By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
CAYUGA—With lockdowns a persistent possibility in the world of long-term-care homes right now, several seniors have found themselves sitting alone in their rooms with nothing to help them pass the long hours spent in solitude due to COVID-19. Local Re/Max Realtors Denise Postma and Deanna Van Groningen and their friends and family decided to do something about it.
“My daughter-in-law works at a long-term-care facility as a recreational therapist. She was telling me that when they were in lockdown because of a positive case of COVID in the home about a month ago, many of the residents were locked in their rooms without a TV and without a radio. So they were sitting in silence with nothing to do,” Denise says.
Her daughter-in-law made a comment that stuck with her: “She said to me, ‘If I could afford to buy TVs or radios for all these residents, I would’.”
Postma shared this comment with her parents, and an idea began to grow: “Normally at Christmas my family picks names, and we do a big gathering and exchange gifts, but we’re not doing that because of COVID. So (my parents) suggested, in lieu of spending the money on family, we would make a donation of four TVs from our family for some seniors in need in the community.”
Four, however, would not be the final number of televisions these sisters and their crew would end up donating.
“My family started spreading the word to friends around town and we ended up getting seven brand new TVs to bring to the residents of the facility, and four used TVs that people are donating as well,” explained Postma. “It really wasn’t much. It was the family talking about taking the money usually spent on Christmas and giving it to someone in need.”
“Maybe it seems silly when there are people who are starving and people who can’t put food on the table, but when you think of our seniors who worked hard all their lives, paid their taxes and their dues, and they don’t have those things that we have every day to enjoy, it doesn’t seem fair,” said Postma, who has also become more aware of hard truths about the senior community from her daughter-in-law. “Many of those seniors don’t have visitors. They’re like a forgotten population. But the ones that do have family members who visit are all afraid to go. They don’t want to bring the virus in, and provincial health guidelines require them to take a caregiver course in order to visit. That’s a challenge for many these days.”
While staff at long-term-care facilities are doing everything they can to keep residents healthy and happy, including individualised activities to replace group activities that can’t take place right now, the sisters still feel a sense of heartache for those who are facing the prospect of a holiday spent alone.
“It’s tough. They’re sad and scared and don’t know what’s going to happen next. It touches you.”
