Community support keeps Park Care Centre going
PARKTOWN WEST – However, despite all of them, the centre's determination and community support kept them going.
Financially Park Care Centre had a difficult start to the 2020 year. According to business development officer Jaqui Smith, the downwards spiral in the markets and its negative impact on the economy, also affected the centre’s budget. She said when the big Covid-19 bomb dropped in March, matters just got worse. “The cost of protective measures, additional sanitiser, personal protective equipment (PPE), testing and every other measure required by the government really hit us hard and put a serious strain on our ability to remain sustainable.
“Unfortunately, the financial impact was only part of our challenges. Due to the lockdown regulations, no one could visit their loved ones and neither could the residents leave the premises to visit family.”
Smith said the emotional impact of this was tremendous and residents felt cut-off from their support systems with feelings of rejection and depression. Park Care had to become very creative in terms of virtual contact. Despite these challenges, Park Care continued to provide extraordinary care to all the residents and keep them safe, and found innovative ways to keep them occupied and entertained in spite of the severe restrictions to visits.
“During this period, we received exceptional support from the community and local businesses with donations of much-needed items like sanitising liquid, bleach, paper towels and PPE, as well as vitamins and supplements, toiletries and clothing. The community’s support for the Mother’s Day and Father’s Day celebrations as well as all the other important days on the calendar was wonderful and brought joy to every resident.”
She added that due to the age of their buildings and infrastructure, they experienced many challenges in terms of maintenance and breakages. With the help of donations, they could replace the water pipes in the Petrea building, but unfortunately, they still have to find the means to upgrade the water pipes in the other buildings.
“For the coming festive season, we wish for items to fill the residents’ Christmas parcels. On our wish list for much-needed items, we also have the following: linen and lace curtains, wheelchairs, Lazy-boy chairs for residents who can no longer be safely seated in normal chairs and lastly, green palisade paint to give our fading palisades a lift.
“Park Care would like to thank everyone who supported us during 2020 and had such a positive impact on the lives of our residents.”
Details: To contribute to Park Care Centre’s wish list, call 011 482 2060.
