Give 5: Harvest Houses

Patch strives each day to deliver breaking news and keep you in the know about hot-button local issues. But editors also set aside five working days a year to give back to the community.

Through the "Give 5" program, Patch editors spend the day volunteering in their respective communities. Syosset Patch spent Thursday helping out at the Syosset-based , which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Harvest Houses mission is simple: give well-elders (65 and older) an "opportunity for rejuvenation and companionship while they live their third stage of life." There are currently five rooms in the Syosset home filled, with three rooms open, according to Harvest Houses Founder and Executive Director, Sister Jeanne A. Brendel.

With more emphasis on healthier living and more and more people now having longer life expectancies, there is an inevitable growing population of well-elders that are nearly becoming the “odd-elder” out since their wellness and self-sufficiency preclude them from nursing homes or assisted living communities, the House said.

Realizing the growing demand among this often overlooked elderly population, Harvest Houses has grown since its inception from a single Syosset home to two additional locations in Floral Park and Lake Grove.

Harvest Houses prides itself in offering well, independent seniors with a chance at affordable living so they can maintain a high quality life that is accompanied with a high quality lifestyle that consists of ongoing support, security and interrelationships.

Here's why Harvest Houses said its infrastructure works:

 • Through Harvest Houses' family and community atmosphere, well-elders revitalize their mental outlook and overall physical well-being.

 • Living independently without having to sacrifice their innate emotional need for inter-dependence and social interaction, they rekindle their love and passion for life, which reinforces and, sometimes even restores, a strong will for living.

For more information, please visit the organization's website at http://harvesthouses.org/ and "like" them on Facebook.