2021 Daily Audio Messages from the Office of the CEO: January 4 through July 2nd
Each morning, the CEO and President Dan Savitt will share a short audio message with you. It is just one way of keeping us all connected.
To hear the messages, please click on the links below. To listen to the 2020 CEO Audio messages, click here. Thank you, and have a safe day!
June 29 – “My mother has been a patient since 2016, and all these years years we feel blessed, primarily because of the terrific daily care, but also the kindness and respect delivered by staff like Claudia Morrison. Anytime we have had reason to get help on the schedule, have a question, or need any help, Claudia always responds with alacrity. She makes everything seem doable, and I have to say we are very grateful for her professionalism and her concern, especially as my mom grows older and more challenged.” – Letter from the daughter of a Partners in Care patient, praising Home Health Aide Supervisor Claudia Morrison
June 28 – “Never be bullied into silence, never allow yourself to be made a victim, accept no one’s definition of your life— define yourself.” – Harvey Fierstein
June 25 – “I believe that no one should ever have to choose between a career we love and living our lives with authenticity and integrity.” – Selisse Barry
June 24 – “In my view, the best of humanity is in our exercise of empathy and compassion.” – Sarah McBride
June 23 – “While you’re setting goals, don’t be afraid of failure. Fear of failure is a far worse condition than failure itself, because it kills off possibilities.” – Michael Eisner
June 22 – “If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.” – Anna Quindlen
June 21 – “Intelligence is the ability to adapt and change.” – Stephen Hawking
June 18 – “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” – Desmond Tutu
June 17 – “Since day one, since the first day I touched the pen, I wanted to be the best at what I do.” – Kendrick Lamar
June 16 – “The greater danger for most of us, is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it’s too low and we reach it.” – Michelangelo
June 15 – “Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community where it really counts.” – Barbara Gittings
June 14 – “When you respect the idea that you’re sharing the earth with other humans, and when you lead with your nice foot forward, you’ll win every time. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it comes back to you when you need it.” – Kristen Bell
June 11 – “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” – Vince Lombardi
June 10 – “People work better when they know what the goal is, and why.” – Elon Musk
June 9 – “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards— and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.” – Arthur Ashe
June 8 – “Once you have dialogues starting, you know you can break down prejudice.” – Harvey Milk
June 7 – “The process of failing, and learning, and growing, and coming closer and closer— to me— that’s excellence. That’s success.” – Ben Cohen
June 4 – “It’s easy to be great when everybody’s watching, and to push yourself. But when no one’s watching, when you’re training alone, you have to have that inner voice that’s really gonna push you over the edge.” – Lisa Fernandez
June 3 – “To know you are in the company with people who love and care for each other, as well as for whatever they are working on, is almost essential.” – Sir Ian McKellen
June 2 – “You’ve got to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. A thermostat shapes the climate of opinion. A thermometer just reflects it.” – Cornel West
June 1 – “To realize a world of equality and dignity for all, we will have to change laws and policies. We will also have to change heats and minds. Every sector and every person can play a role, speaking out to remind the world that it should not be illegal to live your life as you are, and to live your life with whomever you love.” – Rick Parnell
May 28 – “At it’s core, the nobility and the majesty of Memorial Day can be found in the story of ordinary Americans, who became extraordinary for the most simple of reasons: they loved their country so deeply, so profoundly, that they were willing to give their lives to keep it safe and free.” – Barack Obama
May 27 – “If you want to be pro, you have to hold yourself accountable. It’s about what you do when nobody is looking.” – Tim Hardaway Jr.
