It’s important to celebrate love not only today, but every day. Valentines Day can be celebrated by anyone with simply expressing your love for your friends and family.

Wellness at Elim is a broad term. It encompasses the multitude of ways Elim can effect and impact the quality of life for each of our residents and Therapeutic Recreation is one of the many pieces to this large puzzle. In celebrating this month, we acknowledge the role of leisure, recreation and play as essential components to ensure quality of life. Therapeutic Recreation service is provided to individuals who have physical, mental, social or emotional limitations which impact their ability to engage in meaningful leisure experiences.

What is it Therapeutic Recreation Professionals do?

 Assess: Conduct an assessment of the resident’s functional abilities, leisure interests, needs and wishes.                                                                                                                   Plan: Develop an intervention plan with the residents. Set short term and long term goals. Gather necessary information and tools needed in the program to help the resident achieve these goals.                                                                                                             Implement:  Facilitate and assist residents in participation. Monitor their progress.     Evaluate: Review the residents intervention plan and goals. Revise plan accordingly.

Here at Elim Village our staff interact with our residents on a daily basis and they play a crucial role in their daily lives. We want to uplift residents from not only by creating interactive activities, having meaningful conversations and interactions.

“Sometimes, it’s something as simple as a smile to make someone’s day. What would life be like without smiles? Can you imagine what it would be like if you never experienced others joy. Without uplifting interactions, life for many would seem lose its purpose.”                   – Michelle Hebert, Wellness Manager

Every year the BC Senior Living Association asks for nominee’s for the L.E.A.P (Let’s embrace aging passionately) award. These nominees must be a resident of the BCSLA community and process a number of attributes. For 2019 we nominated assisted resident living in Elim Village Fleetwood, Margaret. While she didn’t win the official award she was number one in our eyes and, therefore, deserved a celebration!

Prior to coming to Elim Village, Margaret eagerly served within her community. She explained “I always like to have something to do”. She used to volunteer with a group of women at charities and would share her cooking and baking with the less fortunate whenever she had an opportunity.

Margaret began her journey at Elim Village four years when she found herself next on the waitlist for a suite in “The Emerald at Elim Village”. She now had a decision to make, however, Margaret read something earlier that day that put her mind at ease. “Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water” (exodus 15:27). Upon entering Elim for the first time, she read the same verse on of the walls in the facility. She accepted this as a sign that she was meant to take this next step in her life.

Margaret will be turning 94 this year and is still full of life. She grew up in a large family with eight other siblings and being the daughter of hard working parents, Margaret acquired many skills. Two of these skills include sewing and knitting which are also her two favourite pass times. She now uses her sewing skills to help fellow residents mend clothing.

You can find Margaret walking around the community listening to her radio or sitting on a bench with her knitting while enjoying the sunshine. She also attends every fitness activity in the Emerald and encourage other residents to be active with her.

Her positive, energetic and approachable attitude along with a willingness to help others around her truly displays Margaret’s giving heart. She actively cares for her fellow residents by reading to them, mending clothes, visiting those who feel lonely and encouraging them to live their lives to the fullest. Margaret wants to convey a message of love and fait and continuously demonstrates what it means to love your neighbour and as a result inspires everyone around her.

For more wonderful pictures of this event head over to our Facebook Page.