Last month, our Children’s Program paid a visit to our neighbours, the O’Neill Centre, a long-term care
home just next door to our shelter.
Last year, our Children’s Program workers thought of having the children do a musical performance for the residents at the O’Neill Centre and reached out to their team to try and arrange it.
The children in the program were asked whether they would want to participate in this sort of event and they enthusiastically agreed. They began to make cards for the residents and worked hard on choreography, African drum beats, ukulele and singing.
Before arriving, they were fully masked up and tested for covid at the door. They handed out their cards to the residents, who happily accepted them, before they danced and played. The children brought an energy and grace to their performance and the result was an event that was fun for both them and the seniors.
When following-up with the O’Neill Centre, the first thing they asked was “when can we do this again?” The goal is to start making these events a regular occurrence every couple of months.