Nurturing the Next Generation: Masonic Homes Kentucky’s Commitment to Education
Alison Collins (Front row, right) with Seneca High School students and staff
A Strong Foundation for Students
When Alison Collins joined Masonic Homes Kentucky as Clinical Resources Director, she envisioned using her passion for healthcare to help its many residents. Masonic Homes Kentucky is a nonprofit organization providing comprehensive care, housing, and services for seniors, families, and children across multiple campuses in Kentucky. The partnership between Masonic Homes Kentucky’s Louisville campus and the Academies of Louisville brought another opportunity for Alison – educating another generation of healthcare professionals. Alison’s dedication to the partnership between Masonic Homes Kentucky and Seneca has elevated an existing partnership to an exciting learning experience for the students.
When Alison stepped into her role as Clinical Resources Director, she began conversations with the Academies staff to learn how the partnership with Masonic Homes Kentucky could be more beneficial to the students. She recalls asking, “What are you wanting from us? What are the students wanting from us?” Throughout this process, her goal has been to provide students with the best possible experience. She went on to say, “We want to give them the opportunities they’re craving and we want to open their eyes to the resources and tools that are available here on our Louisville Campus.”
In her position, Alison oversees all of the community’s education programs. This experience has enriched Alison’s partnership with Seneca. “I am very excited to take on this program and work so closely with the students. I absolutely love it. Education is really my passion,” she said. “I love to watch people learn, especially young folks who are experiencing things for the first time. Our goal is to be a good community partner. Ultimately, our mission is to pull people into healthcare and support them by providing as many opportunities as we can.”
“Our goal is to be a good community partner. Ultimately, our mission is to pull people into healthcare and support them by providing as many opportunities as we can.”
Bright-Eyed New Team Members
Masonic Homes Kentucky’s partnership with the Academies of Louisville includes long-term work opportunities for a few students and student shadow days for many others. Seneca students interested in a career in healthcare actively work in Masonic Homes Kentucky’s communities as non-certified aides in the Crescent Grove Memory Care & Personal Care Community. During this time, they acquire real-world experience and training, leading up to a State Registered Nurse Aide Certification Program, which students can pursue through Seneca or Masonic Homes Kentucky.
The benefits that students receive go beyond professional certifications to experience with the residents. “I love that the students are getting experience with our dementia population. That’s a really hard population to serve and they come in so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The residents absolutely love them,” Alison shared. The students bring a new perspective to caring for their population as they learn and grow in the field.
“Our entire team is invested in making sure they get the tools and resources they need,” she said. One point she likes to emphasize to the students is that there are a variety of opportunities beyond nursing at Masonic Homes Kentucky, including social services, administration, and dietary.
Another point of pride for Alison is the list of benefits that the community offers to its team members, including onsite meals, TARC passes for transportation, and discounted cell phone plans through Verizon Wireless. “These benefits help to ease the stress of graduating high school and starting to work on your own,” she noted.
Student Shadow Days
While some students seize Masonic Home Kentucky’s opportunity for long-term employment, Alison also loves to expose large groups of students to healthcare through the Student Shadow Days. The agenda for these days provides an eye-opening tour of Masonic Homes and the many opportunities available for students who choose to work with them. A typical Student Shadow Day includes:
The shadow day starts in the Masonic Homes Kentucky’s Corporate Resource Center, where J Scott Judy, CEO, or Todd Lacy, President, offer a short presentation to the students. Alison made this the starting point for the tours because she wants to show students, “there are so many opportunities for what you can be here. You can wind up in the boardroom. You can wind up as a CEO, or a president. It's all up to you and what you want to pursue.”
Students then visit Sproutlings Pediatric Day Care & Preschool, where they hear a presentation from the director and tour the only daycare in the region that fully integrates medically fragile and typical children in the same learning environment.
Lunch is served on campus, where students eat with seasoned nurses and staff so they can ask honest questions about the work. Alison knows this is important to give students a look behind the curtain and receive real feedback about the career they’re considering.
One of the highlights of the day is a visit to Crescent Grove Memory & Personal Care Community, where students have the opportunity to speak with the administrator and social worker and participate in an interactive activity with residents. Whether it’s trivia or tossing balloons, the students are given opportunities to interact with residents.
“Hopefully that experience helps them see what we have to offer here,” Alison said. “At the end of the day, we want to support the Academies. My goal is to strengthen these types of partnerships. We’re glad we have the opportunity to do this.”
Masonic Homes Kentucky has scheduled two Student Shadow days for the fall of 2024 and looks forward to hosting more students in the second half of the school year.
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