care.

Homeland Director of Nursing Jennifer Tate-DeFreitas: A life steeped in service

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If you need to find Homeland Director of Nursing Jennifer Tate-Defreitas, her desk isn’t always the place to look.

“I still work the floor, and I still work every shift,” she says. “It’s important as a director to know the work because nursing is hands-on. As nurses, we have to be flexible. Things can change in a matter of a minute. I don’t expect to come to work only doing one thing. I do what the job calls for.”

She adds that she enjoys being with the residents: “Any day I can get away from my desk, and I’m out there, it feels like home.”

Jennifer is one of Homeland’s many longtime employees who has been given and took advantage of professional growth and fulfillment opportunities. She brings her passion for nursing to the residents and the young staff she mentors.

She also brings a passion for service cultivated in an enormous family – her mother had 57 first cousins — devoted to community and “lessons taught through action and the word.”

Jennifer’s grandmother was a teacher by trade, “but she was a teacher in so many other ways that she didn’t realize.” Her grandmother took in some of her students and older siblings. She rose early every day to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the staff who worked at the funeral home founded by Jennifer’s grandfather.

“She was always caring for people,” Jennifer remembers. “She was always in a servant position.”

In high school, Jennifer attended an international, all-girls boarding school in Columbia, Lancaster County. Her classmates came from wealthy families from across the globe — Japan, China, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Mexico.

The school also had a convent and a nursing home tended to by the nuns, which stoked Jennifer’s interest in working with seniors. Nursing came naturally, after all. Her great-aunt was a nurse, and her oldest first cousin retired as a hospital administrator. She pursued a five-year BSN program at Hampton University in Virginia, finding a nurturing and fulfilling environment at one of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs.

She returned to the Harrisburg area to work in a nursing home, rising from charge nurse to staff development instructor. When that home closed, she entered school nursing while her children were still young, but she maintained her interest in geriatrics by joining Homeland Center part-time.

In 2010, she joined Homeland full-time as assistant director of nursing, taking on various responsibilities, from wound care to nursing education, before being named Director of Nursing.

She notes that long-term care is challenging, fast-paced and incredibly rewarding, especially for patients whose families may be scattered or gone.

“You’re that last piece of family,” she says. “You can give them something irreplaceable.”

Her bachelor’s degree taught her management skills that Homeland honed. Working under the tutelage of Homeland Center President & CEO Barry Ramper II has been “on-the-job training times 1,000.” She has seen his open-door policy, 24/7 access and dedication to the job, as well as his in-depth knowledge of regulations.

“When you work with someone like that and see that it works, and it equates to quality, you begin to model yourself after that,” she says.

At Homeland, her young staffers included her daughter, Malani, and former students from her school nurse days who started as CNAs and are now in nursing. She tries to mentor them all, advising them that nursing is about more than money.

“It has to be something you want to do, that you have the innate passion and compassion for caring for others,” she says. “If you don’t, you won’t be satisfied.”

She also strives to inspire through action as well as talk.

“I can walk down the hall and take care of the call when a resident puts on their bell,” she says. “I’m not a desk person. I am a nurse first. I never make anyone feel like I’m the boss. There’s no ‘I’ in team, like they stay. It’s always a team approach. If they see you working, they’re going to follow suit.”

Homeland resident Lois Hartman: A relaxing time in Personal Care

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Lois HartmanLois Hartman grew up in Philadelphia, but after moving to a slightly more rural setting, she enjoyed life amid the greenery. There was just one problem.

“In Philadelphia, we roller-skated on the streets because they were smooth,’’ she recalled. “When we got to Glenside, I couldn’t roller skate because the streets were macadam.”

Today, Lois is a Homeland resident who first arrived in May 2021. She loves her personal care suite and the freedom to do what she wants every day.

Lois grew up in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia until the family moved to the historic village of Glenside in Cheltenham Township. Her father was a Bell Telephone of Pennsylvania worker. Her mother stayed home with Lois and her brother and sister until the family moved to Glenside when she became a teacher.

In high school, Lois had an active social life, and while she was attending Pierce Business School in Philadelphia, she started dating a friend, Donald, from her church group.

“We were very active in church,” she says. “We did everything. We went roller skating. There were a million things that we did. We were just a group that got along.”

Lois and Donald got married in 1958, and she used her business skills to handle the paperwork for her husband’s business, a Hess gasoline station on Route 1 in Langhorne.

“It was very, very busy,” she says.

Lois and Donald had two children, a son and a daughter, but sadly, he was diagnosed with cancer after they had been married almost 20 years. It was in April, and by August, he had died. She took over the business, but it was in the days when self-service was coming to Pennsylvania gas stations. The company wanted to rebuild the old station, so she decided to give it up and sold it back.

“It was worthwhile work, but I wanted to work in a bank,” she says. She joined Girard Bank part-time, performing customer service in Warminster.

Lois HartmanShe enjoyed the work, helping people open accounts and taking loan applications. She got to know the ins and outs of the bank and was in line for a branch manager position, but love intervened again. She met her second husband, Jim, “after six years of being single.”

