On Monday, November 13, 2023, Women’s Club of Farmingdale (WCF) President Barbara Hoerner, WCF Crafts Committee Chair Nancy Carman, and Maria Ortolani met with retired Sargeant Joseph Cognitore, a Veterans Advisory Board Member at the LI State Veterans Home. Over 2 dozen hand-made lapghans were dropped off for the residents at this facility.
These volunteers offer an extra dimension of care and service to the residents, their families and visitors giving back to those who fought to preserve our freedom and democracy. Besides volunteering here, Cognitore also speaks at many local schools on behalf of veterans.
The facility is beautifully located on manicured grounds in Stony Brook. Some of the services offered include: Food Services, Alzheimer’s/Dementia, Medical and Nursing, Short Term Rehab, Recreation, Respiratory, End of Life Services.
The true origin of the Long Island State Veterans Home can be traced back nearly six decades to the early 1940’s when Franklin D. Roosevelt was President and the US had summoned America’s young men and women to fight in World War II. Four years later, when the Allies had won the war, Uncle Sam discharged nearly 25 million soldiers and by the 1970’s, many of these veterans began realizing the need for long-term care services. This realization served as a catalyst for local veterans and legislators and sparked a massive grass-roots effort which led to the creation of the Long Island State Veterans Home in 1991.
Now, over 30 years later, the Long Island State Veterans Home has emerged as one of Long Island’s premiere providers of long-term skilled nursing services and adult day health care and has compassionately cared for more than 15,000 United States veterans.
The mission of the Long Island State Veterans Home is twofold. First, to provide the highest quality and most comprehensive health care services to Long Islands veterans, and Second, to serve as a model site for research and the education and training of tomorrow’s long-term care and geriatric professionals.
The Veterans Home is a major teaching affiliate of Stony Brook Medicine and continues to be one of the only nursing homes in the country that is fully integrated into the health and educational mission of a major teaching and research university. This affiliation enables the Home to offer Long Island’s veterans access to the New York metropolitan region’s best health care professionals and most advanced medical technology. For more information, please go to: https://veteranshome.stonybrookmedicine.edu
The Women’s Club of Farmingdale, a local philanthropic organization, is always interested in welcoming new members. For more information, please email: lodaromanelli@gmail.com. #IAMGFWC
–Submitted by Maria Ortolani, WCF Publicity Chair
