e-Newsletter - December 2020 |
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Support Local Social Recreation Programs by Donating to the Booth/Kirk Matching Gift Campaign |
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If you are on our mailing list or have donated to the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County during recent years, you will be hearing a lot about the 2020 provincial holiday campaign over the next few weeks. This is a matching donation campaign made possible by the generosity of Michael Kirk and Catherine Booth. These major donors launched this campaign just prior to the pandemic and have already made a significant impact amid a healthcare crisis. And they are going to continue to match dollars up to $500,000 to support Alzheimer Societies across Ontario! All funds raised locally will be used to support social recreation programs in Simcoe County.
This digital campaign is a first for us. We recently joined forces with the Alzheimer Society of Ontario (ASO) along with several other local Societies in the province to undertake a more collaborative fundraising approach. ASO is supporting local fundraising efforts through unified digital marketing strategies and campaigns to help us enhance revenue generation.
Digital fundraising was an emerging trend prior to the pandemic, but since the onset of COVID-19, a not-for-profit without a strategic digital marketing strategy will have difficulty surviving. The pandemic has had a significant impact on our ability to raise much needed funds. We are forecasting a decrease of over 40% in fundraising revenue for this fiscal year.
We wanted to let you know that you’re going to hear from us by email more than ever before. We hope you enjoy our campaigns and the information and stories we share, and that when you can, you will include the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County in your giving plans.
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Get your Rotary Cash Calendar Today! |
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But you have to hurry, they are selling fast! Only a limited number of calendars remain.
Please contact me today to order yours or to purchase as a gift for a friend or family member.
Katherine Breeson, Events Coordinator
705-722-1066 ext. 221
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Programs and Services Update |
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We continue to look ahead to the time when we are able to resume in-person programs and are making tentative plans that would include some in-person education sessions in the new year. Currently, we are offering in-person office visits for eligible clients by appointment only. Persons eligible for an in-person visit must still adhere to public health guidelines that include wearing a mask and maintaining physical distance at all times. Appointments must be made with your Family Support Coordinator.
As always, we continue to accept referrals and provide a full range of education, support services, and social programs online and by phone. Please contact us at 705-722-1066 or simcoecounty@alzheimersociety.ca for more information.
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Introducing the Enhancing Care Program |
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We are pleased to begin offering the Sinai Health System Reitman Centre’s CARERS (Coaching, Advocacy, Respite, Education, Relationship, Simulation) Program in the new year. CARERS is a skills-based group program for care partners of people living with dementia and will be facilitated by our Enhancing Care Program Clinician, Toni Jacobs.
The CARERS Program focuses on practical skills and emotional supports needed to care for people living with dementia, and teaches problem solving techniques using a structured approach. Unique to the program is the use of simulation to assist with coaching care partners to improve communication and manage dementia related behaviours.
CARERS is an evidence-based program developed by the Reitman Centre in Toronto and will run via Zoom over the course of 8 weeks. It is free of charge.
Our first CARERS sessions are scheduled to begin January 14, 2020. Please contact us for more information.
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Tips for Care Partners: Managing Holiday
Stress & Celebration Ideas
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Making the holidays meaningful for a person living with dementia, as well as creating an environment that minimizes the mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion that comes along with being a care partner can be a challenge, and even more so this year with the pandemic. The holidays can bring additional feelings of stress, so to help you create meaningful holiday celebrations for the person you care for, and help you feel less overwhelmed, we have put together some tips that you can implement this holiday season!
- Do only the occasions and traditions that are most important to you and your family like watching holiday movies, listening to holiday music, or decorating cookies!
- Keep celebrations short.
- Involve the person living with dementia in the preparations and decorating.
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Survey: Help Us Understand the Care You Receive from your Family Physician |
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Your input is needed!
The Alzheimer Society of Canada, in partnership with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, is asking you to participate in this 20-minute survey to help us understand your experience with the care you receive from your family physician or other healthcare provider.
Your experience is essential for us to design and develop new dementia care resources so family physicians can better support people and their care partners through the dementia journey.
The Alzheimer Society of Canada will be also be able to create culturally specific dementia tools so we can address the gaps in supports and services for diverse communities.
There are two surveys: one for people living with dementia and one for care partners of people with dementia.
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For persons living with dementia, click here.
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To visit the site to download a PDF of the survey, please click here.
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For care partners, click here.
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To visit the site to download a PDF of the survey, please click here.
You can also visit the website to upload your pdf; just scroll to the bottom of the screen to see the upload section.
