Friday, October 02, 2015
Tillsonburg and District Multi-Service Centre
Community Support Services Integral to Keeping People at Home
October is Community Support Month
Tillsonburg, October 1, 2015 – Each year, nearly a million seniors and people with disabilities use the services offered by Ontario’s community support service (CSS) providers – and that demand is growing. Even if you’ve never heard of these unsung heroes of the health care system, you’ve benefited from their work.
October is the time to celebrate Community Support across the Province. It is our time to profile and thank the dedicated staff and volunteers of our community support agencies who deliver critical services to frail seniors, persons with disabilities or debilitating chronic diseases and their families.
Since 1978, MSC’s Home Support Services department (and, more recently, sister corporation Stonebridge Community Services) have been providing these key services in the community. They include:
- Assistive Living
- Personal Support and Homemaking
- Meals on Wheels
- Transportation
- Home/Yard Maintenance and Repair
- Home at Last
- Foot Care
Across the province, Community Support agencies provide a wide variety of services such as the services listed above, as well as attendant care, adult day programs and respite for family caregivers.
Individuals prefer to receive support in the comfort of their own homes and communities, not in hospitals and institutions. By meeting this need, CSS providers improve the quality of life of clients and their families – and they also create significant cost-savings to Ontario’s health system, freeing up desperately needed funds and hospital beds. They are a crucial part of building the strong, sustainable health care system we will all need in the future.
“I encourage all Ontarians to learn about the home and community support services available in their communities,” says Deborah Simon, CEO of the Ontario Community Support Association. “These organizations support a vast range of individuals in our communities – including some of our most vulnerable citizens. This month is an excellent opportunity to give them a little extra support in return.”
“The need remains for services that allow people to live as independently as possible and remain at home. We have worked with our partners for many years to ensure those services are in place and often assist families in navigating the system,” says Diana Handsaeme, Manager of MSC’s Home Support Services (and Life Care Division, Stonebridge Community Services). This recent story, posted in both The Tillsonburg News and the Oxford Review, demonstrates the difference these services can make in the lives of clients and their families: http://virtual.woodstocksentinelreview.ca/doc/Woodstock-Sentinel-Review/oxford_review-0910/2015091001/6.html#6.
Join us as we celebrate, the specific celebratory days and weeks listed below AND the many workers, volunteers and caregivers that assist our most vulnerable citizens:
| October 4–10
| Meals on Wheels Week | October 7
| Congregate Dining Day | October 11–17
| Adult Day Program Week | October 14
| Client Intervention and Assistance (CIA) Day | October 18–24
| Supportive Housing Week | October 21
| Attendant Services Day | October 23
| Transportation Day | | October 26 | Respite Services Day | | October 27 | Friendly Visiting/Telephone Reassurance Day | | October 28 | Hospice Services Day |
For more information go to www.multiservicecentre.com and choose the Home Support link.
Regular updates are posted to the agency’s Facebook and Twitter accounts - highlighting information of interest to the community on a wide range of topics, including seniors’ issues.
Join the conversation on social media at #OurCommunitySupport.
Media contact:
Maureen Vandenberghe
MSC Communications
519-842-9008 ext 270
mvandenberghe@multiservicecentre.com
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