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Home My WebLink AboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1988-06-28, Page 21The history of Town .and Ci►untry Homemakers is a remarkab e„suc- cess story. The 10 -year organization is one of, the major ° employers in Huron County, as well as a prime supplier of health services. The 19: p-- 89 budget is estimated at x$1,57890011 and $1,386,763 was paid in wages in the last fiscal year to Huron County residents working for the agency. About 150 staff, trained home- makers, volunteers and friends of the organization looked back on an amazing record as they celebrated the agency's 10th birthday at a din- ner meeting in the Goderich Town- ship Hall. From an infancy housed in an officeof the Community and Social Services building in Wingham in 1978, employing 50 homemakers and home help staff,.„.:v ith revenue of $115,556 and expenditures of $113,622, the agency now employs around 173 homemakers, 129 home support workers, plus h nusecleaners and handymen. Recent new pro- grams are Diners' Clubs for seniors and Meals on Wheels. First chairman Betty Cardno's re- port, given to the inaugural annual meeting in 1978, briefly outlined the agency's history and its reason for coming into existence. Mrs. Cardno, a longtime employee of the Huron board of .health, noted that as in- creasing numbers of people live longer and wish to remain as inde- pendent as..possible for as long as possible, government has placed more emphasis on providing assist- ance to allow the ill, the elderly, handicapped and those needing temporary help for a specific situa- tion, to remain in their homes. in accordance with this policy , the Ministry of Health initiated a Home Care program to be administered by the Huron County Health Unit to provide hospital -type care at home. - Homemaking services (not: to ex - need 80 hours) were also provided for these patients. All costs were funded by the ministry for patients insured by OHIP. The Perth branch of the Victorian Order of Nurses, which expanded to become the Perth -Huron VON, was designated to give nursing care. The need for a separate agency soon became apparent. Many persons who did not need or were. through with active treatment and thus did not qualify under OHIP, did need home help but had nowhere to go to obtain homemaking services on a private basis. The Red Cross Homemaking. Services in Stratford and London were not interested in extending their services to Huron County. The Huron Board of Health had no resources to purchase home- making services for those -not meeting Ministry of Health eligibil- ity requirements and nowhere to buy the services anyway. On the initiative of the Huron Health ;Unit,.12 women were trained as Certified Visiting Homemakers at the Clinton campus of Conestoga, College through -a Canada Man- power retraining program. They -formed the nucleus of the present. corps and some are still with Town and Country. The homemakers were employed by the board of health under Mrs. Cardno's direction, They- also L wan 4 ' sOarat age; t whit would` i e'the o a ne t opportunities and regular benefit, such as Canada Pension, unemplo -- inen't insurance and workers' coma ,pensation,, guarantee the public was protected through regulated hiring standards and provide supervision, moral support and co-ordinated plaeerrtent dough a central office. On the a'0 ' makers endorsed �'ta►? t that leeswater home- r ,can Voting (now executive &em and i Carddo' hhllg `Nate -home" ha] making agency. Mrs. gm.ilin.vas among the first graduates of trp. Conestoga course and Mrs. Cardito saw in her the abilities and. leadership qualities the '.new, organization needed, „ Interested ' citizens . . and ,rep resentatives„from various agencies were recruited to form a steering, committee to lobby for a federal grant to start a homemakers' agency. The government initially refused, arguing that it preferred projects it funded to end at the end of the year, to prevent new programs from being a drain on the municipal- ity. " "If we believe in this so much, why not give us a chance?" Mrs:--Cardno Argued. The grant came through the following year. Town and Country Homemakers began to function on Jan. 2, 1978, in an office supplied free of charge in Wingham by the Ministry of Com- munity and " Social Services. The Canada Works grant funded four workers -- administrator . Jean Young, a secretary -bookkeeper, a .. development officer and one homemaker. Knowing that funding was for only one year, the committee quickly prepared a charter, a constitution and bylaws and incorporation as a non-profit agency. Fundraising was a priority. With no direct govern- ment funding, the agency is depend- ent on -the fees recei ..ed fer services. purchased by Home tare, Social Services, Family and Children's Services, Home Support for the Elderly, the Cancer Society and private clients. Part of the money raised is used to subsidize partly or wholly. , those private .clients . whoti need the services