As soon as the state ordered Virginians to curb outdoor activities because of the coronavirus, the staff at Beth Sholom Village in Virginia Beach started thinking of ways to crank up the fun indoors.

Beth Sholom has more than 200 senior residents in its Terrace assisted living home and the Berger-Goldrich Health Care and Rehabilitation Center. In mid-March, the residents could no longer have visitors, dine together, go on field trips or participate in group activities.

Josh Bennett, recreation therapy director, said that he didn’t want his residents to see themselves as shelved and forgotten as only a high-risk group.

“I sat there and thought about how do we take the limitations and break down those barriers?” he said. “How can we keep some sense of normalcy and bring it back to their daily routine?”

Easily, with some creativity and hard work.

Bennett and his staff developed “hallway bingo.” It allows residents to sit in their apartments or in the hallways — 6 feet apart — while the numbers are called out for folks to hear. The staff takes the game floor to floor through the week.

Residents who have particular skills like knitting are tapped to star in videos giving tutorials that are broadcast on a once-underused television station that residents watch in their rooms. Staff members constantly add content including trivia shows, chair yoga and daily prayer services by the in-house cantor.

Yanni, the facility’s canine companion, couldn’t have his “Bark Mitzvah” on the 23rd, National Puppy Day, so Bennett ran clips of a live stream of puppies on the station. It was one of the more popular viewings among the residents, Bennett said. Yanni, who isn’t visiting the facility because of the restrictions, also appears on the station with messages on a white written board written from “him” to the residents.

For the family and friends who can’t come in, the staff has kept Beth Sholom’s Facebook page revolving with frequent posts of photos and videos of residents playing games, sending messages or dressing up as a few did for St. Patrick’s Day. Staff is also scheduling video-chatting times between the residents and their families. Families also receive almost daily emails with photos and notes.

“Families are the ones that are having the hardest time with this,” said Marcia Futterman Brodie, director of marketing for Beth Sholom. “We’re working really hard to get them to see their loved ones as much as possible.”

Sonia G. Land, a resident at Beth Sholom Village in Virginia Beach, likes the new game of “hallway bingo” the recreation staff created after the coronavirus restrictions halted group activities at the assisted living facility. Residents can sit in their rooms or in the hallways, spaced at least six feet apart, and play bingo.
Sonia G. Land, a resident at Beth Sholom Village in Virginia Beach, likes the new game of “hallway bingo” the recreation staff created after the coronavirus restrictions halted group activities at the assisted living facility. Residents can sit in their rooms or in the hallways, spaced at least six feet apart, and play bingo.(Courtesy of Beth Sholom Village)
Sonia Land, 94, spent her life in Hampton Roads and can remember plenty of crises.

“I’ve seen typhoid fever … and now this,” Land said in a phone interview. “I won’t forget this one.”

Staying busy at Beth Sholom is making a time of isolation seem not so isolating, she said. She particularly likes the hallway bingo.

“All I can say is that I am happy to be here.”

Denise M. Watson, 757-446-2504,denise.watson@pilotonline.com