DALTON, Ga. (June 12, 2026) – Respecting and honoring the elderly isn’t just a nice thought for philanthropist Alice Yim. It’s personal.
Yim and her late husband Chang Yim, a Dalton businessman, created the Respect and Honor Your Elderly (RAHYE) endowment in 2020 to recognize staff in Hamilton Long Term Care facilities. Every year, two people each from Ridgewood Manor, Quinton Memorial and Regency Park Health and Rehabilitation receive an $800 award along with public recognition from their colleagues.
The program recognizes nursing and support staff members who go above and beyond their basic duties to act with compassion. Nominations come from colleagues and supervisors. The award is based on five aspects of the associate’s job: self-discipline, self-control, resident relationship, family relationship and teamwork.
This year’s RAHYE winners are Jazmine Trejo, certified nursing assistant (CNA), and Bridget Saddler, Environmental Services supervisor, Quinton Memorial; Crystal Wilcox, CAN, and Gorgonio Gemina, dietary aide, Regency; and Brandy Miller, CNA, and Elizabeth Palma, Environmental Services aide at Ridgewood Manor.
Yim said the program, which began in 2020, stems from personal experiences that led her to want to make a difference in how elderly individuals are cared for.
“We really need to appreciate the elderly people — they gave life to us,” Yim said. “Now it’s our turn to pay them respect and also care for them.”
Yim said she has seen how painful it is when people are not cared for. Her grandmother — who moved between China, Hong Kong and Singapore — found herself in a difficult situation where she was abused by extended family who were supposed to be helping care for her in their home.
When Yim’s grandmother passed away in the 1960s, Yim had already moved to the United States to attend college. But the sadness of her situation hit hard.
Yim said her mother’s experiences also factored into her decision to start the award. Years ago, when her mother was living in Canada, she suffered a fall and was admitted to a nursing home to be treated.
When Yim visited her mother, she noticed the daytime nurses were often thoughtful and attentive. But the night shift, she said, was not as predictable. She recalled one time a patient was calling for water at night. The staff, who Yim said were talking with each other rather than tending to patients, would not bring it to him. Yim said she eventually brought the man water herself. She still remembers how grateful he was. When her mother eventually passed away, Yim knew she wanted to do more.
When she and her husband decided to start the award after her mother’s passing, Yim also wanted to ensure nursing assistants and others were not going unrecognized.
“When we gave the first award, there were nurses that were crying,” she recalled. “They were touched that someone appreciated their effort.”
Yim also endows each nursing home with $3,000 annually for resident activities.