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Board of Managers member Alicelyn Sleber: Drawn to Homeland Center for its community impact

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Alicelyn Sleber

Alicelyn Sleber, member of the Board of Managers at Homeland.

Before she joined the Board of Managers, Alicelyn Watson Sleber knew Homeland Center well through her work in local social services and visits to fellow church members living here.

“I like that Homeland is in the community,” Alicelyn says. “They involve the community in their undertakings, and they give back to the community. It’s all part of life, and they afford that to the residents here. Homeland’s good reputation precedes it.”

Homeland, a CMS Five-Star Skilled Nursing Care Facility rating, Medicare’s highest citation, assures excellence in care. A unique, dual board structure provides this comprehensive foundation for the Harrisburg area’s premier continuing care community. While the Board of Trustees oversees policies and finances, the Board of Managers fosters Homeland’s home-like atmosphere, seeing to such “quality of life details” as fresh flowers on dining room tables, updated décor, and fun parties and picnics.

The Board of Managers is a good fit for Alicelyn’s nurturing nature. She is a retired psychologist and educator who has worked in private practice with her husband, Rick Sleber, and as special education teacher and administrator with the Harrisburg School District.

“I’ve always liked people,” she says. “I enjoy working with them.”

Her work in the Harrisburg schools put her in contact with students of varying ages. As a special education facilitator, she helped incarcerated youth stay on track to earning their degrees, so they wouldn’t lose educational momentum while in detention.

In her private practice in clinical psychology, Alicelyn continued to work within family systems, helping couples and children through difficult child custody cases, working with judges on adjudicating parenting conflicts, or evaluating youth in the county detention center.

Even before retiring, Alicelyn was a mainstay in community causes. She has served on boards and volunteered for Parents Anonymous and the YWCA of Greater Harrisburg. When it came time to choose a church, she went with Harrisburg’s venerable Pine Street Presbyterian Church so she could assist its Downtown Daily Bread ministry, which offers meals, shelter, and services for the hungry and homeless.

Seeking out a need and serving it seems ingrained in her DNA. Alicelyn grew up in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, a small, coal-mining town in Centre County. Her mother, Bette Cole Watson, was an avid volunteer and a nurse who couldn’t be deterred by bad weather from her daily rounds to care for residents in the rural region.

“Not only would she go to see them, but her back seat would be filled with pieces of cake,” Alicelyn recalls. “She would take everybody a piece of cake.”

Alicelyn’s grandmother, Alice Cole, managed a restaurant in the Allentown area. The woman Alicelyn called “Baba” would help her employees find housing and manage their finances. Early in Alicelyn’s time working at a Harrisburg elementary school, “Baba” would knit mittens as Christmas gifts for her students, delivering them to Alicelyn with the instruction, “You be sure to give them some candy. No apples.”

With the Homeland Board of Managers, Alicelyn believes she can contribute her organizational and problem-solving skills, further enhancing Homeland’s “user-friendly approach” – and not solely for the benefit of residents.

“We’re here to support the staff,” she says. “We have an amazing staff here. They always work as a team. I’m amazed at how wonderfully they interact with each other.”

Since retiring in 2017, Alicelyn has filled her time with travel, family, and friends. She indulges her love of the beach at Marco Island, Florida, and Newport Beach, California. She has seen plays in New York. In the summertime, she hosts “Sleber Camp,” when her grown nieces visit to enjoy shopping, trips, and nature walks. The 2019 edition of “Sleber Camp” includes walking in the Homeland Hospice 5K and Memory Walk. The Memory Walk is a new feature offering non-runner a short course to stroll in memory or honor of loved ones.

Alicelyn said she joined Homeland’s Board of Managers because of the value that Homeland delivers to the community.

“I came here because it is Homeland, and because of its reputation,” she says. “I wanted to be affiliated with it and support the mission.”

Board of Managers member Beth Stoner brings splashes of color to Homeland

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Beth Stoner

Beth Stoner, member of the Board of Managers at Homeland Center.

Beth Stoner loves to paint flowers, and though her artwork isn’t on display at Homeland, her artistry is on view in another sense. At the entrances to Homeland are colorful planters that Beth helped create. Brimming with flowers, they extend a cheery welcome to residents and visitors alike.