May 26 – “If you don’t have a vision of where you’re going, if you don’t have a goal, you drift around and you never end up anywhere.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
May 25 – “I truly believe everybody wants to be heard, and everybody does have a story to tell, and so I try to give everyone that opportunity.” – Lisa Ling
May 24 – “Your focus determines your reality.” – Qui-Gon Jinn
May 21 – “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced the same kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee
May 20 – “When my husband arrived home from the hospital, he was very week, had difficulty walking, and wasn’t eating, along with other post-Covid symptoms. I was very upset. The VNSNY home care team was our salvation. The nurses helped to provide direction for his care, and the physical therapists helped to get him out of bed and walking. They all allayed my anxiety, allowing me to continue to provide day to day care.” – Letter from the wife of a patient
May 19 – “The sharing of joy— whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual— forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding, and lessens the threat of there difference.” – Audrey Lorde
May 18 – “If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than who you are now.” – Master Oogway
May 17 – “I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that, but then I realized— I was somebody.” – Lily Tomlin
May 14 – “If the heart doesn’t find a perfect rhyme with the head, then your passion means nothing. When you have the right structure, environment, and the right people, magic is right around the corner.” – Bono
May 13 – “Someone’s sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” – Warren Buffett
May 12 – “Were there were none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach for anything better.” – Florence Nightingale
May 11 – “Well, I didn’t do it on purpose!” – Beverly Cleary
May 10 – “Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the services of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude.” – Harry S. Truman
May 7 – “My mother was my role model before I even knew what the word was.” – Lisa Leslie
May 6 – “There’s no greater reward than working from your heart and making a difference in the world.” – Carlos Santana
May 5 – “We are a multicultural country— always have been, and to our credit, always will be. It is something we should be very proud of and embrace.” – Cheech Marin
May 4 – “If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude.” – Amy Tan
May 3 – National Nurses Month
April 30 – “Watching the videos was so touching, making me so proud to be a VNSNY employee, where equal opportunity and acceptance are part of the VNSNY fiber. Last October, I celebrated my 30th year anniversary with VNSNY. I have stayed this long because I am proud of the work we do and the diversity of the staff and our clients. Our doors and arms are always open, regardless of everything that our clients may be experiencing. Creating and participating in a transgender day of visibility is truly awesome, and it makes me proud to be a part of such a great team. The change is here, and it’s about time for equality and peace to take full charge.” – Social Worker Jackie Sosa
April 29 – “If you want to touch the past, touch a rock. If you want to touch the present, touch a flower. If you want to touch the future, touch a life.” – Unknown
April 28 – “If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. If you have that, along with physical health, you’ll have more success than you could possibly have imagined.” – Johnny Carson
April 27 – “My voice isn’t an instrument I can just hang up on a hook.” – Audra McDonald
April 26 – “Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.” – Lucy Maud Montgomery
April 23 – “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” – Jane Goodall
April 22 – “The people that are in need don’t need to be treated like they’re in need. They need to be treated like people.” – Chris Williams
April 21 – “Start unknown, finish unforgettable.” – Misty Copeland
April 20 – “You just have to keep trying to do good work. I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work.” – Jon Stewart
April 19 – National Volunteer Week
April 16 – “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and souls of its people.” – Mahatma Gandhi
April 15 – “I want to express my sincere gratitude for all your help in securing a home health aide to help me in radiation for cancer. I will be forever grateful to you for your help. It would have been impossible for me to receive my radiation without an aide to push a wheelchair from my taxi to radiation oncology and back. Your kindness and support helped me to get through tough days.” – Letter from a Partners in Care Client to Melissa Martinez, Administrative Supervisor
April 14 – “Make it so.” – Jean-Luc Picard
April 13 – “Your values matter. They’re your north star and work takes on a new meaning when you feel pointed in the right direction.” – Tim Cook
April 12 – Celebrating Ramadan
April 9 – “My heart was filled with gratitude for the care, professionalism, and privacy my grandmother received. It was what my family and I needed during such a difficult time. I wanted to allow my grandmother to find peace in the end, surrounded by her family in a familiar environment. You helped to fulfil our wish, and we appreciate it more than we can say.” – Letter from a VNSNY employee to the members of the VNSNY Hospice team
April 8 – “Just as despair can come to one only by other human beings, hope too, can be given to one only by other human beings.” – Elie Wiesel
April 7 – “Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” – Chinese proverb
April 6 – “There are times when you just have to show people that you’re all in.” – Hoda Kotb
April 5 – “We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we are all belong to one human race.” – Kofi Annan
April 2 – “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘Wait— you too? I thought I was the only one!'” – C.S. Lewis
April 1 – “My impact on the game was going out there and making things happen.” – Rickey Henderson
March 31 – “We are in a place now where more and more trans people want to come forward and say ‘This is who I am.'” – Laverne Cox
March 30 – “The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain, until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.” – Jane Addams
March 29 – Celebrating Holi
March 26 – “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
March 25 – “The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” – Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.
