In recent years, The Actors Fund has opened a new health center in Midtown Manhattan and hosted some of the hottest nights out on Broadway—and now they’re continuing their commitment to the performing arts community with a short-stay rehabilitation center.
The new facility is an offshoot of The Actors Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey, the gold standard for senior care and a beloved part of both The Fund and the community. “Theatre has always had sort of a family feeling to it,” two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole says. “Onstage it’s such a team effort and a team sport, you can’t really do it on your own. I think that gets translated to this environment.” And Ebersole knows this environment well: Her mother was a resident of The Home.
The Actors Fund Home opened the short-stay rehab center with two goals in mind: to provide current residents with recovery care closer to home, and to offer its services to locals beyond the performing arts industry.
“As a non-profit, we are members of the northern New Jersey community; we like to be good community members and be able to give back,” Assistant Administrator Lucy Seligson says.
The Home now invites local residents to receive care at the short-stay rehab center as they recover from surgery, illness, or injury. As patients become more able-bodied, independence training prepares them for life back at home. They can cook in a fully functional kitchen and fold laundry after using the washer and dryer—there’s even a ballet barre. The rehab center also features a brand new hydrotherapy pool—the first of its kind in New Jersey—which may especially help industry professionals recover from injury.
The Actors Fund Home, an assisted living facility for former entertainment professionals (and the family members of those professionals), has facilities for long-term residents as well, with assisted care, skilled nursing, and memory care wings. The Home has undergone major upgrades and transformations the past few years, with a newly renovated memory care wing officially opening April 25.
From the library stocked with theatre-related tomes to the garden, the atmosphere evokes beauty and light, differentiating it from other medical facilities.
“When you look down the hallway or look out the window and you see something bright, and a beautiful tree or beautiful landscape, it adds a positive aspect to residents’ recovery and their mental health,” administrator Jordan Strohl explains.
It’s not just the design that’s focusing on a welcoming environment. The Home has an LGBTQ unity group for residents that meets monthly, and its staff undergoes several diversity and inclusivity trainings.
As Ebersole says, “It didn’t feel like it was just a job for them, it felt like they had a stake in the success of The Home. The personal aspect of the care makes it different from other places.”
