Amherstburg seniors escape isolation with telephone chat
Almost every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m., Jim Kenny hops on a telephone chat line with fellow Amherstburg seniors looking for some friendly conversation. They talk about their own lives, share a song or answer a trivia question or two.
“I like hearing other people's perspectives,” said the 67-yearold Kenny, who lives alone. “Everybody's got experiences and everybody's got stories about who they are.”
Amherstburg Community Services organizes the group chats as a way to help seniors combat isolation and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The non-profit charitable organization offers help for the community's most vulnerable, through Meals on Wheels, a food bank and accessible transportation to get residents to medical appointments. All the usual face-to-face programming, however, has been suspended by the pandemic.
So the organization does individual check-in calls with seniors, and now the group chats are a safe way for seniors to connect virtually and engage with other seniors.
Several guest speakers are lined up for March. Amherstburg town councillor Patricia Simone spoke Thursday about International Women's Day, there's a talk on the Marsh Historical Collection on March 18 and a chat with Amherstburg Deputy Mayor Leo Meloche on March 23.
“Right now, it's more important than ever for seniors to be able to talk to each other,” said ACS executive director Kathy Dibartolomeo. “Someone who is in their age group who understands their fears. We're getting new people join in every week. Some are still hesitant to try it.”
Like Kenny's neighbour. He's mentioned the calls to her several times but she hasn't picked up the phone yet.
“For some seniors, their families are telling them to stay home so they're safe,” Dibartolomeo said. “This is a way for them to just call in, and for half an hour they can think about something different.”
It's a welcome diversion for Kenny, who has a married son and grandson in Windsor, three more grandchildren in Vancouver and family scattered elsewhere.
“We've pretty much been adhering to the rules,” Kenny said about staying home and not having visitors. “That's hard.”
Fortunately, he's not afraid to use technology such as Zoom, Skype and Whatsapp to connect with family and friends.
The ACS chat line opened up for the first time in February thanks to a grant from the Older Adults Centres' Association of Ontario. Zoom calls are planned to be added to the mix for seniors in April.
The Amherstburg organization is certainly not alone in the region in targeting seniors for extra attention during the pandemic.
The federal government pumped $350 million into an Emergency Community Support Fund for the vulnerable that's been distributed to United Way/centraide Canada, Community Foundations Canada and the Canadian Red Cross.
Seniors from the Amherstburg area wishing to participate in the group chat must first register with Amherstburg Community Services by calling 519-736-5471.