and cannot pay the full cost. Initial support from. Huron County - was lukewarm, although the council gave a first grant of $3,000 in 1979 and has since become firm sup- porters. Mrs. Cardno thinks con- fusion about Home Care and Home- makers was responsible.. Home Care, under the Ministry of Health, administers, assesses and coordin- ates services. Home Care buys homemaking and home support services from provider agencies such as Town and Country Home- makers. The agency began to grow im- mediately after birth. In October of '78, Canada Works funded a Home Help program offering cleaning, handyman, hairdressing and barber services for shutins and emergency situations. An average of 21 cases per week were handled in 1978. This had more than tripled to 75 the next year and by 1987 an astounding 200,233 hours of in-home service had been provided to clients in all parts of Huron County in one year. • The agency monad to an office on Wingham's Josephine Street, then to 92 Victoria Street Last in 1980;The house was bought in 1981 and the mortgage was paid off with a small bank loan in 1986. The bank loan was retired in 1987. • Implementatioff of the Integrated Homemakers Prob.= in 1986 ac- counts for the recent huge increase in budget and staff. Huron was chosen as one of eight pilot project sites acrossOntario. Horne Care purchases siOrykcea from Town• and Country Ho rs .tp assist frail elderly and ai tilt` s k'ed to remain in their homes or Communities and to sustain or :expandthe scope of the family's capacity to continue to care - for its Members, Total Reveftte has burgeoned in 15 months.„ from $712,000 in January '87 tO tit, $1,775,000 by March 31 this yea. Mrs. Young has been at the het during this excititijg and chaffed' .0104 years a aisarw a iii Wttitt ane : co tit1 to. MOM -Oat dents Sbe vox Ilt n s ea engage ►a , to ed cl aprman . e; a &Association of Visiting` flomernakeiServiaai in 19$7 and is.a *wither of - the advisory committee: -to the itnterministerial comMittee addressing the critical issues in the homemaking industr : "Looking back, 1 . roptter -bow I- had the nerve to doit but I enjoy" a, challenge altd I : g4 o: ono -day `at a time," Mrs. Young said. Noon Mrs. Young gives a great deal of the credit for the agency's accom- plishments to a committed board of directors drawn frothacrossthe county. "Our philosophy 'and concern is for the clients and the community, the staff and the employees," she emphasized. :y THAT'S EN AINMENT' ® Bev Brown of Brussels, centre, • • home suppo co-ordinator, and homemaker Anne Thompson lead a singsong at the 10th anniversary meeting of Town" and Country , Homernakers. They are accompanied by Cousin Clem (otherwise: known as Rev. Don Vair of Brussels United Church): . :' _ . • •. FROM THE BEGINNING Ten women whb begarr with Town and Country Homemakers in. 1978 and are currently working for the agency werepresented with pins in recognition of their continued service during the agency_ 's 10th anniversary meeting., iron lert_rt ley are: Back row, uick Walker, Wingham: Alice Roseboom, Zurich, Bev Brown, Brussel& fries'-chair/r n of the first executf a committee and now back as home support co=ordinator, :f"orma"l ' " ' irtr ilma kelaar, Clintonres .11e l se, Clinton, Front row, Anne Cottle, Credi#ort; Anne Thompson, Wingham: Mary Wareing, Kippers; Vera Priestap, Clinton, . • ,mak•: ...4 .0\ • f b For all your giftgiving steeds... Leave 0 Jeanne MclOonald loves the work she's in. She sur- rounds herself daily with the beautiful things she selects for the store called Token Treasures. Hers is a world of brides and grooms, birthday wishes and tokens of love and affection. Jeanne's " job is to assist customers in choosing thatgift which says "1 it+ ":- . Jeanne does this, welt • The bride -to -he is' en couraged to drop into the store, alone ,or with jeer • When it . comes to brides and groin's, Jeanne relies aka bridal registry. For many; the idea of a bridal registry is .a mys- tery and therefore an un- comfortable experience. Jeanne explains that. it is really neither of these things; 'it is a way for bey.,. e . to Mao wisest of a gift for their it atm% . . cu tion .oars 1 bU3 .that w- ally ally enoyl? *. • r • • • argue: Within ten or fifteen minutes Jeanne has an idea of the colours the bride plans for her first home and the, accessories she enjoys (brass, wicker, silver, copper, etc.) Jeanne records .these facts and refers to them from time to time as shop- pers arrive to choose a special gift -for the young couple (or not -so -young cbitp1e . Buyers have the knowledge of choosing gifts of the taste and style they know will please. They are happy they are not buying something the couple has already •received. What it amounts to for the shopper is that it is the wisest use " of money . spent. It is $t choice of pre- int which is going to say a7re". d• e. a 1i nil1 of _ the bffd:"' ` le gra- OW e of a Irian- 4lesintie,. and the gift becomes a treasured token of affection. ensures ' alai 357-2993 • •