Homeland has a unique system of dual boards that combine to assure a well-run, comfortable facility. The Board of Directors oversees policies and finances, while the Board of Managers enlivens Homeland’s atmosphere with home-like décor and fun activities.

Beth has served on the Board of Managers since August 2018. Growing up, Beth’s parents instilled in her a love of art, music, and history. Classical music recordings were always playing in her home. Her father would stand in front of the hi-fi and pretend to conduct the orchestra – once, even using a conductor’s baton that came with a record.

Beth’s father also took the family to see battlefields in Gettysburg and artwork at the Philadelphia Art Museum, but his professional career followed a more technical path that culminated in his post as executive director of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. During World War II, he worked on the Manhattan Project, the U.S. government’s hush-hush initiative to develop an atom bomb.

“It was all secret, secret, secret,” Beth says. “When the first bomb was dropped, all the wives came out of their homes and wondered if this was what they were there for.”

Beth graduated from Camp Hill High School and then attended Alderson Broadus College – now Alderson Broadus University – in the “little, teeny town of Philippi, West Virginia.” There, she majored in history and minored in sociology and psychology. She spent a semester in Salzburg, Austria, where she had great fun “wandering the city” and exploring Vienna, Italy, and Czechoslovakia.

It’s a habit she continues, with travels that now include England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. She cruised the Baltic last year, but high winds kept her ship in St. Petersburg an extra day, so she didn’t get to disembark in Gdansk.

After graduating from college, Beth returned home and resumed something she had always loved – singing in a church choir. There, she met her future husband, Bill. Within a few years, his health started declining, and he needed dialysis. Beth was learning to operate an in-home dialysis machine, but the day it was supposed to arrive, a call came from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. They had a kidney for him, and he underwent a transplant in January 1977.

“That transplant gave us 14 more years,” she says. Bill’s career took them to New Jersey, Indiana, and Michigan, but as his health deteriorated further, they returned to central Pennsylvania to be close to family. The harsh anti-rejection medications transplant recipients needed in those days eventually took their toll, and Bill died in 1992.

Although much of her time had been devoted to helping care for Bill and accompanying him to regular medical appointments, Beth also worked in various administrative jobs over the years. After he died, she supervised Delta Dental typists for 14 years.

Beth remarried through an improbable series of connections. Her late husband’s former wife, with whom she was always friendly, thought Beth should meet her friend Max Stoner. Then Beth’s next-door neighbor – by coincidence, good friends with the parents of the same Max Stoner – said the same thing. That’s when Beth decided it was time. They met, and they married in 2007.

Max is an environmental engineer, and as the owner of Glace Associates, works with municipalities to develop water systems. Beth still sings and is a member of Market Square Presbyterian Church’s choir. She has two stepsons, two stepdaughters, and four grandchildren.

At Homeland, Beth creates spring and fall plantings, helps set up for activities and serves on the long-range planning and house and grounds committees. Homeland is a good fit for her because she has always loved being around the elderly. Her work helps maintain Homeland’s friendly atmosphere, and that’s gratifying.

“It helps the residents who live here feel more at home,” she says. “It also makes a good impression. It’s very important that the people who come here to visit see a place that’s cheery and pleasant. Homeland is a great place.”

Sherry and Bill Stout: Board members upholding Homeland’s tradition of excellence

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Sherry and Bill Stout

Sherry and Bill Stout, finding complementary ways to serve at Homeland

At her first Homeland Board of Managers meeting, Sherry Stout was in awe.

“The thing I most remember was the emphasis on excellence,” she recalls. “Homeland doesn’t accept anything but hard work. We expect the best, and we are going to be the best.”

Sherry and her husband Bill Stout, retired chairman and CEO of global engineering firm Gannett Fleming, share an insider’s view into Homeland’s commitment to excellence. Currently, they are the sole husband-wife pairing to serve on Homeland’s unique dual-board structure. He belongs to the Board of Trustees, which oversees policy and finances, while she is a mainstay of the Board of Managers, responsible for enhancing resident life.

