Ellen and Bill Wismer: Making Homeland their home

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Ellen and Bill Wismer smiling at each other at HomelandEllen and Bill Wismer are lifelong gardeners whose passion followed them to Homeland, where the grounds are lush and welcoming.

“The garden out front is just gorgeous,” said Ellen. “When it’s not hot, we go out there and enjoy it immensely. When you go to dinner, there are always fresh flowers on the table, and you feel like you’re in a big bed and breakfast.”

The Wismers made their way to Homeland from Lititz, their longtime home. Over the years, Lititz has grown from a small town into a hub for renowned musical artists and vendors, thanks to Rock Lititz, a venue that supports touring productions.

A Wismer son, now a rigging provider for major events, got his start at Rock Lititz, and all the Wismer children grew up with the family of the founders of Rock Lititz.

“Our town has always been appreciative of them because they’ve never forgotten the town,” she said. “They’ve always supported the town. Always when there’s an event, they’re there.”

The Wismers’ other son is a gastroenterologist in Erie, married to a professor at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. The Wismers’ daughter passed away in 2023.

Their accomplished grandchildren include a granddaughter who lives nearby. She filled their bright, spacious corner suite in Homeland Personal Care with family photos, favorite furniture, and serendipitous thrift-store finds, including a drop-leaf table snugged perfectly outside the kitchen.

“Our granddaughter made sure that we took these things along so it would look like our home,” Ellen said.

Ellen graduated from Manheim Township. High School. She had transferred there as a junior because their commercial course would prepare her for a career in business, and her parents agreed.

Bill graduated from Hershey High School, where he studied to become an electrician. They met when she broke up with a friend of his, and he began calling her.

“I figured she was beautiful, and I had nothing to lose,” he says.

They married a year later, at age 18, and have been married for 69 years, since March 1956.

“If there was any big secret to our marriage, he always had my back, and I always had his trust,” Ellen says.

Bill worked as an electrician, starting in institutional projects such as schools before progressing to heavy construction in nuclear power plants and bridges.

“It was fun,” he says. He jokes that he could climb atop bridges because he had wings, but when it came to following safety protocol, “There was no doubt about it.”

He used his handyman skills in their Lititz home, building a rec room and sunroom. Their backyard blossomed with impatiens, lobelia, and vines every summer – a space so serene that it featured on a Lititz garden tour.

Ellen loved her years at home, raising the kids, with “the PTAs, the sub sales, the Brownies and Boy Scouts.” However, she had worked for Armstrong World Industries before having children, and in 1977, she returned to her former employer.

She worked for 12 years in human resources and was then promoted to sales at Armstrong Insulation, where she stayed for 13 years.

“I was very pleased with it, and I felt very good about it,” she says. “We met a lot of wonderful people.”

The Wismers have traveled over the years, including a trip to Tahiti for their 30th anniversary.

“That was exceptional,” said Bill.

“I was amazed at the lush green in the trees, the bushes, the grass,” she said. “They had to mow the pastures because the cattle couldn’t eat it fast enough.”

Annual vacations took the family to Ocean City, MD, where the kids built wonderful memories of the boardwalk and jumping into the waves.

“They don’t remember the big things you bought them,” Ellen said. “It didn’t matter whether you lived in a great, big home. To them, the time we had as a family was the most important thing.”

The Wismers came to Homeland in February 2025. It is, said Ellen, “one of the nicest places you could be.”

“They really care about you,” she said. “Plus, this place is immaculate. Their housekeeping is unbelievable. The laundry is fabulous. They take good care of everything, and the food is good. The nurses really try to see that you get taken care of.”

They enjoy the activities, including music presentations, a Mother’s Day “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and Father’s Day “Bratwursts and Brews.” The Board of Managers’ springtime high tea was fabulous.”

“The place is extraordinary,” said Bill.

“There are so many little things that make it home,” added Ellen. “You’re in a family setting. You get to know people, and they’re really friends.”

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.

Homeland med tech Anna Hicks: Adding a personal touch

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Homeland med tech Anna Leeland smiling in an armchairAnna Hicks is a medication technician whose compassionate approach enhances the lives of residents far beyond dispensing medications.

For example, one Homeland resident wakes up achy every morning, so Hicks massages her knees with pain cream and makes her coffee, which the resident deeply appreciates.

“She loves me,” says Hicks. “She’ll tell everybody that I’m her ‘daughter.’ She tells anybody that. I have to have coffee every morning, so I feel her pain on that.”

To Hicks, these small, thoughtful gestures form the heart of her work: enhancing residents’ quality of life through genuine care, not seeking recognition.

“I go the extra mile for the residents who need that motivation to get up and get going,” she says. “I like to keep them motivated, so they don’t have things to worry about.”

Hicks also represents Homeland’s home-grown talent and opportunities. In 2014, while working at a restaurant in the Harrisburg area, a cousin-in-law working at Homeland told her about a kitchen opening.

After two years in dietary, she advanced to personal care assistant. Although she hadn’t expected to provide hands-on care, a past part-time home care job showed her how much she enjoyed ensuring people had what they needed.

“I walked into it super-nervous, thinking, ‘This thing’s not bad. I can actually do this,’” she said.

In 2017, she began studying to become a certified nurse assistant. Throughout this role, she focused on small details like keeping residents’ laundry organized, rooms tidy, and supplies stocked.

After earning her CNA certification, Hicks sought a new challenge and transitioned to a medical technician position around 2020.

As a medical technician, Hicks administers medications, visits rooms in the morning, and checks on residents in the dining room at lunch. She monitors vital signs, blood sugar, and keeps her cart fully stocked. Some days, she steps in for the assistant director of nursing, handling management tasks as part of their team.

Hicks strikes a balance in interacting with residents.

“The best way to talk to them isn’t like they’re a kid or you’re their parent,” she said. “You have to get on a relatable level with them. I don’t baby them, but I’m not bossy with them, either.”

She is the one ensuring that residents are taking their medications as prescribed. If they want to take some sort of supplement on their own, she checks with their physician for approval.

“It feels rewarding if residents come to me with a problem and I can solve it,” she said. “Then they’re happy.”

Outside of work, Hicks enjoys relaxing and playing with her three cats, a 2-year-old girl named Stormy, a 1-year-old boy named Dallas, and the newest addition is a girl named Lola.

Continuing the tradition of Homeland’s family connections, Hicks’ mother, Sherri Chanchlani, works for the Activities Department on weekends.

Hicks arrives each day fully put together, with coordinated makeup, nails, and scrubs that don’t look like uniforms.

“I’m big on presentation,” she says. “I have to look coordinated. I try to make it look as much like regular clothes as possible, because I don’t like it when it looks too much like an institution for the residents.”

Hicks also hopes to advance her career by becoming an LPN, which will enable her to acquire more skills and the necessary licensing to perform additional tasks in her med-tech work, such as administering injections.

Her experience at Homeland taught her about the importance of choices, teamwork, and professionalism. She leads by example—remaining calm in stressful situations, not just telling others to do so.

“If you get all worked up, you can’t do your work straight,” she says. “I always ask myself if this was me in this situation, how would I want a nurse reacting?”