Jim worked hard to earn his psychology license and joined the Carbondale-Lehigh Intermediate Unit, which provides educational services for children with disabilities and learning barriers. He worked there until he retired.

Jim and Lois were very close through more than 30 years of marriage until he passed away around 2013.

“I like it very much here,” she says. “I like everything about it.” She plays bingo and goes on outings, such as a recent excursion to Gilligan’s restaurant. Her personal care suite is bright and cheery.

“I’ve been very happy here,” she says. “I can do what I want without anything bothering me. I like it very much. I like the way everything goes.”

Father and daughter bring their caring natures to Homeland

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Dennis Dinger and Tina Jones are a father-daughter duo with divergent careers but a shared passion for Homeland Center.

Dennis is a career financial services executive who serves as treasurer for the Homeland Board of Trustees. Tina started working in Homeland’s dietary department as a summer college job and is now a Homeland registered dietitian.

Both give their time and talents to help sustain the highest possible quality of life for Homeland residents.

Dennis has been associated with the board periodically since the mid-1990s when he was the CFO for the former Dauphin Deposit Bank. At that time, the bank president was retiring, and he suggested that Dennis apply for his seat on the Homeland board.

He said he looked into the board’s makeup and was impressed with the caliber of community leaders who served as members.

“It has always been a top-notch board,” Dennis said. “They always try to get trustees who have various backgrounds so that we can bring all of our expertise together for the sole purpose of benefitting Homeland.”

Tina was studying nutrition and dietetics at Messiah College (now Messiah University) when she took her first summer job at Homeland in 2008. Working as a dietary aide, she built experience in nutrition’s impact on health, a subject that has interested her since high school.

After graduating, she returned to Homeland and worked in dietary and nutrition roles while earning her dietetic technician credentials, followed by her registered dietitian certification.

Registered dietitians play a crucial role in the comprehensive care of residents. Tina is knowledgeable about the science of nutrition and its power to promote the overall health of the elderly.

She and her colleagues on the clinical side –– including nurses, social workers, and therapists — make sure that residents maintain an appropriate weight and protect their skin, and nutrition is a significant contributor.

“We work as a team to help the residents live to the best of their ability and be independent,” Tina said. “It’s about keeping residents happy and keeping them motivated. We like to bring smiles to their faces. It’s more than just nutrition. It’s caring about them.”

Tina takes every opportunity to get to know residents on a personal level. She also enjoys working with residents’ family members.

“I’m here for the resident, but I’m here for the family because they could be going through a difficult time,” she said. “I always give out my phone number freely.”

One resident’s family member once called to thank her for making a low-sodium diet palatable, saying the family could see the care she was providing for their mother.

Tina has a knack for nurturing the elderly and is “made for this job,” said her proud dad.

“She’s a hard-working, caring individual,” Dennis said. “I must say she has a wonderful boss here at Homeland – Yolanda Williams. She’s like a second mother.”

“I second that,” Tina chimes in. Homeland Director of Nutritional Services, Laundry, and Housekeeping Yolanda Williams has been “very, very helpful from the very beginning.

“She has a very good management style and cares about her employees,’’ Tina said of Williams, Homeland’s Director of Nutritional Services, Laundry, and Housekeeping. “She’s caring, and you can see that. She wants her staff to do well. She constantly impacts us, which impacts the residents and helps us care for them.”

Like Tina, Dennis also enjoys meeting Homeland residents. He constantly searches out those he might have a connection with from the workplace, church, or, especially, his Schuylkill County hometown of Hegins.

“I like to stop in to say hello and reminisce,” he said. “In a roundabout way, I’m caring for the residents with what I can contribute to the board.”

Dennis serves in a volunteer advisory capacity and said he is impressed with the financial acumen of Homeland executives and the management of the Homeland endowment. These funds assure that residents can stay in Homeland if their resources run out.

Dennis believes that donors support Homeland’s endowment, operations, and special projects because they believe in the mission. Typically, they either know about Homeland’s quality of care through a previous relationship, such as a board membership or a family member in residence, or they’re impressed by Homeland’s 155-year history.

Tina admires her father’s commitment to the growth and financial stability of Homeland, especially as a volunteer who carves out time amid his other job and family duties.
“To do everything he’s done in his life and volunteer on top of that shows that he’s a very caring individual,” she said.

The Dinger family often gets together for meals and extended-family vacations to Myrtle Beach. Whenever there’s a birthday, Dennis’ wife, Sandy, plans a meal of the birthday honoree’s choice. Tina always requests her mom’s meatloaf. Dennis likes a September picnic with hot dogs and hamburgers.

“Our family is growing with the grandchildren now, so it seems like there’s a birthday dinner every month,” Dennis said.

Tina is the youngest of Dennis and Sandy’s three children, and she is expecting their fifth grandchild – her first child — this summer.

Everyone in Homeland management is helpful, Tina concludes.

“They hear our wants and needs,” she said. “If we have a concern about a resident and take it to management, they will hear us and adjust to help that resident. It’s a team approach here with everything.”