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Dec. 17 - Dec. 23, 2021
Queens nurse receives a special dream home
makeover from ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’
Vol. 30 No. 51 40 total pages
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.
On 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-to-earth. 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 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.
Victoria Osei (r.) with her family at “The Drew Barrymore Show.” Photo courtesy of Osei
“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.
/QNS.COM
