It takes a Village to care.
To our neighbours and friends in the community,
We need you now more than ever! Join our Village of Mighty Care Partners.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare sector has been struggling to meet intense demand, with long-term care and retirement homes facing the greatest of challenges.
In the first and second waves in 2020 and early 2021, the difficulties were all we saw in the media – and there were many, to be sure – but nobody reported on the amazing people who stayed during the most difficult times or those who answered the call to action.
We saw hundreds of people join our teams, some bringing little more than a passion for people and a desire to help the most vulnerable of their neighbours, and the gifts they offered were saving graces.
We find hope today in the fact that serious illness as a result of the Omicron variant of infection seems to be rarer than the earlier strains, but a positive case still means a person cannot come to work. As it stands across our 19 Villages, more than 250 team members are off because they are either positive, live with someone who is positive or have otherwise been exposed.
We know more will follow soon.
Today, the entire healthcare system is again grappling with a human resource problem unlike any we’ve seen before, and we are seeking compassionate caregivers and servant spirits to help us once again.
We are not necessarily seeking direct, personal caregivers, but instead are looking for people to support with meals and hydration, screening, administrative tasks as well as one-on-one conversation to ease a bit of loneliness.
From housekeeping to laundry, we could use a few extra hands and we ask you to reach out if you are at all interested. We have all the necessary Personal Protective Equipment to safely support our residents, we are conducting daily rapid testing onsite to be sure all who enter are not COVID-positive and we have every safety precaution is in place.
We thank you deeply for your consideration and would love to have your experience and your compassionate heart back in the Village, even for just a short time, and we know that, together, we will move through this fifth and hopefully final wave of the pandemic into a healthy and hopeful 2022.
If you are able to assist, please complete an application.
About us:
Many organizations refer to themselves as a family, but let me explain to you what that looks like at Schlegel Villages.
The Schlegel Family that founded Schlegel Villages still manages day to day operations. Ron still visits his home Village of Winston Park in Kitchener and Jamie, our President and CEO, still undertakes “walk a miles” with our team members, working shifts with our team members so he has a deep understanding of what our teams and residents need. When he walks into a Village, he knows countless team members by name, because he’s known them for years.
Our Chief Operating Officer, Paul, joined Schlegel Villages as a landscaper, and he now oversees operations of the organization. So many of our leaders are Schlegel-grown, which means when one of our Villages needs help, we drop everything to be there, just like when a neighbour or friend needs help.
This is what a Care Partner looks like at Schlegel Villages: the person who grabs a bag of milk for a neighbour who can’t get to the store that day; the person who mows the lawn of that single, working parent; the person who shovels the driveway of the senior couple down the street; the person who offers to walk a sick friends’ kids to school, or drops off homemade frozen meals to the new mom in the neighbourhood or family that’s just suffered the death of a relative.
It looks like that person who smiles and says good morning; who takes a few minutes to share a cup of tea and conversation with someone who has few, if any, visitors; who sits in the living room of a frail neighbor while they take a shower in case they fall.
It also looks like registered nurses and registered practical nurses, personal support workers and personal care aides, food service workers and cooks, housekeepers and maintenance team members.
We hire for heart at Schlegel Villages and we train, mentor and support our team members so they can fill their hearts by making a difference in the lives of our residents. Caregiving is hard work; it can be emotionally and physically exhausting, but it can be the most fulfilling work you have ever done.
I encourage you to join our Village of Mighty Care Partners by telling us about yourself using the links below, and ask that you share this post with those people you know who are already Care Partners, but maybe don’t know it yet. If we don’t have a Village in your area, with your permission, we may share your details with our colleagues in other health care organizations because right now, we all need a Village that cares.
Kind regards,
Christine Bruder
Recruitment and People Opportunities Partner, Schlegel Villages
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