LaNora Russell: The Light of Wesley House

Every well-run workplace has that one person who breathes life into everything they do; Someone who can fix or fill in wherever and however needed. For Wesley House in Atlanta, Texas, Weekend Manager LaNora Russell is that person.

The assisted living facility feels more like a home away from home-–almost like a vacation–because of people like LaNora, residents said.

LaNora, who is popular with both staff and residents alike, has been with the company for 10 years and counting. Loyal to a fault, LaNora said she has never been a job-jumper.

According to LaNora, working at Wesley House is the most fulfilling job she has ever had.

The facility employs several longtime staff members who fill many very important roles, but Administrator Linda Hill seemed to agree that LaNora is their go-to gal who can do anything and everything any other employee can do.

Specifically, Linda said LaNora helps keep things running smoothly–not only as a dependable employee but also as someone who possesses the versatility and ability to fill in for any and every role.

“Definitely, she does a little bit of everything,” Linda said. “On the weekend she does a lot keeping the staff in position while helping them do their jobs as well. She can do tours–she knows about as much about renting a room here as I do–She does the activities on the weekends and helps out in the kitchen if they are short-staffed.”

Believe it or not, that’s not even the half of it, La-Nora’s coworkers bragged.

“If we have a resident that has a change in condition she steps in and helps in that regard so that the staff can continue doing their job,” Linda said, explaining that those types of situations could be a resident running a fever or showing signs of an infection–basically any sort of change in their character or mood.

In those cases, LaNora will contact Home Health if needed and the resident’s family, while also reporting the situation to the Administrator (Linda) and other supervisors.

“If they need to be sent to the emergency room, she will even accompany them until they get settled and treated,” Linda said.

LaNora said that if there is a situation where family members are out of town, she will stick with the residents at the hospital to keep them comfortable until the family can get there–something she doesn’t at all mind doing as she says she loves the residents there as if they were her own family—The same way she feels about fellow staff members.

Linda said LaNora’s presence in those situations allows her to explain to doctors about the resident’s condition or illness while she keeps the resident feeling cared for and comfortable by being there.

“For me, that’s huge,” Linda said. “That just makes sure the entire facility is taken care of. That’s what we mean when we say to our residents ‘You are our family, we don’t just want you in here to fill a room.’” “We truly want them here because we care for them and we love them,” she added. “They are our family and their family is our family.”

LaNora and Activity Director Amanda Hinton nodded heartily in agreement.

“When we lose a resident, we don’t just lose a resident, we lose their entire family and that is really hard–devastating,” LaNora said.

Linda said that is another thing about LaNora– her connection to the families.

“A lot of them even have her cell phone number,” Linda said, adding that a lot of relatives of residents will check to make sure LaNora is going to be there when they schedule visits because they want to see LaNora as much as their family member.

At first, Linda and Amanda dubbed LaNora the face of Wesley House–because in a lot of ways, she is. However, the two came up with something even more endearing that seems to encompass LaNora’s spirit and her way with residents, family members, and staff.

“She is the really the light of Wesley House,” Amanda Hinton, activity director said. “She is my work mama.”

Linda’s personality is that of a kind, caring, but very reserved nature. It’s obvious that she takes care of business and loves her staff and residents.

“I do not like being in the public eye,” Linda said. “I’d rather be right here taking care of our residents. LaNora loves being here but she also loves to be in the community, and she shines.”

Amanda said that on her days off on the weekend, LaNora picks up the activities for residents on top of all other management of the facility. When Amanda started work at Wesley House, she said they actually didn’t do activities on the weekends.

However, staff members like LaNora and Amanda seem to have a habit of spoiling the residents and giving them what they want–within reason.

“LaNora started Family Fued with them like two weeks ago and they want to do it every weekend now,” Amanda said.. “She is also our go-to for crafts. So they do a lot of crafts on the weekend… but I think a lot of times the residents wind up just wanting to come up and watch LaNora do the crafts.”

LaNora laughed and said her resident friends would come to watch and just critique her on crafts saying things like “that’s the wrong color.”

“They just wanna come down and watch me do something,” LaNora said.

LaNora and Amanda also make sure that residents get their daily game of Bingo in, too.

Linda and Amanda both joked about how they tried to get LaNora to capture these lovely weekend activity moments for their social media page, but LaNora would always have tech issues. It is a long-running joke between the three ladies and staff, as they laughed about LaNora’s personal Facebook fiascos and photo fails where she would point and shoot to snap photos, only to cut out half of a person’s body, among other hilarious social media blunders.