The board arrangement allows Homeland to channel the varied talents of top civic leaders into sustaining Homeland’s standing as a caring organization that includes a CMS Five-Star Skilled Nursing Care Facility rating, Medicare’s highest citation.

“The residents come first,’’ Sherry says. “We don’t compromise when it comes to the residents. This is their home. This is where they live.”

Their connection to Homeland began when a friend and mentor of Sherry’s told her about the Board of Managers. The relationship has paralleled Homeland’s growth from a purely physical facility into a community service provider. When she joined the board, planning was underway for Homeland Hospice, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019.

In 2016, Homeland launched Homeland HomeHealth, a service implementing physician-ordered care plans at home, and Homeland HomeCare, providing in-home help with medical and daily living needs.

Through the Board of Managers, Sherry has helped organize sing-alongs and parties, hang artwork, renovate resident rooms, and write birthday cards for staff.

“I’ve done a lot of flower arranging,” she adds. “Our fresh flowers in the dining rooms are really important. It doesn’t sound like much, but it is.”

Through those years, Bill pitched in when he could, occasionally lending his baritone voice to sing-alongs or getting to know Homeland at holiday parties. He enlisted Gannett Fleming to support Homeland’s 145th-anniversary gala. When the 150th anniversary arrived a year after he retired, both Bill and Sherry helped recruit sponsors and advertising.

Bill joined the Board of Trustees in September 2018. While other boards he has served on “provide a general service to the community,” Homeland is “a little more focused.”

“It’s not a community of thousands,” he says. “It’s a community of hundreds. It makes it a little more personal.”

The Board of Trustees attracts the region’s leading citizens, Bill notes. When they choose to devote their energy and talents, “that speaks volumes about Homeland.”

Faith and supporting the community are important to the Stouts. They help organize their church’s support for Downtown Daily Bread, a Harrisburg homeless service provider. Bill teaches Sunday school and sings in the choir. Sherry prepares bread for the communion committee and cooks for the casserole ministry – lasagna is a favorite – that provides ready-made meals for church members in need.

Sherry extended the casserole committee’s scope to Homeland Hospice, making dishes to be frozen and shared with families.

Together, Sherry and Bill describe a lifetime partnership built on each other’s strengths.

“She’s nurturing,” he says. “Whether it’s through a casserole or visiting with a resident or helping Homeland look nicer through flowers, it’s about caring and nurturing. It’s what she does.”

Bill “is tremendously organized and analytical,” says Sherry. “He can look at a situation and analyze what needs to be done and where things need to go. He listens.”

Now that Bill has retired, the couple hopes to travel more and a trip to the Holy Land is on their bucket list. They also enjoy spending time with their three grown children and love it when they get to care for their 2-year-old granddaughter.

Both are committed to ensuring Homeland’s continued place as a beacon of excellence in the community.

“I hope that Homeland can grow where it is in terms of residential care and also be able to grow Homeland Hospice, Homeland HomeHealth, and Homeland HomeCare,” Bill says. “The skill sets that the people of Homeland have can be extended beyond Homeland Center to people in their homes.”

Homeland Center Board of Trustees welcomes new Chairman Donald E. Schell

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Donald E. Schell

Donald Schell, Morton Spector and Barry Ramper

Homeland Center has reached the highest levels of quality care and is now mining its core values to succeed in the greater challenge of maintaining quality, President and CEO Barry S. Ramper II said at the Board of Trustees’ recent annual meeting.

The meeting marked a transition, as Donald E. Schell succeeded Morton Spector as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Spector will continue serving on the board as Immediate Past Chair.

“Mort Spector embodies the best qualities of Homeland,” Ramper said following the Sept. 20 meeting. “He focuses on the task at hand while building a vision for the future. Mort’s contributions to Homeland are priceless, and fortunately, we can hold on to him and his wisdom for a while longer because he has graciously agreed to continue serving as Immediate Past Chair.”

Homeland’s growth path has continued for 151 years through the commitment of staff and supporters to offering the highest levels of comfort and care, Schell told the trustees, Board of Managers, and staff members present at the meeting.

Homeland’s reach and philosophy of care are radiating beyond its Harrisburg facility and into 14 central Pennsylvania counties through Homeland HomeCare, which helps seniors with daily tasks, and Homeland HomeHealth, which provides doctor-ordered medical assistance, said Schell. Both were founded in 2016 to meet the changing needs of the community.

