covid-19 response
Dear Friends,
The spring of 2020 brought many changes to our daily lives with the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously followed only in international news, it suddenly affected us all directly with a long period of at-home isolation and having to adapt to a new way of living. Distancing, online grocery and medication orders, countless Zoom meetings, activities taking place virtually and children learning from home.
Our senior population was greatly affected. Many experienced isolation and changes in services received in their own homes. The devastating toll on seniors in long-term care centres was heartbreaking. We would be remiss to not mention the strain this also placed on the families, friends and caregivers of seniors, as well as our valiant front-line healthcare workers.
For the Foundation, the pandemic forced us to adapt our two programs. At St. Andrew's Home the focus has been on staff support, items for the residents as well as ensuring that our funded therapies could resume while adhering to infection control protocols and Minister of Health directives. For the Senior Support Program (SSP), our focus has been on weekly calls to seniors living in their homes, dropping off care packages, coordinating services and also taking time to chat and address the loneliness that has touched so many of us. Please read more about our many efforts in the sections below.
While we do not know how long we will be dealing with the challenges of the pandemic, you can be reassured that we remain committed to our mission of helping seniors. We miss seeing you all in-person, but please know that we are but a phone call or email away and are happy to offer our support. It is also important to note that physical distancing should not mean social isolation. We invite you all to join us in keeping our community strong; please take time to call or send a handwritten note to a family member, friend or neighbour. Stay safe, healthy, wear a mask, wash your hands frequently and know that you are thought of often.
Best regards,
Tracy
Tracy Petzke
Executive Director
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Homes Foundation
standrewspresbyterianhomes@gmail.com
COVID-19 response
Senior Support Program
Since the start of the pandemic:
over 1600 calls to seniors (ongoing)
ensured access to groceries and medication
in-person interventions for urgent care
70 care packages delivered
over 570 hours logged by SSP team (ongoing)
over 350 hours additional private care funded (ongoing)
over 25 hours of functional fitness sessions to safeguard strength and mobility (ongoing)
coordination of flu-vaccination appointments
coordination of COVID-vaccination appointments and transportation
accompaniment to essential medical appointments
72 Christmas gifts delivered
22 Christmas meals delivered
Reminders of public health directives (ongoing)
COVID-19 response
St. Andrews residential centre
Since the start of the pandemic:
Resident support
calls to residents and families at beginning of lockdown
printable activities during lockdown
greeting cards
Stress balls for tactile stimulation
ice cream for hot summer days
Resumed and doubled hours of dance-movement, massage & aroma-care and music therapies provided at no cost to residents
portable speakers and Spotify account for easy access to music
holiday gifts and personal care products
baskets of hair accessories and additional personal care items for residents per floor
Staff support
A series of regular deliveries to staff.
Meals
custom-made personal care items
ear-saver headbands and hair covers (masks attach to them)
gift cards
ice cream
raffle prizes to make COVID-testing a little more fun
holiday gifts
break room snack and beverage basket
thanks to our community
Black Watch Royal Highland regiment of canada and CFB Petawawa soldiers
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment of Canada and attached CFB Petawawa medics for their help and support at St. Andrew’s Residential Centre during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their deployment to St. Andrew’s was a wonderful experience for all; residents were cared for and gained “adopted grandsons”, exhausted healthcare workers were offered invaluable support, and soldiers found new admiration for our health care workers and their crucial role in our society. The Foundation was proudly represented at the farewell ceremony by it’s president Mr. Bruce Bolton, who is also the Honorary Colonel of the Black Watch. If you would like to read more staff and soldier comments, CLICK HERE for an article published in the Montreal Gazette.
Thank you to all.
The Feel the love project
The St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Homes Foundation is pleased to have partnered with the amazing CIUSSS-wide Project Feel the Love to provide meals and snacks to staff at St. Andrews. Project Feel the Love is an initiative of the Foundations of Donald Berman Maimonides and Donald Berman Jewish Eldercare, and is spreading the love to the staff in the seven CHSLD's in the CIUSSS West-Central Montreal thanks to partner Foundations and incredibly generous donors in the community. We would like to thank Karen Flam and Lisa Blobstein with her incredible team for coordinating this project that we are proud to have been a part of. Thank you!
remembering
The residents who call St. Andrew's home become like our own extended family. When they pass, we miss them and mourn them. This year we have had to say goodbye to many, but we carry them with us in our thoughts and we honour them with our actions. We would like to thank all the friends and family members of residents who have made donations in memory of their loved ones during these difficult times. It is our honour to continue our support of St. Andrews in their name. Please join us in taking a moment to remember them.