Resident Joyce Muniz: Fortitude leads to a life in nursing

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Joyce MunizJoyce Muniz was a little girl going through a magazine when her mother explained that the picture of a woman in a white dress and cap was of a nurse.

“I said, ‘I’m going to be a nurse when I grow up,’” Muniz recalled. “Of course, my mother just looked at me because I was about 7, and she didn’t say anything. From then on, I had it in my heart that I would be a nurse.”

Now, Muniz is a resident of Homeland, where many of the nursing and administrative staff are former colleagues from a career in nursing and teaching. They include Director of Nursing Jennifer Tate-DeFrietas.

“She tells people that I used to be her boss, and now, she’s mine,” Muniz said with a laugh.

Muniz’ care at Homeland has been exceptional, helping her through a crisis with a rare and debilitating neurological condition.

“I want to give the praise to God,” Muniz said. “I went from a point when I came in barely able to walk to where I do everything myself. I do everything independently.”

Muniz grew up in York County and lived in foster homes for many years. At one home, she told her foster mother that she always wanted to be a nurse, and the woman responded, “You’ll never be a nurse.”

From then on, that voice stayed in the back of her mind, driving her forward even when she felt like quitting.

“So consequently, I got my LPN from York County Vo-Tech, got my RN from HACC (Harrisburg Area Community College), graduated cum laude from Thomas Jefferson University with my BSN, and graduated from the University of St. Francis with my master’s in health services administration,” she said. “What she said was like a knife. I always remembered that and thought, ‘I’ll show you.’ And I did.”

She shares that experience with Homeland staff as they pursue their career goals.

“I love to talk to them and tell them never to give up,” she said. “If you fail a class, take it over and see where you’re going.”

After the breakup of her first marriage, Muniz was a single mother, raising two boys who were born in the same year. She worked in hospitals in New Jersey and Florida before returning to Pennsylvania, where she served as assistant head nurse in a demanding cardiac care unit and as director of staff development at a Harrisburg-area nursing home.

She retired to take care of her second husband, a good man whom she married in the early 1980s and who died in 2010 after a series of strokes.

One morning, she settled into a recliner with her newspaper, cup of coffee, and her Pomeranian in her lap. When she stayed there until 5 p.m., she realized that a typical retirement would not suit her go-getter self.

She jumpstarted a new career, teaching medical assistants in schools and a rehab center. About three years ago, mysterious symptoms started plaguing her, including a loss of balance and frequent falls.

Doctors attributed her symptoms to aging until she was finally diagnosed with MSA-C, or multiple system atrophy – cerebellar subtype. She openly volunteers the details of her rare condition, which typically causes patients to lose their equilibrium and their voices.

“I want to educate people,” Muniz said. “Nurses have not heard of what I have. Most doctors haven’t either, unless they’re a neurologist.”

As her symptoms worsened, she knew Homeland was where she needed to be.

“I knew the standards that they require in the care of residents, and I know where their hearts are,” she said. “There are a lot of good people here.”

Muniz arrived unable even to get into a wheelchair by herself, but with regular therapy from Homeland rehabilitation services, her condition improved dramatically. Today, standing still feels like swaying on a boat, but she takes assisted walks daily, goes out for occasions with family, and uses her feet to pedal around in the wheelchair that her son calls her “Flintstone car.”

“God is so good,” she said. “There is no other explanation for how I went from that bad to this good.”

Recently, friends escorted her from lunch to the Homeland chapel, where the Central Pennsylvania Nurses Honor Guard surprised her with a ceremony recognizing her lifetime of service.

“They gave me roses,” Muniz. “They gave me a hand-knit Afghan and a Florence Nightingale lamp. Nursing is about doing for others.”

The severe symptoms of her MSA-C could return, she knows, but no matter what comes, she has confidence in the care she is receiving at Homeland.

“My hopes here are just to continue getting the wonderful care I’m getting, doing what I can, and enjoying life as much as I can.”

Homeland Center (www.homelandcenter.org) offers levels of care including personal care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Homeland also provides hospice, home care, home health and palliative care services 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.