Schell noted a litany of major accomplishments marking Homeland’s continued progress. They include:
• Renewed designation as a CMS Five-Star Skilled Nursing Care Facility, the highest Medicare citation recognizing premier health care services.
• Providing almost $3 million in charitable care for residents, bridging the gap between the actual cost of care and shrinking public reimbursements.
• Recognition from Harrisburg Magazine Readers’ Choice 2018 as Best Retirement/Independent Living facility for the seventh consecutive year.
• An Oct. 10 joint event with the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum, with proceeds benefitting Homeland Hospice, as prelude to its 10th anniversary in 2019.

“There are many reasons for Homeland’s success – the facilities, the programs, our donors, our culture, but most importantly, our staff,” Schell said. “It’s what happens on the inside of these facilities and in patients’ homes that makes the difference. Our caregivers in every capacity are truly our most important asset.” Asking staff present to stand and be recognized, he said, “You make our Board of Trustees and Board of Managers very proud.”

Ramper thanked members of the Board of Managers, Homeland’s unique, all-woman panel responsible for residents’ quality of life. They are, he said, “the very essence of the women who founded Homeland at the beginning, and what they represent.”

This year Homeland is also welcoming Alicelyn Sleber and Elizabeth Stoner to the Board of Managers.

Board of Managers Chair Barbara Nagle said they are making sure that Homeland remains a welcoming home for the residents through recently completed and ongoing renovations.

Upgrades are underway in the Personal Care area and Main Dining Room. Improvements were recently completed in the Sixth Street conference room and the Muench Street entrance, renamed the John and Barbara Arnold Lobby.

Homeland’s unique ability to sustain quality stands on staff’s full commitment to those who trust their lives to Homeland’s care, Ramper explained. In the nation’s second-most heavily regulated industry, behind homeland security, it is also contingent on following the directions instilled into every Homeland procedure, and on making wise decisions.

“The founders did an outstanding job preparing us for the moment we are in,” he said. “We have a responsibility to see that also prevails for those who follow us in the future.”

Homeland’s legacy is its guiding principle, said Ramper. Since joining Homeland in 2000, he has kept a portrait in his office of Eliza Haldeman, president of the board of prominent, civically minded women who founded a home for Civil War orphans and widows in 1867.

“I knew when I arrived that I wasn’t just taking a job,” he said. “It was a heritage that had to be maintained and a responsibility to put a full commitment toward Eliza Haldeman and all those who shared her vision.”

Homeland’s commitment to charitable, uncompensated care stands as a resource for the community. A nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization, Homeland relies on the generous support of our friends and neighbors to continue helping the less fortunate. To find out how you can make a difference, call 717-221-7900 or go to www.homelandcenter.org/giving

Harrisburg’s Kunkel family honored for their long-standing support of Homeland Center

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Plaque unveiling

Donald Schell, Vice Chair of Homeland Center’s Board of Trustees, left, helps Nancy W. Bergert, Chair of the Kunkel Foundation and John Stark, a past foundation chair, unveil the Kunkel Circle plaque in honor of John Crain Kunkel.

No sooner had Homeland Center opened its doors in Harrisburg to care for those left widowed and orphaned by the Civil War than Pennsylvania Congressman John Christian Kunkel, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, stepped forward to offer financial support.

Decades later his grandson, John Crain Kunkel, continued his family’s traditions of both serving as a Pennsylvania Congressman from 1961 to 1966 and, with his wife Katherine “Kitty’’ Kunkel, supporting Homeland.

On a recent sun-drenched spring day, the Homeland family officially thanked the Kunkel family for their continued support in a ceremony renaming the main entranceway at 1924 N. 6th Street the “Kunkel Circle’’ in memory of John Crain Kunkel.

A member of the Kunkel family has been an integral part of Homeland as far back as far back as 1867,’’ said Donald Schell, Vice Chair of Homeland Center’s Board of Trustees, during the ceremony attended by area leaders including state Sen. John DiSanto, Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries and Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

“Over the past 150 years, Homeland has grown and prospered because of the work and support of the Kunkel family and the Kunkel Foundation,’’ Schell said.

