At the beginning of the month, Angela Neale started an internship at the Oak Park Arms retirement community, but that doesn’t mean she will pop in for a few hours a week. At the same time, she also became an Oak Park Arms resident, moving in until graduation in May, 2012, from Dominican University in River Forest.
“I love it here at The Arms,” Neale said. “The residents are so friendly, and I can’t believe the terrific support from the staff.”
Her Oak Park Arms internship includes rotations through all departments including marketing, leasing, food service, housekeeping, fiscal management and life enrichment. Oak Park Arms Executive Director Moses Williams is overseeing her internship.
Neale will graduate with a master’s degree in social work in the field of gerontology. She maintains a rigorous class load in addition to her internship, and remarkably, she maintains a perfect grade point average of 4.0. She is the recipient of the Dominican University Dean’s Scholarship for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 academic years.
“I had a grandmother with whom I was always close to throughout my life,” she said. “I spent a lot of time with her and genuinely enjoyed her company. Sometimes I felt like I fit in more with her age group than I did my own. When the time came to apply to graduate school, I had to select which population I preferred to work with, and there was no doubt in my mind that gerontology was the right path for me.”
Her bachelor’s degree is in psychology from Benedictine University at Springfield, IL, where she was a member of the university’s Illinois Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa.
Her long term goal is to become an administrator at a retirement community or nursing home, and she’s well on her way with some solid experience. Last year, Neale was a student social worker at Oakton Pavilion in Des Plaines. She worked with residents to improve their psychosocial well-being. In addition, she arranged for transportation to/from medical appointments for residents; assessed and evaluated residents in terms of mood, behavior, and cognition; and worked with staff in many disciplines to provide quality care to residents.
While in high school, Neale volunteered at Senior Services of Central Illinois in Springfield, IL, where she delivered meals to homebound seniors and helped at the Senior Center.
Neale hails from Springfield, IL, and is the daughter of Laura and Bob Neale.
Oak Park Arms Senior Living is a rental retirement community which provides senior housing in the form of independent living. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.
For more information, call 708-386-4040 or visit https://www.oakparkarms.com.
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Media Contact: Andy Richardson
Ginny Richardson Public Relations
630-789-8899 or arichardson@gr-pr.com