Administrative Assistant Sharria Floyd: New role, same caring heart

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Sharria Floyd has changed her daily outfits from scrubs to business casual, but she still feels like the caregiver she has always been.

“It doesn’t make me feel any less or more confident,” said Floyd, the former Homeland CNA who stepped into the administrative assistant role for Homeland CEO Barry Ramper II. “It lets me know that I’m doing a different line of work. It made the new position of reality for me, but of course, I still go and see the residents.”

Floyd fills the shoes of Ramper’s longtime assistant Esther Burnside, who retired in spring 2025. In typical Homeland fashion, it was not a job she saw herself doing, but Ramper saw her potential and invited her to grow into a new role.

Floyd joined Homeland in August 2000. After time as a CNA floating through Homeland’s three continuing-care units — Personal Care, Skilled Living, and Memory Care –– she joined the Ellenberger Memory Care Unit.

“I absolutely loved the interaction with the residents, whether they were thinking about some moment in their past or had that moment when they were able to be in the present,” she said. “I felt that – and still do – there’s so much to learn. The job isn’t about giving care, although that’s fundamental. It’s also about being a friend. It’s about being a good listener. It’s being a helping hand.”

Over the years, Floyd rose to Quality Assurance, where she helped ensure the implementation of residents’ care plans.

She loved her job but had been praying for a challenge when, one day, Ramper asked if she had a moment to talk. She was “in complete shock” when he asked if she would take Burnside’s position.

“He said he prayed about it, and God said to ask me,” she said. “I prayed, fasted, and thought about it.”

She knew it meant spending less time with the colleagues she had grown close to, but she said yes when she concluded that Ramper must have confidence in her.

“I thought about what I prayed for, and it seemed to match,” she said. “I asked for a challenge. I didn’t know exactly how it would come forth, but it answered a prayer.”

Growing up in Lancaster as the oldest of five siblings, plus a stepbrother, Floyd always had a caregiving heart. Her parents taught her the values of treating others with respect and dignity. She would visit her mother, a nursing-home CNA, during lunch breaks and thought it was fun to help with the residents.

When she moved to Harrisburg, she interviewed with the nursing home where she earned her CNA, but the experience was abrupt and clinical.

She interviewed at Homeland on the same day and was greeted with smiles and warmth. When Homeland offered her a position, she knew it was the place for her.

Taking her direct care experience into administration, Floyd understands the forms and terminology crossing her desk, knowing what they mean to the residents.

She can also help her colleagues understand the reasons behind Homeland’s procedures and rules.

“I feel like because I’ve remained the same person through-and-through throughout these 20 years, people trust my word,” she said. “I don’t have to go into deep detail, but I can give reassurance and let them know that things will work out. Most people want to know that you’re listening, that they are being heard.”

Her new duties include taking minutes for Board of Trustees and Resident Council meetings and ordering flowers for the families of residents who have passed away.

“It’s such a nice gesture,” she said. “Time passes, and it might be a day when they’re thinking of their mother or their loved one, and here are some flowers to cheer them up and let them know that their loved one isn’t forgotten. They haven’t forgotten them, and neither have we.”

Outside of work, Floyd is busy with her church and her three children, ages 18, 12, and 7.

At Homeland, Floyd believes she is part of a team that cares for residents as family members want them to be treated.

In her new role, she hopes to keep praying with and for the residents, contribute to solutions when they’re needed, and continue to grow. She is inspired by Homeland’s history, which began in 1867 with the founding of 18 women who put aside any differences they might have had and “decided to be a helping hand” to Civil War widows and orphans.

“That’s why Homeland is special,” she said. “That’s what still makes Homeland special. The spirit of their love never dies.”

Homeland Center (www.homelandcenter.org) offers levels of care including personal care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation. Homeland also provides hospice, home care, home health and palliative care services 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.

Board of Managers member Sue Zaccano: Giving from the heart

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Sue Zaccano toured three retirement facilities looking for the right place for her mom. She specifically wanted a nonprofit that would continue caring for her mom after she expended her resources.

At the second place she visited, the guide suggested she try Homeland Center.

