Garden of Palms, August 2020: Assisted Living, Memory Care in Los Angeles

We are an assisted living and memory care community in Los Angeles. Our residents and their families love that there is Kosher Certified, authentic Jewish cuisine being offered in a retirement living setting. We have continued our purpose of to residents of all faiths throughout the various challenges that 2020 has presented us with. We are proud of our team for our aggressive Covid-19 response, our diligent work supporting all residents and senior care services, as well as the fact that we have not allowed these new challenges to prevent us from finding ways to improve our community, including developing new activities, implementing new therapies, and overall challenging ourselves to make Garden of Palms the best assisted living community in Los Angeles.

 

Please take a moment to catch up with what’s happening with us in August.

 

Resident of the Month - David R

David was born in Paris, France, in 1925, and grew up just a couple of blocks away from the Eiffel Tower. His father Moses was a film producer, while his mother Sophia took care of him and his younger sister Miriam. When the war hit, and France was occupied by the enemy, he fled to the south of France to obtain his visa. However, without his birth certificate he was unable to procure one. He undertook a harrowing journey to sneak back into Occupied France to go home and retrieve his birth certificate, where he scared his mother half to death as she thought he was a ghost! He returned south, obtained his visa, and in 1941 moved to New York. In New York, David tried his hand as a diamond cutter, since the war in Europe had caused business to fall and left America poised to take over the industry. 

 

He found out that his talents did not lie in that area, so he ended up organizing and founding his own business after the war ended, exporting textiles and chemicals. Throughout his early working life, David was a member of the Free French Army. He was on a day of leave in the city while his unit was vaccinated in order to deploy in three weeks. He was vaccinated a day later, but the U.S. Army would not deploy him with his unit since he was still in the 21-day waiting period and he only had 20 days. So he ended up working for the French Military Mission in NY instead, and was never deployed. 

 

After the war he attended Columbia University Law School for a time, and met his future wife at a party. He was married to his late wife, Dina, for 60 years, and together they had a daughter, Monique, who became a published author of six novels. Though Monique has since passed away, she gifted David with a granddaughter and two great-grandchildren who currently reside in Portland, OR. David moved on from law school to start from the bottom at 20th Century Fox, and worked his way up over the years to become Senior Vice President of Marketing and Distribution. While he had made his way to America; his parents, sister, and grandfather, alongside other extended family, had alternately made their way to Israel. 

 

They left their own legacy, since his grandfather was a pioneering settler in Israel, his aunt became a member of the Israeli parliament, and his first cousins owned Haaretz (a major Israeli newspaper). His biggest lesson he learned from his mother was to never panic, and plenty of practice from life left him able “to remain calm and okay under any heavy circumstance”. We are so grateful to have David live in our community at Garden of Palms and share his rich experiences with us!

 

Employee Spotlight - Angelica Castillejo

This August we are pleased to feature Angelica Castillejo in the Garden of Palms Employee Spotlight! Angelica is our caring weekend receptionist who has been working at Melrose Gardens since 2014. She enjoys getting to know and help the residents and their families, and is always ready to help out when she can. Angelica originally hails from Mexico but has been living in Los Angeles since she was five years old. She loves to spend time with her family, go hiking to see beautiful waterfall sights, and experiment with cooking (especially Mexican food)! One of her goals is to go back to college, specifically nursing school. Thank you for being an amazing face of our community, Angelica.

 

Garden of Palms

Assisted living, memory care in Los Angeles

We love running and planning Garden of Palms, because our residents and their family continue to tell us how happy they are with us part of their lives. When we hear that we’re providing a happy, healthy, and safe environment for seniors in Los Angeles, we know we’re succeeding in our purpose.

 

If you’re exploring assisted living programs in the Hollywood area for a family member, we would love the chance to show what life at Garden of Palms is all about. You can tour our community, meet our staff, and get acquainted to see if we’re what you’re seeking. If you need a bit more information first, we encourage you to speak with our director who can answer all of your questions.

 

Please Contact Us

1025 North Fairfax Avenue.

West Hollywood, CA 90046

Phone: (323) 656-7900

Email: director@gardenofpalms.com