JOINT EFFORT
Staff, residents come together in Hurricane Harvey aftermath
When Hurricane Harvey made landfall in late August, much of the greater Houston area sustained unprecedented flooding and wind damage, with many residents losing their homes and valued possessions. Many local senior living communities were well prepared and managed to avoid serious damage. One thing they also had in common was the way their residents and staff came together to help get through it and assist those in need in the wake of the storm.
Eagle’s Trace, an Erickson Senior Living community in west Houston, experienced no flooding or major infrastructure damage and did not lose power. Its staff already had a hurricane preparedness plan in place and sprang into action, regularly communicating updates to residents and employees and enacting an updated staffing schedule.
Additionally, its ride-out and recovery teams of employees (some coming from sister Erickson Living communities in Dallas and around the country) stepped up to care for residents and provide support to each other.
“We have this plan and its sessions in place in case something serious develops, and residents know to prepare and stock up on items like water and batteries,” said Pamela Burgeson, director of sales at Eagle’s Trace.
Eagle’s Trace also has a volunteer resident team in place, which helps to communicate daily updates and pertinent communication through telephone messages and doorto-door visits. To assist with dining, more than 100 residents helped serve meals while the community worked to ensure they were maintaining enough resources to get them through a potential time of need.
“These volunteers helped bring people through our dining venues during a modified dining schedule, helped bus tables, and helped to ensure we were going through resources in an efficient manner,” Burgeson said.
“They also helped with leadership in housekeeping and maintenance and helped management communicate with residents to be sure they had everything they needed with as little interruption as possible.”
Erickson Living also created an employee relief fund for affected employees, which started with $2,000,000 and grew with resident and employee donations, along with outside donations from around the country.
This also allowed Erickson to provide
$500 gift cards to all affected employees who may have missed work or had other expenses such as additional child-care costs as a result of the storm.
While the community didn’t experience any serious damage or power outages, it faced the challenge of restricted access to the community, causing some employees to be unable to come to work. For this reason, Eagle’s Trace has an employee ride-out team who stayed 24 hours a day for several nights at the community, sleeping on cots and couches while filling in for employees who weren’t able to make it to work during the worst of the storm. As the rain eventually subsided throughout Houston and travel conditions improved, more employees found a way to Eagle’s Trace.
Like many communities in the area, Eagle’s Trace also saw an influx of new residents moving in because they lost everything in their original homes, and made room for future residents to move up their planned move-in dates.
“We have all levels of care here on campus and were lucky to have first responders and nurses on staff in case any critical situations arose, Burgeson said. “At the end of the day, it’s comforting for residents to know the staff is here to provide for them while they weather the storm.”
“Our biggest objective was to continue with planned activities and maintain a sense of normalcy while keeping everyone updated on the situation,” Burgeson said.
Treemont Retirement Community, located in the Memorial area, was lucky that it avoided any flooding. Still, the community’s residents wanted to do something to help the storm victims.
Residents began by sorting the many donations provided by the neighbors outside of the community. On the Independent Living side, Treemont also welcomed many “new neighbors” (storm victims) displaced by Hurricane Harvey, who arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
Treemont had purchased basic furnishings to provide furnished apartments for those needing immediate move-in.
“Treemont was at times a bit short staffed on the Independent Living side, but various staff members stayed overnight and some biked to work in the rain. Many of the residents’ family members also assisted in serving in the dining room,” said Lisa Witt, marketing manager, Quilted Care. “Health Care Center administrator Sherion Schroeder had an action plan in place to make sure enough staff was available to care for Treemont’s nursing team.”
Treemont also has an existing relationship with West Houston Assistance Ministries. One of WHAM’s board members was staying at Treemont while his home was being repaired, so Treemont and WHAM staff coordinated a plan to partner on WHAM’s ongoing donation drive to benefit the storm victims moving into Treemont.
“Nine people we were able to provide clothing, housewares, personal items, bedding and other essential items as part of this effort,” said Aimee Dubuisson, activities director at Treemont.
Parkway Place, also located in Houston, is another example of a local senior living community with both residents and staff who sprung into action to help those in need, both within and outside of the community.
Many people whose homes flooded in the storm came to Parkway Place for a temporary home, and many others whose homes sustained extensive damage are planning to stay permanently.
“We fortunately sustained no damage and never lost power in our buildings, which allowed our residents and the community to go along as normal,” said Linda Fitzhugh, director of independent living and interim director at Parkway Place. “We had 30-35 employees who stayed around the clock to monitor and make sure everyone was taken care of and we are so thankful for them.”
Fitzhugh said Parkway Place does have a disaster plan in place, which helped tremendously to prevent panic and chaos during the storm. The majority of its residents stayed at the campus and in their apartments, remaining relatively unaffected while the water levels rose on surrounding roads.
The community and its residents also came together by donating money and cleaning out their homes and closets to help create a store in which affected employees can shop through free donated items for things they need that they may have lost in the storm.
Residents also put together care packages of baked goods to deliver to the fire station that services Parkway Place, as well as officers directing traffic in the storm’s aftermath.
“Our residents have been so gracious and willing to act as a resource and offer support to our staff,” Fitzhugh said. “We want our employees to know our residents are willing to take care of them, since they care for them like their own families.”