Homeland Center Named a Best Nursing Home by U.S. News & World Report

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Homeland Center, a licensed not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community occupying a full block in uptown Harrisburg, has been named a Best Nursing Home by U.S. News & World Report in its 2025 nursing home ratings.

Homeland Center is the only facility in Dauphin County that U.S. News awarded high-performing ratings for both long-term care and short-term rehabilitation and an overall rating of 5 out of 5.

Ratings were determined by nurse staffing, patient outcomes and whether steps known to be effective in avoiding harm and improving health were built into nursing home routines.

“Our number one goal, every day, is to provide the highest quality of care possible,” said Homeland Center President and CEO Barry S. Ramper II. “That is deeply rooted at Homeland. It is how we earn the trust of the residents, patients and families who choose us. It guides everything we do, and we are so honored that our tradition of care has been recognized with a Best Nursing Home rating by U.S. News.”

According to U.S. News, on any given day, about 1.2 million individuals, including 8% percent of individuals age 85 and above, will reside in a U.S. nursing home.

The quality of care provided at the nearly 15,000 U.S. nursing homes (also sometimes called skilled nursing facilities, SNFs, post-acute care or sub-acute care facilities) varies widely. U.S. News ratings are designed to help families research and find a nursing home that excels in the type of care they need.

Occupying a full block in uptown Harrisburg, Homeland Center is a licensed not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community offering personal care, skilled nursing care, memory care, and short-term rehabilitation. Homeland at Home, a community outreach program of Homeland Center, provides hospice care (compassionate end-of-life care), home health services (in-home physician-ordered medical treatment), home care services (in-home non-medical daily living assistance) and palliative care (comfort and relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness).

Homeland’s tradition of care began 157 years ago after the Civil War. Eighteen women from nine churches in the city of Harrisburg came together to consider what could be done to help orphans and widows. In 1867, the group chartered the “Society for the Home for the Friendless” and raised funds to begin operating what today is Homeland Center and Homeland at Home.

Homeland Hospice to Celebrate Its 15th Anniversary with “History, Heart & Honor” Event

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Anniversaries remind us of meaningful moments in time that shaped our history and guided our future. Fifteen years ago, Homeland launched Homeland Hospice as an outreach program to provide compassionate care to patients on their end-of-life journey. The years have been filled with an overarching theme of love. Hundreds of patients, families, volunteers and staff have shared their hearts with us making Homeland Hospice more than an organization. We are a family.

Homeland Hospice will celebrate its 15th anniversary with “History, Heart & Honor… Hats off to the Homeland 15th,” a special celebration on Saturday, November 23, from 2-5 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Harrisburg.  The event will honor Homeland’s history, the history of the hospice movement, our hospice patients and staff – and particularly our beloved veterans who continue to inspire us with their dedication and sacrifice.

On this special anniversary, we will “tip our hats to all veterans,” and celebrate their dedicated contributions to our community. To show our appreciation, Homeland is pleased to provide 300 complimentary tickets to veterans.

Planning for this event began more than a year ago with longtime volunteers, like Alicelyn Sleber, who are lending their creativity and love of Homeland to create an experience for all attendees. Alicelyn is the immediate past chair of Homeland Center’s Board of Managers.

“We are bringing the spirit of love, commitment and patriotism to the day,” Alicelyn says.  “This will be a celebration like no other.”

The event will include a pre-show reception where guests will have the opportunity to browse a “Stories of the Heart” gallery featuring heart canvases artistically crafted by Homeland’s grief families to express their love and remembrance and by sponsoring groups and individuals. The gallery will also feature stories of Veterans Homeland has been privileged to serve and stories of Homeland Hospice team members who share their passion for providing exceptional end-of-life care.

In true Homeland style, we will let our hearts sing and our spirits soar during special performances. Decorated Veteran-turned-country singer Keni Thomas will headline the celebration. Thomas will share life lessons from when he served as a U.S. Army Ranger in the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, which was recounted in the book and film Black Hawk Down, and perform his own music featuring themes of patriotism and perseverance in the face of life’s challenges.

“Keni’s music is heartfelt and patriotic,” Alicelyn adds. “I think we will all be inspired by his performance and message of perseverance.”

Keni will also host a book signing at the event, and copies of his book Get It On! What It Means to Lead the Way will be available for purchase.

Roy Justice, a singing historian, will open for Keni. Roy will perform a folk-style song about Homeland’s history written especially for this occasion. Roy’s interest in music and storytelling comes from his own historical ancestry. He is a distant cousin to the Civil War poet and musician Sydney Lanier.