“I could tell the people were special, and we decided this was where my mom would come,” she said.

Zaccano’s mother lived at Homeland, in Personal Care, and the Ellenberger Unit for Memory Care for her final two years. After her mother died, Homeland approached Zaccano about serving on its Board of Managers.

For Zaccano, who describes Homeland as an “oasis,” the answer was an immediate yes.

The Board of Managers is Homeland’s unique, all-women volunteer group. It continues in the tradition of the 18 women who founded the “Home for the Friendless” in 1867 to care for the widows and orphans left by the Civil War. Together, its members tend to the details and little touches that give Homeland its renowned homelike feel — throwing parties, decorating, and talking with residents.

“It’s more like a home,” she said. “It’s really nice to hear the residents say that Homeland is their home.”

Zaccano retired from The Hershey Company after a 39-year career in product development, though she still works there part-time. She initially worked in research and development, later serving as part of a team developing snack items and overseeing product recipes for accuracy and quality across multiple divisions.

In retirement, Zaccano devotes her time to helping others.

She gives away her homegrown, handmade catnip toys and knit caps for the homeless. With her love for cooking and baking, she makes chicken soup with bone broth and vegetables for Homeland Hospice families. Her daughter’s Coast Guard station recently got a fresh-from-the-factory shipment of Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs.

Zaccano’s daughter gifted her with a four-pack of Hershey Gardens tickets, so on her visits, she finds her companions by approaching people in the parking lot and offering them her extra passes.

“One group at Hershey Gardens didn’t speak much English,” she said. “Afterwards, the one person who did said, ‘Can I give you a hug?’”

Although she is selfless with her volunteer time, she calls it selfishness because of the enjoyment it gives her.

“I don’t expect anything in return except for the feeling it gives me,” she said. “It’s a feeling I get for doing something that makes somebody else feel good.”

Zaccano gets that feeling by helping at Homeland. She enjoys writing birthday cards to staff members and meeting the residents.

During a recent resident trip to the area’s new L.L. Bean store and Hershey’s Chocolate World, she happily used her retired-employee card to get discounts on hot chocolate for everyone. For the upcoming Board of Managers’ spring party and its “Sound of Music” theme, she volunteered to help bake batches of applesauce muffins.

Zaccano grew up in Cooperstown, NY, and worked at a Lancaster veterinary hospital after earning an associate’s degree in veterinary science. She then attended Elizabethtown College, where she met her husband. She returned to the Harrisburg area after moving to upstate New York to work as a medical technician.

Her daughter, Tahnee, a U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduate, serves as a search and rescue coordinator in the Seattle area. Her son, Mike, known as “Mushroom Mike,” has a Pittsburgh-area mushroom farm that supplies local restaurants.

Volunteering at Homeland helps give back to the place that cared for her mother – a place where the care is genuine.

“The people here wanted to know more about my mother,” she said. “It wasn’t like she was just a patient. She was a person. I feel like they cared enough about her, that she was a person and not a number.”

The hills are alive: Homeland residents celebrate “Sound of Music” anniversary

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Miniatures of bright copper kettles, white dresses with blue satin, warm woolen mittens, and wild geese flying with the moon on their wings hung from the chandeliers of Homeland’s Main Dining Room.

Edelweiss and Austrian flag centerpieces decorated the tables. Brown paper packages tied with string were stacked by the piano.

It wasn’t hard to guess the theme of the Board of Managers’ annual spring party.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the premiere of “The Sound of Music,” the Board of Managers turned the dining room into an Austrian dreamland of goatherd marionettes and mountain vistas.

The Board of Managers is the unique, all-women volunteer group devoted to maintaining Homeland’s renowned home-like feel. They lead redecorating projects, deck the halls for the holidays, support upkeep and maintenance, and host quarterly parties that residents eagerly anticipate.

The parties are always themed and festive. Past events have celebrated sock hops of the 1950s and brought casino nights directly to residents.

The “Sound of Music” party idea seemed like a natural fit, full of music, food, thematic décor, and memories. Crisp apple strudels and pretzels were on the menu, plus lemonade served in cups festooned with musical notes. Child-sized Bavarian dresses hung on the walls. One staff member wore genuine lederhosen. Another dressed as a nun.

