Lourdes Health System employee and Sicklerville resident Curtis Caldwell has been selected as the recipient of Lourdes’ 2016 Sister M. Elizabeth Corry, OSF Award.
Caldwell, enrollment specialist at LIFE at Lourdes—a program based in Pennsauken that assists elders to live safely at home while providing them with a team of healthcare experts—was among 15 employees from throughout the health system nominated for demonstrating the core value of “Joy.”
Said Caldwell, “Joy is an easy thing for me. It’s the only way I know how to be. If I can share that with others, whether coworkers or our participants, then it makes what I do all the more meaningful.”
Caldwell was noted for his work with a LIFE participant named Jimmy. Jimmy lived in a vacant warehouse in Camden. Caldwell would visit and offer him support as he tried to help Jimmy enroll in Medicaid, find housing and enroll at LIFE. Jimmy now seeks out Caldwell each morning and brags to others about his never-ending positive approach to life.
Caldwell also was praised for his efforts with participants, from singing or dancing to celebrate a birthday to dressing up as an historical character for a special event.
“Whether you are passing him in the halls or sitting at a meeting with him, Curtis has the ability to lift your mood and make your day a little brighter,” wrote one of his nominators, Kara Perle. “He is like a beacon of joy, which draws people to him.”
The award is named after Sister M. Elizabeth Corry, OSF, who served as president of Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center from 1969 to 1983 and 1987 to 1995.