The service and sacrifice of veterans is deeply rooted in Homeland’s history. Homeland was founded in 1867 as the “Home for the Friendless” to serve families impacted by the devastation of the Civil War. Today, Homeland Center is a personal care home, memory care home, skilled nursing facility and rehabilitation facility. Homeland also provides hospice, home care, home health and palliative care services to serve the diverse and changing needs of families throughout central Pennsylvania.

All are welcome to attend this family-friendly event. Patriot’s Pub & Grub will be on site offering a selection of snacks for guests to purchase and a cash bar. In honor of the event’s theme, guests are encouraged to wear their favorite hat and best denim. We hope you join us as we celebrate Homeland Hospice’s 15th anniversary and the remarkable service of our local veterans.

“It is an honor to be part Homeland’s work,” Alicelyn adds. “Our community is a better place because of Homeland Hospice.”

For tickets and information, visit the Homeland Events page.

Homeland Resident Nancy VanKirk: Volunteering and Encouraging Others

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In the early 2000s, Nancy VanKirk’s mother and stepfather lived at Homeland Center. From the attentive care they received, VanKirk knew that Homeland would be her home when the time came that she would need care.

“It’s a very friendly, homey atmosphere,” she said. “There’s no place quite like it.”

The time came in early 2022 when Nancy moved into a personal care suite. Since then, she has become a fixture in Homeland’s gift shop, devoting her Friday mornings to tending to the residents and visitors who need a snack, a gift, or a toiletry item.

Nancy grew up in Harrisburg’s North Allison Hill, the daughter of a salesman and a homemaker. At age 16, Nancy was sitting around a campfire while attending church camp when she suddenly felt a calling to serve in a Christian capacity. She wasn’t sure what that could be, but she thought being a minister’s wife would be marvelous.

The pastor’s wife of her church didn’t try to dissuade her but said, “Nancy, it’s no bed of roses.”

Nancy had already met Don VanKirk as a teenager in the same neighborhood. They were in and out of each other’s lives for seven years, until one day, the phone rang, “and there was Don VanKirk.”

They married in 1954. Back then, he was a printer’s apprentice. About a year into the marriage, they attended a camp meeting at Mt. Gretna when he felt the calling into the ministry.

“I was elated,” Nancy said. Don VanKirk graduated from United Theological Seminary in western Ohio, and for the next 40 years, the VanKirks and their son and daughter lived in 10 different places, mostly in central Pennsylvania. They went where the United Methodist Church assigned them.

“I always was very much involved in whatever needed to be done,” she said. “I was there to do it.”

Don VanKirk died in 2006, and Nancy moved into a retirement home. She kept busy volunteering, including 20 years on the board of the Neighborhood Center of the United Methodist Church, which provides community services in Harrisburg.

When health challenges complicated her ability to stand, Nancy knew it was time to come to Homeland. She appreciated the stability in staffing and the leadership that ensured quality care.

Before long, Nancy noticed no one was operating the Homeland gift shop on Fridays. Ever ready to pitch in, she offered to volunteer. She picked up quickly on the routine and applied her 10 years of experience as an independent contractor displaying home interiors and gifts for home shows.

“I’m a people person,” she said. “Plus, it was easy for me to keep stock in place and to realize that whatever we had for sale needed to be on the shelves where people could see it and buy it.”

The Homeland gift shop offers practical items and little delights. Tastykakes and snacks are sold at bargain prices. Residents can find the toiletries they need. Visiting families can pick up coloring books and puzzles to occupy the children. Anyone looking for a gift can find scarves, hand-crocheted throws, jewelry, and cards.

In the gift shop, connected to the Homeland Diner, Nancy deftly manages an array of tasks — stocking the ice cream freezer, breaking down small boxes, making sales, and tracking residents’ accounts.

“I enjoy it,” she said, adding that she likes being helpful. “I’m an encourager at heart. That’s sort of my goal in life.”

Homeland, she adds, “is a very good place to live. I expect to live the rest of my life where I am.”

 

Homeland Center (www.homelandcenter.org) offers levels of care including personal care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Homeland’s outreach program, Homeland at Home provides hospice, palliative care, home care, and home health to serve the diverse and changing needs of families throughout central Pennsylvania. For more information or to arrange a tour, please call 717-221-7900.

Homeland 5K and Memory Walk: A Time to Remember and Honor Loved Ones

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Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one knows the journey through grief doesn’t have a timeline. Memories can flood our minds at inopportune moments at the grocery store or at milestone events when there is an empty seat at the table where our loved one used to sit. Homeland Hospice held its 10th Annual 5K and Memory Walk on September 14 to provide a safe and supportive space for families to honor a lost loved one.