BOM member Joyce Thomas often spearheads the décor choices, using her knack for design and a basement full of props collected over years of organizing high school proms.

“We all remember ‘Sound of Music,’” she said. “It’s 60 years old. All these things bring it back.”

This afternoon, the windows, normally draped in drapes that the Board of Managers had installed for the dining room’s most recent redecoration, were hung with an exact replica of the green and white damask curtains that Maria turned into play clothes for the Von Trapp children.

Sarah Pugh, who played Maria von Trapp in Allenberry Playhouse’s 2024 production of “The Sound of Music,” provided the entertainment. Rehearsing for the Homeland appearance reminded her how much she loves the Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein songs.

“This is my favorite musical,” Pugh said. “My dream role was Maria, and I was lucky enough to get cast in it and play in it.”

Between songs, Pugh shared interesting factoids about the difference between the movie and the stage musical – for instance, that the onstage Maria doesn’t sing “My Favorite Things” with the children but with the Mother Abbess.

Singing for the Homeland residents, Pugh added, “is an honor. It’s a pleasure.”

When she stepped up to sing, residents mouthed the words along with her, singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music,” and “Do, a deer, a female deer.”

The theme’s popularity was evident in the standing-room-only crowd. Residents filled the seats, and staff members watched the fun from the doorway and hall.

Resident Margie Welby recalled that much of the movie was filmed on location in Austria.

“This is very nice,” she said of the party. “I loved Julie Andrews’ singing. I went to see it when the movie came out. I saw it in Europe because I lived in Germany.”

Margie’s tablemates included Steve and Sue Valoczki.

“I liked the Germanic part of it because it made me think of home,” said Steve, who immigrated to the U.S. from his birthplace in Germany at 5 years old. “The music is excellent. It’s a favorite.”

“We’re trying to figure out where Steve’s lederhosen is,” joked Sue.

As the son of a Hungarian soldier who rebelled against his conscription into the German army during World War II, Steve recognized that “The Sound of Music” has a dark side — one that the spirit of the von Trapps vanquishes in the end.

“It’s not a happy story,” he said.

“Back then, it was a matter of survival,” said Sue.

The party, she added, was a lovely effort by the Board of Managers.

“They did a fantastic job,” she said. “I love the curtains. Somebody really put it all together.”

Ory Bower Finds Calling in New Role as Volunteer Coordinator

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Ory Bower’s experience with Homeland Hospice has come full circle. He began as a volunteer in 2018, and was quickly inspired by Homeland’s mission to make a difference in the lives of others. Ory joined Homeland’s staff in an administrative position in 2021 and has worked in a variety of positions over the years. He recently took on the role of volunteer coordinator, which gives him the opportunity to work alongside Homeland’s inspiring volunteers.

“When I started as a volunteer, I really connected with patients,” Ory says. “I made regular phone calls to lift their spirits.”

During his time talking to patients, Ory learned to understand what makes each person tick. He fondly remembers a woman who loved to quilt, and would update him on her latest projects and what she planned for future creations.

“She found comfort in completing tasks,” Ory remembers. “This gave her a sense of control in her life.”

Ory believes his perspective as a volunteer will help him in his new role. He understands no detail is too small. Every conversation, note, and encounter can make a difference in someone’s life. He looks forward to new and different ways he can engage with volunteers as well as patients and their families.

Since taking on this role in January, Ory has connected personally with each volunteer to gather their insights and feedback on current and future programs. Homeland’s life-changing work is made possible by volunteers who share their time and compassion with others. From working directly with patients to helping with administrative tasks, volunteers are the lifeblood of the organization.

One of the most popular volunteer opportunities is home visits with patients and their families. Volunteers read aloud, chat, play games and look at family photos to help provide patients comfort and friendship. These moments can be moving, and often lead to strong bonds between volunteers and patients.

In addition to personal visits, volunteers have opportunities to connect with patients through programs such as Homeland’s Soup & Casserole program that provides meals for patients and their families. Another program called My Life, My Legacy gives hospice patients an opportunity to tell their life story. The end result is a book with photos and memories for families cherish after their loved one’s passing. This program is very popular among volunteers.