LaNora is not allowed access to the Facebook page, they said, jokingly.

“I accidentally put myself on Facebook Live but it was from my own account and I couldn’t get it off I was so embarrassed,” LaNora said, laughing. “I just knew Linda Hill was going to see it.”

“And I did,” Linda said. The three ladies continued to laugh and their laughter was contagious.

Laughter and fun are something that you see a lot at the facility, between staff and residents in the upbeat, caring atmosphere they have lovingly crafted.

It is a laid-back, fun-loving vibe that cannot be faked—An administrator along with longtime employees like LaNora and Amanda have obviously worked extremely hard to create a caring home for residents.

Now, because of their hard work, Wesley House is a smooth-running facility where folks tend to want to stay–whether as an employee or a resident.

“We ARE family and we love, love, love these residents,” LaNora said. “My co-workers are like family and so are the residents.”

LaNora started about ten years ago as a swingshift floor attendant, working from 3:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m.

From there, LaNora became a bather so she could change shifts to help out her family at home. She helped keep her grandson Andy while his father worked at the local mill.

“So this way I could get off early and help care for him,” LaNora said. “He graduated last year–2023 from Pleasant Grove.”

Though now headed off to college, Andrew still talks about his time volunteering and his favorite residents who positively impacted him at a young age, LaNora said.

Throughout her tenure with Wesley House, La-Nora has now proven to be handy at just about everything.

If you ever visit Wesley House, you will know her by her beautiful smile and her affinity for wearing red, white, and blue. On the surface, her donning patriot bling seems a testament to her patriotism for her country; but on a deeper level, it seems to be representative of her loyalty to her residents and co-workers, as well.

LaNora persuaded folks to wear red on Fridays as a show of support for veterans, police, firefighters, and emergency services, she said.

Walking around the facility with LaNora, you can’t expect to visit with her much, as residents approach her constantly for hugs, friendly conversation, and to just joke around. LaNora is clearly not only a staff favorite but a resident favorite, as well.

When Journal-Sun staff told LaNora we would like to do a feature story on her, she was very nervous at first.

We had already done features on Wesley House’s lovely administrator, Linda, as well as their fun-loving Activity Director, Amanda. But LaNora was nervous for someone to tell her story because she didn’t want to come off as someone self-centered who toots their own horn.

Ultimately, we were able to persuade her to share her personal story.

LaNora has been married to Jesse Russell for 36 years. Jesse has worked for the local paper mill for 28 years, while her stepson Dusty has been there for 7 years. Her beloved grandson Andrew just graduated this year and has a part-time lawn care service while also holding down a job at Walk-On, she said. Soon he will start at A&M on a scholarship he received.

In her own words, LaNora wrote out her story– how she feels and what is close to her heart, in a tender, heartfelt, and genuine way.

LaNora’s touching written account is as follows: These residents do not care if you have the latest fashions, or if you are rich or poor. Their concern is if you truly care about them or are just there for a paycheck.

The Blinds that you try to hide behind will not keep out your true self.

The words ‘I love you’ can be said a hundred times, but kindness, the caring, say more and mean more than those words ever could.

What I do does not mean that I stand out or do more than my co-workers.

It just means that I am able to help where I am needed. My co-workers are wonderful.

We have an employee who has been here since Wesley House Atlanta first opened their doors.

She is a great person–Tracy Gamble loves the residents. She has been here through all the changes. Tracy is very special.

Tess Angel, our housekeeper, has one of the most important jobs, cleaning rooms, doing laundry, and making sure every resident at Wesley House’s apartment is exactly the way they want them.

Our Med Techs are also amazing; they make sure each resident is given meds and check to make sure they have what they need–They really go above and beyond.

The kitchen staff cook meals that are healthy and delicious. Dietary Supervisor Carla Sullivan has come a really long way in learning what the kitchen needs to run smoothly. It’s not easy planning three meals a day for over 50 people while making sure everything is ordered and is served on time.

Pam Mitchel is our Med Supervisor and has worked for Wesley House for 13 years as a Med Tech and then became the Med Supervisor. She is great at her job—Always on call and, in some cases, has to come in when she is off. Sometimes she gets calls at all times, day and night.

Oh, my gosh! We have a lot of fun at Wesley House.

Before coming here, I never knew what my purpose in life was supposed to be. Once I prayed: “Dear Lord, give my life meaning and make my heart smile every day,” and now, it does.

I’m so glad to be a part of the Wesley House family.

I am always telling Linda Hill to get me a room; I’m going to move in and you are going to take care of me.