St. Nicholas Home celebrates community in its garden

The St. Nicholas Home held its annual celebratory garden party June 6 for its residents and the Bay Ridge community, as well as to raise money for the home’s planned renovations.

The assisted living facility for senior citizens on Ovington Avenue, open since 1982, welcomed about 120 people, including staff members, residents and their families, and elected officials like City Councilmember Vincent Gentile.

Everyone had a good time, you could see it on their faces,” noted George Jalinos, a member of the home’s board of directors. “We’ve certainly had good parties before and this would be one of the better ones.”

Edward Mafoud, chairperson of the board of directors, said the party doubled as a fundraiser. According to him, the party is one of the along fundraisers that, along with donations, help fund the home.

“As we open our hearts,” Mafoud said, “we thank the community for being generous all these years and donating, and we actually beg that they don’t stop donating, because the money helps us provide for our residents.”

Some of the donations will be used to fund a capital campaign to “renovate the ground floor of the home [and] the common areas,” Mafoud said. “You have a TV room, a recreation room….This is where most of our residents are most of the time.”

According to him and Jalinos, $1.5 million is needed to renovate the entire ground floor.

The board also proposes to relocate the dining room closer to the kitchen and the garden so residents have a “beautiful view of the garden,” Mafoud said.

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