More than 300 runners, walkers, staff members and volunteers gathered for this special Homeland tradition. Runners and walkers wore purple event t-shirts with the names of loved ones remembered. Many participants walked in groups with their furry family members in tow wearing colorful bandanas provided by Homeland. Among the purple sea of participants was Kathy Page and her friend Kim Sowers. This was Kathy’s sixth year walking in honor of her husband Charlie who received hospice services before his death in 2019.

“I support the event every year,” Cathy says. “I am proud to see Charlie’s name on the t-shirt.”

When Kim’s mother, Gail, needed support services, Cathy recommended Homeland based on the compassionate care Charlie received. Kim’s mother has passed away, making this Kim’s first walk.

For others, the event was about supporting Homeland’s mission and connecting with friends and colleagues. Hannah Dudginski of Enola works for Homeland but rarely gets to connect with her coworkers. She brought along her sisters Madeline and Sarah.

“It is great to see everyone,” Hannah says. “We love supporting this event.”

A unique aspect of the event includes interactive stations to help families process their grief. Alexis Conkle, MSW, a Homeland Bereavement Counselor, helped create the activities at each station. The first station focused on gratitude and release. Participants could write personal messages to their loved ones on a special piece of paper which dissolved when placed in water.

“This station is emotional and personal for families,” Alexis says. “At the same time, it can provide relief for many people whose hearts are heavy because they have something to say to their loved one.”

At the second station, runners and walkers received small candles with an uplifting quote about the power of light during dark times of our lives.

Homeland’s beloved teddy bear, named Rosemary, also made a special appearance at the third station. Rosemary is a perennial herb that symbolizes love and remembrance and is often incorporated into special Homeland events.

Runners and walkers could have their photos taken with Rosemary who was in the driver’s seat of a car. Racers could also write the name of their loved one on a magnet and place it on the car.

Homeland Hospice provided a new station this year in honor of its 15th Anniversary, which will be celebrated with a special event on Saturday, November 23, 2024. “History, Heart & Honor” will include a display of handmade works of art in the shape of a heart. Participants at the race were encouraged to decorate a heart with adjectives about their loved one for the upcoming event.

As the walkers and racers completed the course, they enjoyed apples, bananas, granola bars and burritos over conversation and relaxation.

Funds raised benefit Homeland Hospice supportive services like massage, music therapy and additional in-home relief hours as well as residents of Homeland Center whose financial resources have been exhausted. Homeland Hospice is a nonprofit hospice program that serves communities throughout Central Pennsylvania.

For more information about Homeland Hospice, call (717) 221-7890.

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Homeland power duo: Mother-daughter Director of Nursing and RN charge nurse share a zeal for service

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When residents learn that their nurse at Homeland is the daughter of Homeland Center Director of Nursing Jennifer Tate-DeFreitas, they say to Jennifer, “Your daughter is such a great nurse!”

“One resident will ask me, ‘Did you take Malani out to lunch yet? Make sure you take her out to lunch because she is a really good, hardworking nurse, and she really deserves for you to take her out to lunch,’” Jennifer said. “They’re really rooting for her, which makes me feel good as a parent.”

The team at Homeland Center not only feels like family, but also includes several sets of relatives among the staff including Jennifer Tate-DeFreitas and her daughter Malani Tate-DeFreitas. The mother-daughter duo is dedicated to providing care and ensuring Homeland feels like home for every resident.

Jennifer Tate-DeFreitas joined Homeland in 2002 as an Assistant Director of Nursing. Malani first came to Homeland during high school, working as an activities aide. After graduating from her mom’s alma mater, Hampton University, in 2020 – with her senior year and all its fun abridged by the pandemic – she returned to Homeland to conduct COVID testing.

From that vantage point, watching her mom in action inspired her to go into nursing.

“I feel like everybody always came to my mom,” Malani said. “If something needed to be done, she’d always know how to handle a situation. Just how she kept her calm and composure about it is like she was made for it.”

In college, Malani majored in biology with a concentration in pre-medicine. The pandemic curbed her plans to attend optometry school on a scholarship, and her mother suggested that she consider nursing. Malani found an accelerated program at Widener University and, in December 2023, earned her RN BSN. In February 2024, she became licensed before joining Homeland as a first-floor skilled care charge nurse.

Malani loves everything about her floor including her colleagues, gracious supervisor and residents.

“I love the team aspect and the unity,” she said.

