My first Magazine St Joseph's Home_40th Anniversary magazine.compres | Page 58

ONE BIG
COMMUNITY
It takes a village to support our seniors just as it takes a village to raise junior.
To enable our older members to stay connected to the larger community, everyone needs to chip
in - students, working adults, retirees, male/female, gardeners, comedians, baristas. It doesn’t
matter who or how old you are, what you do or how you do it. But it matters that you care enough
to want to build meaningful long-term relationships with our residents and to get them involved in
day-to-day civic life.
For it is when we stop acknowledging their ability to contribute and deny them the opportunity to
give back in ways they know how to, that we rob them of their dignity. Life then has no meaning.
The following pages show how we are working with our partners including volunteers to create
that sense of community with the residents. Unlike staff, the partners / volunteers come in as
friends, bringing a little bit of the outside world into the home, thus keeping residents connected
and feeling purposeful.
There’s life beyond the proverbial four walls!