March 24 – “Do or do not, there is no try.” – Yoda
March 23 – “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.” – Maya Angelou
March 22 – “Some of us have runways already built for us. If you have one, take off. But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who follow you.” – Amelia Earhart
March 19 – “Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson
March 18 – “If you worry whose gonna get credit, you don’t get much work done.” – Dorothy Height
March 17 – “May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through the door.” – Irish proverb
March 16 – “I was taught the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.” – Marie Curie
March 15 – “We’ll find out what we’re made of when we are called to help our friends in need.” – Bruno Mars
March 12 – “An inch of time is gold, but you can’t buy that inch of time with an inch of gold.” – Chinese proverb
March 11 – “I care. I care about it all. It takes too much energy not to care.” – Lorraine Hansberry
March 10 – “Reform can be accomplished only when attitudes have changed.” – Lillian Wald
March 9 – “Everything that’s happened to me in my career has been special, even the tough times, because they leave marks on you that shape your life.” – Lionel Messi
March 8 – “If you do something once, people call it an accident. If you do it twice, they call it a coincidence. But do it a third time and you’ve just proven natural law.” – Grace Hopper
March 5 – “Like what you do, and then you will do your best.” – Katherine Johnson
March 4 – “The way a team plays as a whole determines it success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth
March 3 – “Winter, spring, summer or fall, all you have to do is call, and I’ll be there.” – Carole King and James Taylor
March 2 – “When unique voices are united in a common cause, they make history.” – Gloria Steinem
March 1 – “There is no greater joy, nor greater reward, than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life.” – Mary Rose McGeady
February 26 – “I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” – Jewish proverb
February 25 – “Let us learn to appreciate that there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.” – Anton Chekhov
February 24 – “When I was five years old, my mom always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment— and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon
February 23 – “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus
February 22 – “I feel what they feel, and people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel lie they’re not alone.” – Nina Simone
February 19 – “Everyday brings the chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes, and dance.” – Oprah Winfrey
February 18 – “Mom passed away peacefully after her 101st birthday. My sister and I greatly appreciate the support and care for her that she got from the hospice staff, especially from the lead nurses Elaine Gillard and Sherry-Ann Caesar. They all provided critically important support for the live-in aide who had been caring for her for several years. It was just what we needed in the last several months of her very long life.” – Letter from the daughter of a VNSNY Hospice patient
February 17 – “One kind word can warm three winter months.” – Japanese proverb
February 16 – “They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.” – Andy Warhol
February 12 – “Lunar New Year is a time to bring family together and to greet one another with new year blessings. We at VNSNY are one big family and I wish every one of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.” – Teresa Lin, Director, Cultural Market Development Initiatives
February 11 – “Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only friends will leave footprints on your heart.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
February 10 – “My grandmother lived to 104-years old, and part of her success was she woke up every morning to a brand new day. She said, ‘Every morning is a gift,’ and her favorite hobby was collecting birthdays.” – George Takei
February 9 – “No matter what sort of difficulties, or how painful the experience is, if we lose hope, that’s our real disaster.” – The Dalai Lama
February 8 – “I could not have made it this far, had not there been angels along the way.” – Della Reese
“I can’t speak highly enough about the wonderful Partners in Care home health aides who took care of dad. They are truly angels on this earth and took the best care of my dad. For that, my family and I will be forever grateful to them.” – Letter from the daughter of a patient
February 5 – “Keep your eyes on the finish line, and not on the turmoil around you.” – Rihanna
February 4 – “I’ve learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear. Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” – Rosa Parks
February 3 – Information on vaccine safety from the National Institutes of Health
February 2 – “What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same and nothing you did mattered?” – Bill Murray
February 1 – “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama
January 29 – “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – A.A. Milne
January 28 – Information on vaccine safety from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
January 27 – “Constant kindness can accomplish so much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.” – Albert Schweitzer
January 26 – “I can surprise people. That sets me up to exceed expectations.” – Brad Pitt
January 25 – Information on vaccine safety from the Mayo Clinic
January 22 – “It is not the light we need, but fire. It is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, the earthquake.” – Frederick Douglass
January 21 – “Ugh! I’ve been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some Iodine!” – Lucy, from the Peanuts comic strip
January 20 – “Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” – Aristotle
January 19 – An anecdote on healing and civilization by Margaret Mead
January 14 – “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” – Coretta Scott King
January 13 – Information on vaccine safety from the University of Maryland Medical Center
January 12 – Information on vaccine safety from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics
January 11 – “What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and it’s grounded in love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible, possible.” – John Lewis
January 7 – Information on vaccine safety from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
January 6 – Information on vaccine safety from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Mayo Clinic
January 5 – “Create your legacy and pass the baton.” – Billie Jean King and “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” – Yogi Berra
January 4 – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to be free.” – Emma Lazarus