“Our volunteers have so much dedication and compassion,” Ory says. “We truly couldn’t do our work without them.”

Ory grew up and lives in Newport. He attended Messiah University where he earned his degree in ministry. While he didn’t know about Homeland after graduation, he felt a calling to refocus his life to help others. This internal call to action along with his understanding of Homeland’s work will help him thrive in his new role.

“There is so much joy in this work,” Ory says. “I am proud to be part of the Homeland team.”

For more information on volunteer opportunities with Homeland Hospice, call Ory at (717) 221-7890.

Homeland resident Robert Zimmerman: A life of art, church, and family

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Homeland residents bring their cherished furnishings, heirlooms, and art to their bright, comfortable rooms.

Robert Zimmerman brings an extra-special touch to his walls – extraordinary watercolors and one oil – painted by him.

“Patty on the Porch” shows Zimmerman’s wife gazing at the lovely scene at their son’s Long Island place. In other images, waves crash on the shores below lighthouses, a curious giraffe halts its grazing to gaze at its photographer, and a man and two boys in silhouette cross a farm field.

“Zimmy,” as his friends call him, has been settling into his personal care suite since April 2024, making Homeland his home.

“As soon as we walked into Homeland, I got the vibe,” he said. “You can tell from the warmth of the place. The warm colors, wood, and homey elements gave us a good feeling.”

Zimmerman can reflect on a life full of art, family, work, and church. He grew up in Harrisburg after his father moved the family from Middleburg, PA, to ensure his children got a good education.

He met his wife when they were high school students. She was babysitting for a neighborhood family and invited his gang of friends to visit. As they were leaving and Zimmerman was walking down the steps, he thought, “If I don’t do something about this girl and me, I’m going to miss an opportunity.”

They married in 1954 and had two sons, Andrew and Craig. After his first job with the city water company, a friend who worked for Central State Door Service suggested he apply there.

Calling the company “the best place to work,” Zimmerman stayed for 42 years as a garage-door installer for homes and industries. During that time, he also served 10 years in the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Meanwhile, Patty got a job in a Central Dauphin School District elementary school cafeteria, rising to cafeteria manager and eventually to administrative assistant in the superintendent’s office. When the district adopted computerized operations, Patty took computing classes and helped lead the conversion.

“They both worked really hard to put my brother and me through college,” Craig Zimmerman said.

Robert Zimmerman’s introduction to art came via a gift from Patty. She had a cousin whose husband, Don Lenker, cofounded the Seven Lively Artists, Central Pennsylvania’s preeminent group of painters, founded in 1956 and still going strong. The couple enjoyed their shows, and one Christmas, Patty presented Zimmerman with a large box. When he opened it, her surprise gift included a sketchbook and pigments. Lenker noticed that Zimmerman had a talent for watercolors, and Zimmerman started joining the Seven Lively Artists on their painting retreats.

“The first year, I wouldn’t even let them see it,” Zimmerman recalls.

Finally, they called him into the sunroom at Warm Springs Lodge sunroom in Perry County and told him they had voted him into the group.

“That was one of the highlights of my artistic life,” he said.

The experience led to other memorable moments, including the group’s Christmastime showing at the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence and a dinner with Gov. Ed Rendell.

The Zimmermans’ devotion to their church included Patty’s service as a youth fellowship leader and Zimmerman’s as a church elder. He also wrote and directed Christmas plays for the church, putting new spins on classic Christmas tales. He still recalls “Marley,” his reworking of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” which gave the beleaguered, enchained ghost of Jacob Marley a shot at redemption.

Zimmerman cared for his beloved Patty for 10 years before she passed away. Their lives included gifts of passage to Europe on Queen Elizabeth II for their 30th anniversary and Queen Mary II for their 50th.

Craig Zimmerman said Homeland is a good place for his dad to live.

“He’s a social guy, and he’s had that opportunity here,’’ Craig Zimmerman said. “People are so friendly and helpful.”