This spring, many of us felt disconnected from people we love and care for while trying to cope with the pandemic. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of all the essential workers, we are now able to return to our workplaces and reconnect with families and friends carefully and cautiously. COVID-19 left us with a changed sense of our world. We went from COVID-baking to new ways of budgeting to fighting for social justice. Today, like never before, we feel the urge to make our world a better place! Here are seven ways you can make a difference in your community.

1. Support small local businesses, including Black, Indigenous, and immigrant-owned businesses. It will have a significant impact on owners as well as strengthening the community.
2. Do a beach clean up with family or friends. Visit vancouverisland.surfrider.org/beach-cleanups for more information. Let’s keep our home clean! 
3. Volunteer. While many non-profit organizations are closed for volunteer opportunities, a new type of digital volunteering is gaining popularity. For more information visit volunteervictoria.bc.ca
4. Be kind to your neighbours. Check on your neighbours and see if there is anything you can do for them, especially if they are elderly. Sometimes a few minutes of your time will be enough to make someone’s day!
5. Support a great cause. Ride for Refuge is coming – this year, you can ride freestyle, walk, cycle or choose something completely unique. For more information, ways to participate and to register, visit rideforrefuge.org
6. Donate your time or your goods – food banks, clothing donations, hygiene supplies for homeless shelters – everything counts! It is a great time to assess your belongings and see if there is anything worth donating. Charities like WIN (Women In Need) Society and Victoria Pregnancy Centre are accepting donations by appointment. There is always a need for menstrual products and personal hygiene products throughout the year!
7. Educate yourself on social issues like systemic racism, Indigenous rights, gender-based violence, and environmental issues, to name a few. By educating yourself, you can become a great advocate for people in our community and help to create a safe and inclusive space for everyone!

Thanks to Lesly Derksen on Unsplash for this beautiful picture of the Strathcona Provincial Park, Vancouver Island.

Over a period of the past weeks, we collected stories about our families during the lockdown, their struggles and successes. Here is one of the stories.

The young parents that access The Cridge Young Parent Outreach Program (YPOP) are overwhelmed, stressed and exhausted. Typically, they have little or no supportive family and are isolated and marginalized. A visit from the Cridge YPOP Outreach Worker can make a huge difference. This is especially true during this current COVID pandemic when these young parents are even more isolated. The current need to socially isolate means that the Cridge YPOP Outreach Worker has needed to come up with creative ways to stay connected to the young parents in her program. One way has been to put together small food hampers to deliver to their doors on a weekly basis.  This means that single moms do not have to figure out how to get groceries and keep their small children at home to minimize their exposure. We have realized that these visits can mean so much more than this very important practical help. After a grocery hamper drop and a bit of a chat from outside the front door, a young mom sent The Cridge YPOP Outreach Worker a text saying how desperate she had been feeling before the visit. She had been feeling in a very dark place that was getting darker. The Cridge YPOP Outreach Worker’s visit saved her from spiralling down further and gave her the lift she needed to carry on. We are grateful to have the extra funds to make up grocery hampers to deliver to all of our young parents. These bags of groceries are lifelines during these lonely, overwhelming times.

To learn more about The Cridge Young Parent Outreach Program click here.

During the lockdown, we would like to acknowledge the work of some of our fantastic staff members who continue to serve our clients during the pandemic. 

Today we want to highlight the work of one particular member of The Cridge family: Tanya is one of the hardworking staff members of our childcare team.

Tanya joined our team nine years ago after moving to Victoria. She worked as a Nature Preschool teacher, which means helping children to learn more about themselves, how to problem-solve, building their confidence and preparing them for school, all while in nature. We asked Tanya what the most rewarding experience as a preschool teacher was. “I love watching children reaching out to their milestones, celebrate them in their successes and helping them overcome their challenges,” she shared with us.

Recently, Tanya transitioned into an administrative position where she works to support our childcare management to take care of the vital work that usually stays behind the scenes. Tanya also provides support to our Dovetail program. She shared that she loves the new life and work balance she achieved by working in an administrative position. It allows her to spend more time with her husband and two children.

We asked her what she loves most about The Cridge Centre. “It was the perfect fit and love from the first sight,” she shared.  The combination of a faith-based workplace, a great team to work with and all the goodness which The Cridge Centre brings into our community was exactly what she was looking for.

We are grateful and proud to have Tanya as a part of our team, providing services to our families and essential workers during the pandemic!

Today we want to share a story with you. During the lockdown, we would like to acknowledge the work of some of our amazing staff members who continue to serve our clients during the pandemic. 

Nick is our Brain Injury Services Direct Care Coordinator – and he makes sure that every client in his care feels safe and respected.

Nick came to The Cridge Brain Injury Services as a nursing student in 2013. He shared that his first experience was to witness a fight between two residents. It was a realistic glance at the everyday tasks, responsibilities and challenges at MacDonald House, The Cridge Centre for the Family’s residential program for Brain Injury survivors. It was an intimidating start to his work!

As he returned to Mac House over and over again, he could not help but fall in love with the residents. Under the guidance of The Cridge Brain Injury Manager, Geoff, Nick learned the intricacies of working with people who suffered from brain injury.

“No brain injury is the same,” shares Nick, “which means every new client requires a unique approach to their needs and difficulties. That makes my job even more interesting and challenging. That’s why I love my job!”

Nick believes that compassion and empathy are the most essential tools when working with brain injury clients. It is all about whatever it takes to preserve the dignity of the person.

The biggest challenge Nick faces working with people who have experienced brain injury is the fact that in order to provide safety it is necessary to limit clients’ independence and place boundaries on decision making. 

Here is an example. For someone who is disoriented and confused or suffering from memory loss, the last thing to do is to allow them to go for a walk with no supervision. It is so easy to get lost! But the limitations to their independence and decision making will frustrate Mac House clients, explained Nick. Good communication is the best tactic, he shared with us. And patience.

Nick believes that it is all about the balance between providing safety and taking things slow. He likes to remind clients that it takes time to rebuild their lives back to a new normal. If there is a will, there is the way.

We are grateful to every member of our Cridge family that is on the frontlines and taking care of our clients, making sure that their needs are met.

As a parent of two boys, I’ve heard many ways of referring to our children and “identifying” them. Are they simply two boys? Two boys who have autism? Autistic children? Neurodiverse? Neurodivergent? Boys with special needs? Children who are not typical? Disabled boys? Boys with disabilities? Children with complex needs? I could go on and on, much like the debates on how it is appropriate to refer to someone.

Over the years our views on how to address, describe or identify our children has evolved and changed. As the boys have grown and matured they’ve started to be able to determine for themselves how they would like to be identified and if they want to be identified as anything other than boys at all. One thing I know for sure is not everybody is on the same page when it comes to this topic and there are a lot of strong opinions. People are different, we’re all different. How we each want to be identified or how we want others to refer to us is a personal choice that should be respected. If you need to or want to identify somebody and don’t know what their preference is, just ask.

At Cridge Respitality we support over 440 local families, all of whom have a child or children with a diagnosed disability. Our goal is to provide a parent/s or guardian with an opportunity once annually to do something special, something extra, something just for them. Whether it be a night away at one of our hotel partners, dinner out, or a performance at the theatre, free of charge, donated by our local business partners and community. Respitality is all about giving some love and care to the caregiver, to support them as they care for their children.

By Heather Stevens, The Cridge Respitality Program.

 

To learn more about The Cridge Respite & Respitaliy Program, visit this page.