During his remarks, DiSanto thanked Homeland’s staff for the excellent care they provide – especially to two special residents, his mother and father.

“Homeland’s entire staff is doing a great job,’’ DiSanto said. “I stand ready to do whatever I can to assist Homeland as it moves into the next 150 years.’’

As a member of the Board of Managers, which works with the Trustees to advance Homeland’s mission of community care, Kitty Kunkel never stopped thinking about ways to make the long-term care facility more “home-like’’ for its residents. No detail escaped her, from redecorating the residents’ rooms and the common areas to changing the name from the original “Home for the Friendless’’ to “Homeland.’’

Kitty Kunkel also is credited for establishing in 1953 what is believed to be the first-ever beauty shop in a long-term care facility.

“She wanted Homeland to feel less like an institution and more like a real home,’’ said Nancy W. Bergert, Kitty Kunkel’s granddaughter and chair of the Kunkel Foundation. “When she and my grandfather would go away on their many trips, she would always come back with little gifts for every resident and she never forgot a resident’s birthday.’’

Plaque unveiling

Homeland Center recently renamed its Sixth Street entrance in honor of John Crain Kunkel in a ceremony attended by area officials and Kunkel family members. Far left: Homeland Center President & CEO Barry S. Ramper II, state Sen. John DiSanto, Dauphin County Commissioner Mike Pries and Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse. Foreground, from left: John Stark, a past Kunkel Foundation Chair, current foundation Chair Nancy W. Bergert and Donald Schell, Vice Chair of Homeland Center’s Board of Trustees.

In addition to Bergert, current-day members of the Kunkel family who continue to support Homeland include Carolyn Kunkel, a life member of the Board of Managers and Kitty Kunkel’s daughter-in-law, as well as John Stark, the grandson of John Crain Kunkel and past chair of the Kunkel Foundation.

Generous donations by the Kunkel family made possible Homeland Center’s 71-bed Skilled Care Nursing Pavilion as well as Homeland’s 150th Gala Anniversary Celebration last year, which was co-chaired by John Stark.

Stark recalled that John Crain Kunkel enjoyed having residents to his house on Wiconisco Street for lunch and said his grandfather would be proud of what Homeland is today.

Homeland is one of the few skilled nursing care facilities in the Central Pennsylvania region to earn the CMS Five-Star rating repeatedly. Homeland also is among only 15 percent of the more than 15,000 facilities nationwide to receive U.S News & World Report Best Nursing Homes 2017-18 – earning a perfect 5.0 rating two years in a row.

“I really believe what we are doing here today would please him,’’ Stark said. “I want to thank you on behalf of all the trustees of the John Crain Kunkel Foundation.’’

Pries and Papenfuse both highlighted the importance of the services Homeland Center provides.

“I want to thank Homeland for the incredible role it plays in our community,’’ Papenfuse said. “One hundred and fifty years is an extraordinary accomplishment. Homeland has seen the city through its own growth and development over all those years, and today our relationship is as strong as ever.’’

Homeland Center President & CEO Barry Ramper II said all that Homeland has been able to do for families throughout our region would not have been possible without the Kunkel family.

“We are pleased, proud and grateful that you have placed your trust in making Homeland the organization it is today,’’ Ramper said. “Without your support, we could not have achieved this success. Thank you very much.’’

Board members Kelly Lick and Gail Siegel played key roles in Homeland life, finances

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Homeland Center owes its renown, in part, to the expertise and enthusiasm of its board members. Now, it says goodbye to two who have been central to upholding Homeland’s commitment to excellence.

Homeland thanks Kelly Lick, Board of Managers 2014 to 2017, and Gail Siegel, Board of Trustees 2004 to 2017, for their service. Both are leaving their board positions, with vows to continue supporting Homeland.

Kelly Lick

Kelly LickKelly Lick first grew impressed with Homeland from the perspective of a family member. Her husband, prominent businessman and philanthropist C. Ted Lick, lived in Homeland’s Personal and Skilled care wings. With help from Homeland Hospice, he spent the last week of his life at home.

