Bouquet of dedication to live the mission of our foundress and of the joy of Jesus . ♥ To all the staff of the home and to the bishops and priests who minister to
Thanks us spiritually ♥ To all the staff of the home and to the bishops and priests who minister to us spiritually ♥ To the many volunteers , donors
Since moving back to the new St and partners , no contribution is too small to be
Joseph ’ s Home in 2017 , we have counted . received compliments on the lush ♥ Special thanks to Koh Yee Cheng for helping with greenery , open style living concept the early stages of this magazine and donors and facilities such as the hydropool .
Katherine Tan , Magdalene Tan , Juliana Tan and Annie Tan , as well as Mdm Ho and family for sponsoring the printing of this publication .
In truth , we are very blessed to have the luxury of space . There are those to whom much less has been given but are yet able to create wonderful places for people to grow older in . I honour them and remind myself that with great blessing comes great responsibility to be good stewards of all that God has given .
I am thus immensely grateful to the countless people who have helped us to build the home that we have today .
♥ Ex-Chairmen of Catholic Welfare Services ( CWS ), the late Brother Emmanuel and the late Dr Ee Peng Liang whose vision and openness to experiment helped kickstart many new services . ♥ CWS Ex-Honorary Secretary Cyril Chew ♥ Current CWS Chairman Thomas Tan , board members and staff for your support of our ideas for the new St Joseph ' s home
♥ MOH and AIC , for your guidance throughout our transformation journey
♥ All the architects , contractors and workers , without your contribution , this home would not be here today
♥ The previous and current Canossian Sisters , especially my immediate Ex-Provincial Council Sr Theresa Seow , Sr Christina Yeo and Sr Dorothy Lim , as well as the Lay Canossian family and alumni , for all your support and tireless
Moving forward , we want to create a vibrant home where residents can aspire towards growing older while staying connected to the larger Jurong West community . This calls for new ways of thinking and of doing things or as Jesus says , putting “ new wines … into fresh ( wine ) skins ” ( Luke 5:37-38 ). So for instance , using technology to enhance care or establishing new ways to volunteer . Such change may be needed but it will also bring about discomfort as people take time to accept , learn and adjust . Yet change is necessary if it means a safer and higher quality of life for our residents . Nonetheless , in our quest to innovate , we must also safeguard human dignity and the personal touch .
Finally , ‘ unless the Lord builds the house , in vain do its builders labour ’ ( Psalm 127:1 ). Unless we continue to focus on our mission and live the values Christ has taught us , all the new hardware and ‘ heartware ’ - services and programmes - would be of little use to those whom we are called to serve . Keep our hearts and minds set on God while responding to the needs of the world and together , we can create a new experience of ageing for ourselves and our dear ones .
Sr Geraldine Tan
Executive Director , St Joseph ' s Home
80 | St Joseph ’ s Home