Malani and her mom draw a hard line between their personal and professional relationships. Malani avoids running to her mother with questions, trying to learn from her supervisor and coworkers. Jennifer stays out of her daughter’s way.

“Unless I have to be there, I’m not there,” Jennifer said. “I had to learn that I’m not the mother at work.”

Jennifer has implicit trust in Malani, who works independently and takes every endeavor seriously. Her daughter is “more like me than I think she knows,” enduring the blessing and curse of being a diligent, hard worker.

“Today, the nursing shortage is real, and the load on nurses can be very challenging,” said Jennifer. “For her to be the youngest in an environment such as this and to be a leader — a quiet leader — to me is a great aspect of the person that she is.”

Although nursing wasn’t Malani’s first career choice, she is glad she made the transition.

“I like the care aspect,” she said. “Doctors are in and out of patients’ rooms. They never have that one-on-one with patients. Nurses are speaking with the patient and getting to know them more.”

Malani’s workday doesn’t end with her Homeland shift. Her entrepreneurial, creative spirit shines in multiple enterprises – running a photobooth business for events, making tufted rugs, and designing programs for her family’s business, the legendary Major H. Winfield Funeral Home in Steelton.

Outside of work, Malani is constantly with family and helping with cooking. Every weekend over the summer, there are cookouts and swimming at her grandmother’s house. Before several cousins left for college, the family hosted get-togethers to “try to make some more memories before they leave.”

Within a year, Malani plans to return to school to study and become a nurse practitioner. Homeland is “the best place on earth to work,” but she plans to venture out and explore her career opportunities.

Her mother has no intention of stopping her.

“I don’t want to limit her,” Jennifer said. “I want her to fulfill her dreams. She has a life to live, and I want her to be able to do what’s in her heart.”

Resident Kitty Deaven: Loving life at Homeland

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Is Kitty Deaven enjoying her time at Homeland?

“Oh, yes,” she said. “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”

Kitty loves everything about Homeland, and so do her daughters.

“It’s given us peace of mind not to worry about her,” said her eldest daughter, Judy Deaven, of Susquehanna Township.

Kitty came to Homeland on Memorial Day weekend this year and has settled comfortably into her bright suite overlooking one of Homeland’s picturesque courtyards. The décor is straight from the home she lived in for 74 years, with family photos and ceramics on the built-in shelves, a painting of a country church on the wall, and cow figurines lining the windowsill.

The cows recall Kitty’s time growing up on a farm near the village of Linglestown, in Lower Paxton Township. She was one of six children raised by a loving aunt and uncle and attended a one-room schoolhouse through fifth grade.

At a soda fountain off the Linglestown square, Kitty met Harold Deaven. He helped run the family farm, and his hardworking mother sold homegrown vegetables and homemade cottage cheese in her own downtown Harrisburg produce stand.

Harold was also a music lover who taught himself to play the clarinet, saxophone, and piano. They would go to Hershey Park Ballroom on their dates to see big-name acts such as singer Vaughn Monroe.

“It was so full that you couldn’t dance,” Kitty recalls.

Harold served in the U.S. Army, driving a coal truck in Japan and sending love letters home to Kitty. The two married in 1950 and built a house in Lower Paxton, raising two daughters, Judy and Renee.

In addition to tending the family farm, which included cattle, chickens, and turkeys, Harold worked full-time at the Olmsted Air Force Base. Kitty was active in the PTA and served as a Brownie troop leader.

Harold died in 2014, and Kitty stayed in the home they built until this year. Homeland was always Kitty’s choice for a continuing care community because her beloved uncle had lived here in the 1980s.

Kitty never forgot the attentive care her uncle received, and her daughter, Renee Edgett, said Homeland was the family’s first choice.

“It was always Homeland,” Renee said. “I don’t think there’s been a day that she’s been here that she’s sorry. She doesn’t even ask us what’s going on at home. She likes it here.”

Homeland staff helped the family apply and sort through finances. During a tour, President and CEO Barry Ramper II walked up and introduced himself.

Kitty chose the personal care suite adjacent to where her uncle had lived. After moving in, Kitty learned that her neighbor on the other side was a classmate from that one-room schoolhouse.

At Homeland, Kitty doesn’t miss a beat. She loves the food and the people, stays busy taking craft classes, and attends music sessions played by visiting guitarists and a harpist. Kitty said that the Homeland salon styled her hair so perfectly that she didn’t need a perm.

Kitty has four grandchildren. After a visit, one granddaughter contacted her mom, Judy.

“Don’t worry about Grammy,” Judy texted her mother. “She’s really happy. She’s different than I’ve seen her in the last several years. None of us have to worry about her.”