“He had nothing but the absolute best of care, and that’s why there was absolutely no hesitation on my part when I was approached about going on the Board of Managers,” says Lick. “Everybody from the cleaning staff to the aides to the maintenance people — everybody is phenomenal. They’re always so conscientious and so thoughtful and kind to the residents. You can see that people genuinely care. You can’t fake that.”

Lick brought an ideal skills set to the Board of Managers, the unique group responsible for ensuring Homeland’s home-like feel. With her background in insurance, art, and catering, she joined its house and grounds and financial development committees.

Her primary contribution, she feels, has been helping organize “some fantastic parties for the residents.”

There was the summer picnic, complete with swing band, at the Homeland Chet Henry Memorial Pavilion. She has held wreath- and cornucopia-making classes, getting to know residents one-on-one. When residents said they miss French fries – difficult to serve hot as they make the trip to Homeland’s many dining rooms – she recruited a French fry truck that delivered the fresh treat right to the front door.

For Homeland’s 150th anniversary in 2017, she helped solicit advertising for the gala booklet. At the suggestion of Homeland President and CEO Barry S. Ramper II, she helped solicit a wish list from residents of the activities they wanted as part of the celebration. Then she dove in on implementation, helping organize a fish fry, trips to see “The Lion King” in New York and “Pippin” in Lancaster, a casino night, and a performance at Homeland by Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra’s maestro Stuart Malina and musicians.

Though she leaves the board to concentrate on family responsibilities, Lick intends to remain involved, helping organize remaining 150th anniversary events and supporting financial development. When an excursion needs an extra pair of hands, she might go along.

And what has Homeland given her?

“Homeland has further enriched my appreciation of the elderly and how they should be treated,” she says. “It’s been nothing but a positive experience.”

Gail Siegel

Gail SiegelSince 2004, Gail Siegel has served four, three-year terms on the Board of Trustees, Homeland’s policy-setting panel, providing guidance and oversight in operations and finances.

Siegel was enticed to join the board by Morton Spector, who chairs Homeland’s Board of Trustees. She had just retired as executive director of Children’s Playroom, an organization she co-founded to teach skills to parents referred from county agencies and courts.

“We worked with these families to prevent child abuse and get children ready for school,” she says. Spector was on her board – “an extremely helpful and wonderful board member” — and he gave her a call.

“He said, ‘Homeland is this great organization and serves the community,’” she recalls.

She already knew about Homeland and its sterling reputation because her husband, Conrad “Connie” Siegel, had been the actuary for the pension plan when Homeland was still known as the Home for the Friendless, its original name from its founding in 1867.

Even with her background in human services, adopting board responsibilities in retirement care was “very difficult.”

“There were a lot of acronyms to sort out, and a lot of funding from different governmental sources to follow and figure out what we were supposed to do to comply,” she says. “We heard a lot about rules and regulations and trying to understand how an agency was supposed to function.”

With the complicated issues to sort through, it took about three years to learn the job, but Ramper “tried to make things easier.”

“He’s been absolutely marvelous in running the organization and working with the board,” she says. “He’s so respectful of the board and its decisions. It’s a pleasure to watch.”

Among her board posts, Siegel served on the financial development committee, “one of the pivotal committees in the whole organization,” she believes. “I tried to offer whatever help I could, but mostly, I was learning how the finances work and the investments we needed to keep the organization strong.”

She also felt “a tremendous sense of responsibility” in her service on the board nominating committee, “trying to find people who will give their time and energy and know something that will be valuable to the organization. We’ve had marvelous people.”

She feels she contributed her knowledge of the community and social and educational services to Homeland. Working the full spectrum from early childhood to senior care, she has learned a lesson that she sees in practice every day at Homeland – “respect for people’s wishes.”

“They know how they want their life to be,” she says. “You can’t just walk in and tell somebody, ‘You should do this, and you should do that.’ You need to show by example or give the opportunity for choice.”

Siegel and her husband spend half the year in California, near their son and his family. She hasn’t set her sights on any new pursuits, but Homeland remains in her thoughts.

“When you look at how the regulations are increasing in state and federal government, and you look at how alongside that, the funding is decreasing, my goal is that we manage to find money to keep the residents in good condition and enjoying life,” she says.