 All smiles as Susan & Alfredo share a love of rocks from around the world! Home is Where the Heart is! Around the World 2023 aims to entirely refresh and modernize our outdated 2000 Misericordia Place personal care home, where our incredible residents and MHC staff live, work and adventure in!
"Pieces" of Australia, Finland, Russia - and more! - recently made a visit to Misericordia Place in the latest Around the World activity planned by the Recreation Therapy team for the residents. Susan Lemoine has really fond memories of visiting gem shows so was keen for recreation’s “rock talk” activity. “Are there any diamond mines in Manitoba?” was one of her first questions for visiting geologist Alfredo Camacho, Head of Earth Sciences at the University of Manitoba. Sadly, the answer was no to diamond mines in Manitoba but there are diamond mines in Canada – as close as Saskatchewan, recreation therapist Faith Jasper’s home! Alfredo shared a slab of volcanic rock from a Russian volcano, then continued his world tour of rocks from almost every continent. Highlights included a rock polished by a glacier from Nunavut that was 800 million years old, a layered red rock created from tectonic plates colliding in Australia, a ridiculously heavy black rock laced with the gem garnet from Finland and a speckled pink rock from China. Social engagement activities like the "rock talk" often take place in the common spaces in front of nursing stations on all levels of MP - making them a critical space for the mental and physical wellbeing of residents. “These common spaces haven’t been refreshed since 2000,” recreation therapist Faith laments. “It would be awesome to have them freshened up. I’d love to have some more comfortable seating and display cases to be able to rotate seasonal items of interest as well as our residents’ beautiful art work.” Help refresh Misericordia Place’s common space to improve the lives of residents like Susan! For every dollar you donate, Canadian Tire will match it with two more, which triples your impact! Click here to give the gift of renewal today!
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 Home is Where the Heart is! Around the World 2023 aims to entirely refresh and modernize our outdated 2000 Misericordia Place personal care home, where our incredible residents and MHC staff live, work and adventure in!
Simone Vanhelvert is Misericordia Place’s unofficial librarian and one of the library’s best patrons! Asked about possible new books for the library, Simone wouldn’t mind some travel books. She’d especially like to read about Holland, where her husband’s extended Dutch family still lives. Simone has very fond memories about travelling to Holland. “Everyone is so kind over there … and they make you eat so much!” she recalls with a laugh. “I’d say my tour of Amsterdam was a highlight.” Simone and recreation therapist Faith enjoy frequently tidying the quiet first-floor library together. They’re not on the same page about refreshing the library, though! Faith is advocating for a new computer and printer for residents in the library, but Simone says not for her: “I don’t touch technology!” You can help refresh Misericordia Place’s library to improve the lives of residents like Simone! For every dollar you donate, Canadian Tire will match it with two more, which triples your impact! Click here to give the gift of renewal today!  Ann & Olga enjoying raspberry tarts! Home is Where the Heart is! Around the World 2023 aims to entirely refresh and modernize our outdated 2000 Misericordia Place personal care home, where our incredible residents and MHC staff live, work and adventure in!
MP3 residents Ann Latter, 98, age, and Olga Bazilewich, 102, recently had a lovely culinary trip to France! Ann, wearing a jaunty beret, says she’d gladly sample baked goods from any country but she particularly likes French goodies. Erin is the recreation facilitator who does the most baking at Misericordia Place, by all accounts. She recently baked scrumptious French raspberry tarts for MP3 residents, including Ann and Olga. Erin’s Misericordia Place refreshment wish? New ovens, hands down. “I burn cookies all the time … I can’t control the temperature; it’s just too hot,” she laments. “These ovens have been here since Misericordia Place opened [23 years ago].” “And if it was at all possible,” continued Erin, “I’d love to see brighter kitchens. The dark blue is not at all uplifting!” Help refresh Misericordia Place kitchens to improve the lives of residents like Ann and Olga! For every dollar you donate, Canadian Tire will match it with two more, which triples your impact! Click here to give the gift of renewal today! Home is Where the Heart is! Around the World 2023 aims to entirely refresh and modernize our outdated 2000 Misericordia Place personal care home, where our incredible residents and MHC staff live, work, and adventure in!
You know Misericordia resident Bill Pollon loves travel before you even meet him: the introductory poster outside his room is adorned with travel maps and suitcase graphics! Turns out Bill and his wife of 51 years, Henriette (also a Misericordia Place resident!), love cruises. In fact, they spent a decade cruising – from the Arctic to Antarctica. “The beauty of a cruise is that it’s like a hotel, but you never have to unpack at new destinations,” says Bill, wheeling over to show cruise destinations photos adorning a bedroom wall. As mental wellbeing is equally as important as physical wellbeing, the Recreation Therapy team helped Bill to create a poster of his favourite travel photos to ensure his room was full of happy memories. Bill took it one step further and has actually reconfigured his Misericordia Place room to be more like on a cruise ship! For example, he’s moved his bed so he has more space to sit by his window. He can’t say enough about the efficiency of cruise ships and he’d like to see updated furniture in residents’ rooms reflect both comfort and clever design for smaller spaces. The Misericordia Place Refresh design team, which includes architects and interior designers, clearly are on the same wavelength as Bill: new stylish, yet functional, furniture is currently being reviewed. Bill’s home is definitely where his heart is! He generously donates to Misericordia Health Centre Foundation campaigns, like Around the World, for the benefit of himself and all his fellow residents. You can join Bill and Henriette in refreshing Misericordia Place and improving the lives of residents today! For every dollar you donate, Canadian Tire will match it with two more, which triples your impact! Click here to give the gift of renewal today!  Hugh & Yvonne reminiscing! Home is Where the Heart is! Around the World 2023 aims to entirely refresh and modernize our outdated 2000 Misericordia Place personal care home, where our incredible residents and MHC staff live, work and adventure in!
Resident Hugh McMeel has very fond memories of visiting pubs in his homeland, Northern Ireland. “I went many, many times to pubs in Ireland,” he reminisces with a broad grin. Hugh is still partial to the occasional pint and bar snack: he even has Guinness beer coasters on his bedroom armoire. Hugh would like to see MP’s multi-purpose room redesigned to have more of a pub atmosphere – and not just for when recreation staff hold “pub nights” for residents and their families. While his daughter, Yvonne, agrees the multi-purpose room could certainly benefit from the addition of a “cozy corner” with comfortable seating for residents, she is brimming with other helpful suggestions of how to refresh Misericordia Place! “(Spaces should be) less clinical and not so hospital-oriented… more like a home,” says Yvonne, acknowledging much has changed in the design of personal care homes since MP opened in 2000. Yvonne is a proponent of warmer lighting in all areas of Misericordia Place. She’d like to see improved seating areas for residents who are mobile, even armchairs with a small table and a lamp at the end of a corridor. Cozy corners! Warmer lighting! Comfy seating! Check! Check! Check! Our Misericordia Place Refresh design team is on it! Help refresh Misericordia Place to become more like a home and less like a hospital, improving the lives of residents like Hugh! For every dollar you donate, Canadian Tire will match it with two more, which triples your impact! Click here to give the gift of renewal today! |
