PASSi recently celebrated the season on the second floor of the Ocean City Restaurant in Chinatown, Philadelphia to thank employees and their families. In spite of the cold snow outdoors, more than 200 guests were invited to attend. Ms. Im Ja Choi, Founder and Executive Director of PASSi, gave a toast. She said she is very grateful to her staff for their hard work over the past year and for the three employees who won the Outstanding Employee Awards. The winners were: Chinese Nursing Officer Miao Hua Lu, Catherine Lam, Vietnamese Khi Thi Nguyen. Lively atmosphere with fun games and prizes. While enjoying the sumptuous 9 course banquet, guests also enjoyed singing and dancing performances, participated in the lucky draws and spent a fun and memorable night together.

In the photo above, Im Ja Choi, Founder and CEO of PASSi (second from right), took a photo with some of PASSi's board members and VIPs. (Jin Ming / Epoch Times)

Congratulations to our most recent graduating Certified Nurse Aide Training class of November 15, 2017.  These graduates have completed 120 hours of nurse aide training required by the State to be able to take the National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP) Examination which will officially deem them as registered nurse aides.  They will be able to obtain jobs in Nursing homes, Assisted Living facilities, Hospitals, etc. We have offered this program to individuals since 2006 and have successfully graduated 351 students since inception.  This program is hosted at least twice a year and has recently received funding from the Department of Labor and Industry to offer discounted tuition to students until Jun. 30, 2018.

Mural artist Ann Northrup, above, signed postcards of the mural for Penn Asian Senior Services visitors at Monday's artist reception. 

Penn Asian Senior Services recently held a Mural Artist Reception to celebrate the completion of its new mural by Ann Northrop.  The muralist was available this past Monday  to sign large postcard copies of the mural. Funding for the mural was provided by the City of Philadelphia, Mural Arts program. As part of the festivities, Elmwood Park Zoo was showcasing its “Zoo on Wheels” program and have live animals to interact with PASSi seniors and visitors. Light food and refreshments were provided. A good time was had by all! 

Above, a representative from Elmwood Park Zoo displays one of the animals from their Zoo on Wheels program. 

The Weinberg Foundation awarded a $650,000 capital grant to PASSi to support the development of an older adult community center, including a space for Asian older adults with limited English-proficiency.

The Penn Asian Evergreen Center will provide comprehensive home and community-based services, with the goal of helping clients age independently. 

Construction is under way on the new center! A temporary construction fence has been placed around the center for safety. A new indoor pool, gym and cafe, among other incredible amenities will all be located in the new facility. We're hoping for a fall 2018 opening!

When I first established PASSi in 2004, I just wanted help my mom with cancer, who only spoke the Korean language and some of her frail friends who were in challenging situations.  

However, soon after I opened my homecare agency, I learned that no other Asian communities were providing ethnic language homecare services due to unfamiliarity with the government system and lack of guidance. 

Most of the mainstream agencies were strangers to Asian culture and do not know how to serve unaccustomed immigrants. I hired a Chinese speaking RN in 2005 to train Chinese Home Health Aides and began to serve Chinese seniors.  Then, I realized that there were pervasive disparities in getting long term healthcare services for frail, low-income seniors in Asian communities. In establishing the first homecare agency in the State to address this very issue, I felt my obligation to serve and lead. 

 Adding one language at a time, PASSi’s Homecare now serves in 17 different Asian languages to match our clients’ native tongue. Our service also includes cooking client’s ethnic meals so that they can comfortably stay home rather than going to nursing homes.  In 2014, we also opened an adult day care, Penn Asian Jubilee Center (PAJC), to prevent seniors’ isolation and provide culturally suited activities. With all 3 ethnic meals provided and pick-up service by bi-lingual drivers, PAJC now serves approximately 70 gratified participants daily.  Our center also has beautifully landscaped gardens with a fish-pond, a vegetable garden, and a raised patio garden for handicapped seniors to participate in gardening.  PASSi currently hires 570 employees with a $17 million annual budget to    serve over 700 seniors, including 19% non-Asian seniors.

PASSi recently dedicated a beautiful mural on its west wall portraying our PAJC seniors created by Anne Northrup with Philadelphia Mural Arts. This mural boosted the spirits of our seniors and validity of their presence in the community.  PASSi also kicked off our long-awaited renovation project of its South building into a new 15,000 sf senior community center with swimming pool, gym, garden café, and 350 people capacity auditorium.  As we look  forward to the completion of the project in Summer 2018, PASSi continues to be the premier provider for supportive services for Asian seniors and other senior communities, always mindful of the rising needs with compassion and respect.

