Looking ahead workshops – Planning for the future
In the month of June, Marie-lisa and Michelle (the agents for our Eastern Townships Health and Social Services Partners Network in the Estrie region) organized a series of four virtual workshops to help community members plan for the future. These free workshops, offered once per week on zoom, were about an hour to an hour and a half in length and included a presentation and a question period. The presenters involved in the Looking Ahead workshops did a wonderful job of making somewhat difficult-todiscuss subjects easy to understand and interesting – in some cases, they were even able to add to add some humour into the mix!
For week one, Ms. Véronique Hastir, a notary from Downey Hastir Notaries, talked about the importance of living wills and mandates, and explained the difference between a living will and a will.
In week two, Carol Arbery (an LPN and vocational teacher with many years of experience working in a seniors’ residence) offered participants some tips for how to choose a seniors’ residence. She talked about everything from costs for services to smaller details that not everyone thinks about (if you were in a residence, have you ever thought about how you’d get essential items and/or treats for your visitors?).
In week three, Ms. Patricia Fontaine and Ms. Mélissa Morin, notaries from GGF Notaires, talked about estate planning and discussed the options for making a will. They also explained what happens when someone dies without a will.
For the final presentation, Mr. François Fouquet of the Coopérative Funéraire de l’estrie (which owns Cass Funeral Homes) talked about funeral planning. He discussed funerals and pre-arrangements, and talked to participants about how they can make sure their final wishes are respected.
Not only did the Looking Ahead workshop participants receive valuable (and in many cases, new) information from these presentations, but they also had the opportunity to ask questions of each presenter and make a direct connection with them. They were also invited to follow-up should they require further information. We’d like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our five presenters for giving us some of their time, and we’d also like to thank the Public Health Agency of Canada for their financial support.
Did you miss the Looking Ahead workshops? Or are you curious about the topics offered? Good news – we will be offering these again in the fall! Follow our Facebook page for more information or check the Record’s event listings in September for dates and times. You can also contact Marielisa (mlj@townshippers.org) and/or Michelle (ml@townshippers.org) by email to learn more.
Physical distancing bingo
We know that this summer is going to look different than the summers we are used to, so we decided to offer you a little something to help bring some fun to your summer days: a Physical Distancing Bingo game! To learn more, visit our website: https://townshippers. org/pdbingo2020/ and download our activity booklet and bingo card. The activity booklet includes information about all of the challenges we’ve planned, and the bingo card will help you keep track of what you’ve done so far. If you complete all of the challenges (see official rules for details), you’ll be entered into a draw to win a gift certificate for our online Townships Expressions shop. Read the official contest rules on our website and watch our Facebook page for new challenges every week between now and the end of the summer!
If you’d prefer to receive hard copies of the activity booklet and the bingo card by mail, please send us an email at ml@townshippers.org.
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