Thank you so much for your input!
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Survey: MacLaren Art Centre Accessbility |
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The MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie is looking to develop new exhibition-related programs that are designed specifically for local residents living with various disabilities. They need our help to determine what may make their space more user friendly for people living with dementia. They are asking for people to complete a short survey to help them get to know their community, find out what people’s past experiences with the MacLaren Centre have been from an accessibility standpoint, and also what tools you would benefit from when entering into a gallery space.
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Free Activity Kits Available |
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The Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County received funding from the Canada Emergency Community Support Fund through the United Way Simcoe Muskoka to create and distribute activity kits to our clients. Kits are available for a range of abilities and interests and are meant to help keep people living with dementia engaged during this time of physical distancing.
Below are some examples of activity kits, but we have many more options! All kits also come with an exercise ball and some simple at-home exercise instructions. Please keep in mind that not all kits come with the items seen here.
Click here to discover all activity kits available.
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Dan McMahon, an accountant, joined the Board of Directors in July 2018, 23 years after his mother, Angela, became a volunteer with the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County.
Dan had volunteered on Boards of Directors for other organizations. He began to think carefully about the next organization to support. The Alzheimer Society came to mind. He remembered that both of his mother’s parents lived with Alzheimer’s disease and his Grandpa had lived with his family for a while when Dan was about 10 years old. As a young child, Dan experienced the Alzheimer’s journey first hand, the challenges for the person living with dementia and the toll it took on the care partners. He also has memories of the laughs along the way, like his Grandpa getting up at 3:00 am to shave so that he could go to work.
For Dan, the strong management team at the Alzheimer Society allows the Board to work in the background providing strategic guidance and specific expertise, like Dan’s accounting and financial skills. “The well-organized Board with significant bench strength engages deeply in conversations that are important to the work and governance of the Society” says Dan.
Dan says that if you are thinking about volunteering with the Society, you will find it a rewarding and worthwhile cause. As the incidence of dementia increases each year, there is a greater demand for the Society to meet the needs of those in Simcoe County living with dementia, and those of their care partners. More volunteers will be needed in all areas to assist with the work.
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Call for Applications to the Board of Directors |
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The Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County is seeking applications from candidates across Simcoe County and its diverse demographic population to fill upcoming end-of-term vacancies on our Board of Directors. We are seeking individuals who are able to exemplify and reinforce our organization’s Values of Collaboration, Accountability, Respect and Excellence.
Through its Vision, the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County foresees that persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, and their care partners, live well and thrive in their community. Toward this vision, our Mission is to improve the quality of life of persons living with dementia, and that of their care partners, through the provision of support services, education, social programs, and research support.
Currently, we are focusing on the upcoming need for individuals who will bring skills and experience in the Health Care field, including Home Care/Long Term Care; Mental Health and Addictions; Health Administration and Policy; Public Health as well as Human Resource Management/Labour Relations; Government, and Government Relations.
Applications in the form of a resume and letter of interest are due by January 31, 2021.
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Gals that Give is an entertaining, engaging, inclusive gathering of local like-minded gals recognizing the need for community support, who share a passion for change, and are inspired and dedicated to make an immediate contribution by generously donating funds to alleviate these needs.
We would like to thank Kim Lacey-Young (pictured below with our Volunteer Resources Coordinator, Marguerite Glanfield) for nominating us, and all the ladies from Gals that Give Barrie who so generously gave to us!
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The Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County will be closed for the holidays from Thursday, December 24th to Sunday, January 3rd. We will re-open Monday, January 4th at 8:30 a.m. to resume usual hours.
If you need dementia advice and support during the holidays, please call Telehealth Ontario toll-free at 1-866-797-0000, and in case of an emergency, call 911.
If you would like to make a charitable donation that is eligible for a 2020 tax receipt, you may send a donation up to midnight, December 31st.
Donations can be made in the following ways:
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Make your donation online Donate Today
- Send your donation in the mail to the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County with a December 2020 post-mark
Thank you for your support!
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Our team is not alone in looking forward to turning the page on the year that was 2020. We've all been challenged like never before, and together with our many community partners have gone above and beyond to continue to support persons living with dementia, and their care partners and families through the COVID-19 pandemic.
With only a few weeks left before the year is over, we are grateful for all those working in the broader health care system for everything they've done this year to keep us all safe.
From our family at the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County to yours, we wish you a healthy and peaceful holiday season! As always, we thank you for your dedicated support this year, and look forward to connecting with you again in the new year.
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