My Story

It was such a profound honour to visit with residents who had dementia. I would meet with the same individuals multiple times and, although they didn't know my name, their faces would light up when they would see me. It's a testament to that beautiful quote by Maya Angelou, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

 

Being able to bring  joy to others has always been a part of my life and I couldn't believe there were jobs where I could do just that. My soul absolutely came alive.

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This sparked a light in me to pursue a career working with seniors. As luck would have it, a job as an Activity & Volunteer Coordinator at a retirement residence popped up right in my community. I started in 2018 and I don't feel like I've worked a day in my life since. 

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It was so neat to be able to meet every resident, hear their story, and create a bond with each one of them. We had lots of adventures as I drove them to fun events in and around Calgary, tested their knowledge with trivia, facilitated senior-specific exercise classes, and planned many more activities and special events. 

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What moved me the most was the many passion projects (or labours of love as I like to call them). Seeing the need to connect seniors in the city during Covid, I created the Facebook page "Connection with Calgary Seniors". This page connected residents in our retirement residence, seniors living at home, and all the people who wanted to spread joy to seniors with laughter, hope, and kindness during the pandemic. This Facebook page still exists today with over 900 members supporting each other virtually. 

 

During a Covid Christmas, I reached out to our community to request messages of love and received Christmas cards, crafts, and gifts to make the holiday more cheerful. I will never forget the day my colleague and I decorated all the resident doors at 1am on Christmas day. We wanted to make sure that even though our residents wouldn't be able to celebrate Christmas with their family, they would wake up to so much love from family, friends and the community. This project moved our residents so much that we continued the tradition year after year. 

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I love celebrating milestone birthdays in a big way, so for one of our 100 year old residents, we asked the community to help us gather 100 cards to celebrate each year of his life. The community and the city came together to send 1200 cards and so many other generous gifts to commemorate the special occasion. A big-time Oilers fan, we asked the community to help put together an Oilers experience just for him. The community showed up in a big way! A local restaurant gifted him with a special trip to an Oilers game in a personal box, gave him a shout out on the jumbotron, gave him a personalized 100th birthday jersey, and a hotel accommodation for him and his two sons.

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These ideas mean so much to me and to have them come alive with so many people's help and generosity was truly awe-inspiring. 

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As I continued my career, I noticed there was a gap in support services - both for seniors remaining at home, and for seniors transitioning to a residence or into care. 

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The residents I served for the past 5 years have left such an imprint on my heart that will last a lifetime. Though it was incredibly hard to leave my residents and begin this new path, I know I'm meant to spread my light to others who need me. 

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There aren't enough people in this world that are able to give seniors the unconditional love they deserve, patience to listen and be heard, someone to laugh with, and a space to feel safe. If I can help even one person in this business, it makes it all worthwhile. 

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Thank you for reading my 'why' for creating Freedom Found! I look forward to speaking with you about how I can help to bring a little joy and magic into you or your loved ones' lives. 

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"Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love." 

-Mother Theresa