Penn Asian Senior Services is holding a Mural Artist Reception to celebrate the completion of its new mural by Ann Northrop.  The muralist will be available to sign large postcard copies of the mural.  Funding for the mural was provided by the City of Philadelphia, Mural Arts Program.
 
As part of the festivities, Elmwood Park Zoo will be showcasing its “Zoo on Wheels” program and have live animals to interact with PASSi seniors and visitors.
 
Local politicians like Councilwomen Cherylle Parker and Helen Gym, as well as Councilman David Oh have been invited.
 
Light food and refreshments will be provided.
 
December 11, 2017 at 1:00pm
PASSi (6926 Old York Road, Philadelphia, PA 19126)

Construction is under way on the new Penn Asian Evergreen Center! A temporary construction fence has been placed around the center for safety. A new indoor pool, gym and cafe, among other incredible amenities will all be located in the new facility. We're hoping for a fall 2018 opening!

On Wednesday, Oct. 4, PASSi held a Mural Dedication & Autumn Festival Event in celebration of a beautiful mural created in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia.The Mural Arts team worked tirelessly on the installation so that the dedication could be on Chuseok Day and the artist will continue to add finishing touches to the mural in the next coming weeks. The event included inspiring remarks from our local supports & spectacular cultural performances. With over 250 individuals in attendance, the fun-filled event included a $1 Asian food bazaar where attendees could taste a variety of authentic Asian delicacies, as well as rice wine tasting, rice cake making, a photo booth, and a variety of games with prizes. Check out some great photos from the event!

Congratulations to the graduates of PAVI’s Vocational English as a Second Language course,a 100-hour session instructed by Penn State Abington where individualsbuild their English proficiency in order to pursue careers in the healthcare field. Our 16 graduates should be proud of this tremendous accomplishment!

Graduates are excited to move forward with a HHA or CNNA training in the health care field. If you are intrested in joining the next session feel free to fill out the registration form.

For more information, please contact Jenny Bedin at 215-572-1234 ext. 10.

Registration Form Click here!

PASSi was internationally recognized by the Global Ageing Network with the 2017 Excellence in Ageing Services Award. PASSi's Founder & CEO ImJa Choi joined by PASSi Board Member Pat Modafferi attended the 2017 Global Ageing Network Conference from September 18-21 in Montreux, Switzerland to accept the award.This year’s conference had over 1,450 professionals representing more than 20 countries and 6 continents! It was a tremendous opportunity for PASSi to promote its innovative services internationally. For more information on the award, please visit: http://globalageing.org/penn-asian-senior-services-passi-to-receive-2017-excellence-in-ageing-services-award/

Cass Jendzurski is a solo vocalist, harpist, recording artist, composer and author. She has been professionally performing since 1989 on stages such as Sight & Sound, American Music Theatre, Rainbow Dinner Theater, Dutch Apple Dinner Theater, and Mt Gretna Theater. Cass is also a Certified Healthcare Musician. She is currently contracted to provide healing music by a number of local hospices and retirement communities to provide soothing music for the elderly.

On March 31, Cass performed for participants and several members of the community at the Boo Nam Park Memorial Hall. Her soft soothing voice and her harp serenaded the audience, with some of them singing along to her familiar music.

March 16, 2017 marks the first day of PASSi's Vocational English as a Second Language class for this year led by Penn State Abington's Professor Rita Mejias. There was overwhelming interest in the class and we unfortunately had to turn away individuals wanting to register for the spring semester. The next VESL class is planned to be held sometime between August and September later this year. If interested in registering for the class, please contact Jenny Bedin at 215-572-1234 ext 10.

On February 20th, the Philadelphia Youth Camerata Youth Choir put on a great concert for the PAJC participants and community members.

Recently, PASSi has been awarded $316,560 by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industries for the continuation of the "Providing Career Pathways to Expand the Multilingual Healthcare Workforce" project. The grant will allow PASSi to continue its HHA and CNA vocational classes. Furthermore, the grant has brought back to life PASSi's former Vocational English as a Second Language class, which will be coordinated together with the faculty at Penn State University Abington campus. To commemorate the collaboration and to answer any questions the press may have, PSU Abington's new chancellor, Dr. Damian Fernandez (pictured on the right), and the university's director of continuing education, Ms. Joy Fraunfelter (pictured on the left), joined the press conference and toured PASSi's facilities. (Click Here for the Press Release)