Stories of Impact
Carol recently slipped on a magazine and broke her leg. Thankfully Tracie Arkland, was on duty. She remained by Carol’s side in order to keep her still, contacted emergency personnel, and stayed with Carol at the hospital until she went into surgery. Having a familiar face and someone who knew her so well was a great comfort. Because Medicare funds only allowed Carol a one week stay in a Skilled Nursing Facility, it was determined that Carol would remain in Mainstream's care, but move to a more accessible group home. The team at Onyx and Clark worked together to transition Carol and ensure that her needs were met. Staff familiar to Carol were able to work with her at Onyx and a great deal of coodination was done to have proper equipment and training for everyone working with Carol. Everyone who assisted in Carol's effort to heal went above and beyond to provide her the best care possible.
The staff at 75th Street lost Becky (a long-term member) in May when she passed away at Taylor Hospice House. Although challenging for them personally, as they were dealing with their own sense of loss, they stepped up and also helped the members work through their grief. One of the members had lived with Becky since they were children at Woodward and then came to Mainstream together in 1992. Even though the staff and members were grieving, they welcomed Bill, a member from another site who needed more medical attention that his current home could provide. Bill had been in the hospital for three weeks and had a feeding tube placed during his stay. He is non-verbal and has a rare form of autism. The 75th St staff rallied around this new challenge and have gotten Bill to engage in different activities that, historically, he hasn't participated in. He is gaining weight, which is great, because over the last few years he has lost 35lbs that he could afford to lose.
As a result of the recent derecho storm, staff from many sites pulled together and worked hard to keep members safe and happy during the storm and the following power outage. Everyone worked diligently to ensure the members' food was salvagable and developed ideas to keep members busy with games, yard work (sweeping sidewalks/patios/decks), and inventive recipes that didn’t require power. Some staff stayed at sites for 36+ hours due to other staff not being able to make it in. Everyone really stepped up and did their very best with limited resources.
Finally, a special shout out to Aimee Widdowson, Assistant Team Leader, who jumped in to provide essential care to a member who tested positive for COVID. She took Tal to the ER, got her settled when she was admitted, cleaned/sanitized Tal’s apartment while she was hospitalized, brought her home from the hospital a week later and has been checking in with Tal until her other staff were able to return to work. Thanks Aimee!