Live Update to Residents-April 22, 2020
Daily Live updates to residents on our in-house TV970 have become a popular way for us to stay in touch while social distancing! Today’s update featured John Burns, President and CEO; Taryn Young, Fitness Specialist; and Vanessa Perry, Pastoral Care Administrator.
The following updates were shared during the live briefing on TV970.
John Burns
Thank you to the residents who expressed gratitude at noon today through your applause. It lifted our employees’ spirits.
Outreach
In the past few weeks, John has been able to connect with other organizations in Virginia and around the nation to share ideas and best practices, especially with those who have had many COVID-19 cases and may be struggling in some ways.
Through Westminster Canterbury Foundation’s Fellowship Outreach program, our employees volunteer to build ramp components and install ramps on homes in greater Richmond with project:HOMES and offer monthly programming and health screenings through Senior Connections’ Friendship Cafes. During the pandemic, we had to cancel these outreach efforts, but we have been able to make a difference in other ways!
Thanks to Scott Jonté, our Director of Dining, Westminster Canterbury Foundation staff, and donors to our Fellowship Outreach program, we used our connections to facilitate food donations to two local nonprofits – St. Francis Home, which provides low cost assisted living services, and Senior Connections, where around 500 Friendship Café participants rely on weekly meal package delivery. Friends of staff members have also donated fabric face masks to volunteers who sort food and deliver meals to seniors-in-need in greater Richmond. We are so grateful we were able to help these organizations in this way during a time when so many are struggling to continue normal operations.
In addition to Fellowship Outreach, our team has been able to share resources such as personal protective equipment with organizations that have many sick residents and needed equipment to protect their staff.
Westbrook Paving
Public Works has said that Westbrook paving will begin the first week of May.
TV970 programming
There was a misprint in The Tales. Our new matinee movie, The Devil Wears Prada, will begin airing on Friday, April 24. We are also changing the programming schedule. Starting tomorrow, Virginia Voice’s reading of the Richmond Times-Dispatch will be from 8-10 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., we will have our chapel service led by our chaplains. Beginning Friday, fitness classes will air daily at 10 a.m., every day except Thursdays, and daily at 4 p.m., every day except Sunday.
Taryn Young – Wellness
Several residents have shared their successes with doing the fitness classes on TV970 and walking outdoors. We hope they will inspire everyone to stay active!
We have two weeks left in the CV19 April Challenge. Watch the video for a demonstration of this week’s exercises. Make sure to move at the range-of-motion and pace that are best for you.
• Round and Lengthen the Spine
• Breast Stroke Arms
• Knee Lifts
• Reach High and Low
• Side Steps with Push Arms Forward
• This week’s Bonus Challenge is Reach out to Family
Taryn is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator. If you want to chat or need some new Stress Relief practices, please contact her at tyoung@wcrichmond.org or by phone at ext. 6539 on Monday and Wednesday or ext. 6264 on Tuesday and Thursday.
Vanessa Perry – Pastoral Care
A new Daily Prayer Booklet for the month of May will be available next week. Call Vanessa Perry at ext. 1502 or David Curtis at ext. 5179. Chapel services will take place Thursday at 10:30 a.m. on TV970, in place of the Thursday “Sermon for Every Sunday.” Bulletins for this week’s service are in The Tales, at the Tower and Center Desks and on Touchtown Community Apps.
“For Change”-Rev. David Breeden
For the setting sun from an airplane window;
for the rising sun from a train window after riding all night;
for the rising sun and setting sun in directions that feel foreign;
for the sunlight even when we are lost.
For the times the heart has longed to be alone.
For the times the heart has ached for another.
For leaving in fear.
For leaving in hope.
For the way home
and the way away.
For the windows and the suns we have seen.
For the windows and the suns we will see.
For memory and forgetting.
For the change that is our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. This day is filled with new and exciting possibilities, and new hope for us. For we know that even though we may not be able to see those we once saw on a daily basis, we are still grateful for the opportunity just to see faces and hear voices. Faces that we might not have ever seen. For we have new faces knocking on our doors to deliver food and cleaning supplies, new voices that call to just say hello, how are you doing. And for that we are grateful. Let us always look for ways to be grateful to you Lord. And Lord, as we pray, we ask you to be with the doctors, nurses, food bank staff and assistants who are caring for those in the greatest need. Be with them during the long hours and the long waiting lines. We ask you to be with their families and loved ones. For we know they are your walking feet and are shedding your light of hope and love. And for that we are grateful. Let all who need the financial, physical, and nourishing help, receive it. All these things I pray in your name, Amen.