Roy Ramos: Testimonials

Roy,

Thank you for bringing music and dance and all the beautiful feelings that go with it to the residents of Bishop Hucles Nursing Home!!!

Traci Toth & the residents
Bishop Henry Hucles Nursing Home
Brooklyn, NY

Ms Patricia B. Reitkopf
Hospital Audiences, Inc.
On-Site Performance Program
548 Broadway, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10012-3950

Dear Ms. Reitkopf:

The members of the recreation program and myself want to thank you for providing a wonderful evening of music on April 6, 2001. The entertainer was Roy Ramos, who provided us with an evening of wonderful music. Mr. Ramos was very sociable and related exceptionally well with all the members. He performed for an hour and was well received by the twenty-five members present.

The evening was extremely therapeutic from several viewpoints. Mr. Ramos music suited the senior members as well as the younger ones. He motivated the members to sing along, creating a delightful sensation and an immense interaction between the members and himself. Mr. Ramos was very conversational and created a feeling of partnership.

Again, than you for such a wonderful evening, and I hope you will be able to provide this form of entertainment to the members of Fedcap in the future,

Regards,
Albert Hernandez
Program Manager

Roy Ramos, an accomplished musician from the New York area, has been visting our regressed and physically ill bed bound residents twice monthly since February 1997. He has come to know our residents very well as he sings their favorite songs while playing guitar.

The residents' response has been overwhelming; aphasic residents keep time with their fingers and toes, severly cognitively impaired residents blink their eyes and smile; agitated/restless residents are soothed.

Roy always manages to find enough time to visit residents in the day room of the three units he visits. As soon as the residents see him getting off of the elevaotr, those who can , self-propel their wheelchairs toward him while making requests. Some residents begin singing along, clapping their hands to the sound of familiar songs, and, now and then, we see a tear rolling down a cheek and hear a resident say, "I'm crying because he brings back such wonderful memories."

Roy brings hope, comfort and encouragement; he taps the residents' memories and brings forth a sense of calm and peace as he helps them remember the richness of their own identity.

The service for the wandering minstrel is fully supported by a grant from the Brooklyn Home for Aged Men.

submitted by:
Kathy Petrillo
T.R. Director
Lutheran Augustana Extended Care
Brooklyn, NY