For more than a year, the SERV team has been laser-focused on providing care to residents while ensuring safety.

This is no easy task, but Residential Counselors Sabrina Manasse and Diane Schaefer have been up to the challenge since day one of the pandemic.

Every Friday, Sabrina Manasse leads relaxation and exercise groups for residents in Middlesex. For these groups, she meets with residents in their apartments, and she plans her lessons according to their individual needs.

In other words, if she feels the a resident needs to decompress, she will focus on stress reduction techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, or art therapy. However, if she believes they should get out and stretch their legs or break a sweat, she will encourage physical exercise.

The classes Sabrina holds and goals she sets for residents are always inclusive and attainable for all who participate. She also tries to make her groups as enjoyable as possible while still being productive.  

Recently, for instance, she took a group of residents to Johnson Park in Piscataway Township. After a brisk stroll around the park, they visited an animal haven, where they saw pigs, goats, alpacas, deer, a mini horse, and many other exciting animals.

Much like Sabrina, Diane Schaefer meets with residents at their apartments every Monday to hold her healthy cooking and baking group.

For the group, Diane brings all necessary cooking ingredients to an apartment, where she works to create a healthy recipe with residents. After they assist her in preparing the food, the group sits down to enjoy the meal together.

With this group, the residents benefit from learning easy recipes for healthy meals that they can continue to create on their own. Cooking and baking have also proven to be great activities for reducing stress.