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Dec. 17 - Dec. 23, 2021
Queens nurse receives a special dream home
makeover from ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Victoria Osei, a nurse at
Long Island Jewish Forest Hills
Hospital, received a special
dream home makeover on the
“The Drew Barrymore Show”
last month for her community
service in Long Island and
Queens.
Osei, a resident of Uniondale,
came home to a newly
renovated kitchen, along with
a living room and dining room
upgrade, designed by Barrymore
on Nov. 5.
“Sometimes I look at it and
say, ‘Is this real? What did I do
to deserve all of this?’” Osei
said. “My kitchen was so tiny
— it was a living room and dining
room all together, but it’s
divided by walls and closets. It
has been transformed into this
beautiful space with new appliances,
and I am truly grateful
and humbled by it.”
Osei wasn’t told she was
receiving the home makeover
until she was in the live audience
of “The Drew Barrymore
Show,” which she attended with
her two daughters.
The renovation took about
three weeks, the last of which
she was put into a hotel so she
would not see the finished remodeling.
Tyson Food is also
supplying Osei with a year of
food.O
n the day of the reveal, Osei
was amazed by Barrymore’s appearance
in front of her home,
she said.
“I didn’t know she was going
to be there. I really admire her.
She’s so humble and down-toearth.
I really connected with
her right away,” Osei said.
According to Osei, her director
at LIJ Forest Hills had
reached out to the show’s producers,
who were searching for
nurses who gave back to their
Victoria Osei (r.) with her family at “The Drew Barrymore Show.” Photo courtesy of Osei
community.
With four more years left until
her retirement from LIJ Forest
Hills, Osei says her dream
is to open a clinic in her native
country of Ghana in a village
where the need is dire.
“I am overjoyed and pray
this will open more doors for
me. When I retire from my
regular job, my new job will
start and I will have more time
to work with the homeless and
elderly,” Osei said.
As an assistant nurse manager
at LIJ Forest Hills medical/
surgical/inpatient hospice
unit, Osei has had the opportunity
to work with the sick and
elderly.
During the spring of 2020,
her unit was converted into a
COVID floor, and Osei provided
leadership and support to her
fellow registered nurses, demonstrating
great resilience as
she worked alongside her staff
during that challenging time.
“We handled it well and our
staff came together and worked
tirelessly providing the best
care possible for our patients,”
Osei said. “The most rewarding
part about being a nurse is
knowing you’ve done something
for them, and it’s the best feeling
ever to see them discharged and
go home healthy.”
Outside of work, Osei is active
in the First Presbyterian
Church of New Town in Elmhurst,
where she leads her fellow
church members to serve
the less fortunate in their
community through food and
clothing drives. She also works
with the New Life Community
Center, a homeless shelter and
clinic, also located in Elmhurst,
organizing coat drives, managing
the distribution of donated
clothes and distributing canned
goods to homeless shelters.
On Thanksgiving, Osei
and her church members
delivered baskets of canned
goods and fresh fruits to the
homeless living on the streets.
She has also helped LIJ Forest
Hills organize a back-toschool
backpack drive in September,
donating a total of 30
backpacks with supplies to the
New Life Community Center.
According to Osei, her passion
to help the less fortunate
and the elderly stems from
her relationship with her late
grandmother, who took care of
her until she immigrated to the
U.S. from Ghana in 1978.
“I never had the chance to
give back to her. I have learned
everything from her — she was
a giver. In our house, she used
to take people in need. She was
always busy cooking and giving
food to people,” Osei said. “My
grandmother would always say,
‘When you cast your bread upon
the waters, it will come back
to you in many floats.’ I grew
up seeing that love in my life,
and I’ve always wanted to give
back.”
By doing good deeds for others,
Osei says it gives her a sense
of joy.
“I really do love God, and his
son, Jesus Christ. And I’ve seen
when you give to people, it’s so
fulfilling. I’m not rich, but I’m
so content with life doing something
that makes other people
happy,” Osei said. “If more people
can do just a little something
like that, the world would be a
better place.”
Additional reporting by
Alicia Venter.
Vol. 87 No. 51 40 total pages
/QNS.COM
