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Times-Advocate, 1988-06-29, Page 8Page 8 Times Advocate, June 29 1988 Ten-year history of Huron agency a success story By Yvonne Reynolds The history of Town and Coun- try Homemakers is a remarkable success story. The 10 -year-old or- ganization is one of the major em- ployers in Huron County, as well as a prime supplier of health ser- vices. The 1988-89 budget is esti- mated at 51,578,000, and $1,386,763 was paid out 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 tenth birthday at a din- ner meeting in the Goderich town- ship hall. From,ap infancy housed in an office of the Community and So- cial Services building in Wingham in 1978 employing 50 homemak- ers and home help staff, with reve- nuc of 5115,556 and expenditures Of 5113.622, the agency now em- ploys around 173 Homemakers, 129 Horse Support workers, plus housecleaners and handymen. Re- cent nee programs are Diners' Clubs for seniors and Meals on Wheels. History Hrst 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. • Cardno, a longtime employee of ° the Huron board of health, 'noted that as increasing numbers of peo- ple live longer and wish to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible, government has placed more emphasis on providing assistance to allow the ill, the eld- erly, the handicapped and those needing temporary help for a spe- cific situation to remain in their homes. In accordance with this policy, the ministry of health initiated a Home Care program to be adminis- tered by the Huron County Health Unit to provide hospital -type care at ilUtliC. Homemaking services (not to exceed 80 hours) were also provided for these patients. A11 costs were funded by the ministry for patients insured by OIIIP. The Perth branch of the Victori- an Order of Nurses, which expand- ed to become the Perth -Huron VON, was designated to give nurs- ing care. The need for a separate agency soon became apparent. Many per- sons 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 priyate basis. The Red Cross Homemaking services in Stratford and London were not interested in extending their scrviccs to Huron Coynty. The Huron board of health had no resources to purchase homemaking services for those not meeting mini- stry of health eligibilty require- ments, and nowhere to buy the, ser- vices 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 Manpow- er retraining, program. (They formed the nucleus of .the present :orps, and some are still with Town and Country.) Separate agency needed The homemakers were employed by the board of health under Card - no's direction. They also wanted a separate agency that would give them more employment opportuni- ties and regular benefits such as Canada Pension, unemployment in- surance and workers compensation, guarantee the public was protected through regulated hiring standards, and provide supervision, moral sup- port, and coordinated placement through a central office. In 1977 the homemakers endorsed a request that Tceswater Homemaker Jean Young (now executive director of T & CH) and Cardno try to es- tablish a private homemaking agen- cy. Young had been among the first graduates of the Conestoga course, and Cardno had seen in her the abilities and leadership qualities the new organization would need. Interested citizens and representa- tives from various agencies were re- cruited to form a steering committee to lobby for a federal grant to start up a homemakers agency. The gov- ernment initially re sell, arguing that it preferred pts it funded to end at the end of the year, to prevent new programs from being a drain on the municipality. "If we believe in this so much, why not give us a chance?", Cardno argued convincingly. Established in 1978 The grant came through the fol - .lowing year. Town and Country mortgage was paid off with a small bank loan in 1986. The bank loan was retired in 1987. - Implementation of the Integrated Homemakers Program in 1986 ac- counts for the recent huge increase in budget and staff. Huron was cho- sen as one of eight pilot project sites across Ontario. Home Care purchases services from T & CH to assist frail elderly and adult disabled to remain in their homes or cotnmunitiy, and to sus- tain or expand the scope of the fam- ily's capacity to continue to care°for its members. Total revenue has burgeoned in 15 months from `S712,000 in January '87 to about $1,775,000 by March 31 this year. There from the start Young has been at the helm dur- ing this exciting and challenging decade. The 10 years have also been a time of personal growth for her. tended a workshop that assessed her personality, and showed her to be a creator and an innovator, something Betty Cardno had known instinc- tively years before. Young gives a great deal of the credit tor the agency's accomplish- ments to a committed board of di- rectors drawn from across the coun- ty. "Our philosophy and concern is for the clients and the community, the staff and the employees", she emphasized. A satisfied client At the meeting, Lavonne Ballagh from Wingham read a poem sum- ming up what Town and Country Homemakers has meant to one client. 'Twas the night before Tuesday. and I was getting restless The food was okay and the care was the bestest, FROM THE BEGINNING - Ten women who began with Town and Country Homemakers in 1978 and are cur rently working for the agency were singled out at the agency's 10th anniversary meeting and presented with pens. in the back row (left) are Homemakers Ruth Walker, Wingham; Alice Rooseboom, Zurich; Bev Brown, Brus- sels, vice-chairman of the first executive management committee now back as Home Support Coordinator; Home- makers Norma Moore, Wingham; Wilma Bakelaar, Clinton, Estelle Wise, Clinton and (front) Anne Cottel, Crediton; Anne Thompson, Wingham; Mary Wareing, Kippen and Vera Priestap, Clinton. Homemakers began to function on She has screed on many councils But I was sick of hospitals, I January 2, 1978 in an office sup- and committees, made presentations wanted to go home plied free of charge in Wingham by to university professors members of And my doctor said "No Way. the ministry of community and so- parliament, and has travelled across You can't manage on your own!" cial services. .The Canada Works Canada on speaking engagements. I'd had a hip replacement done - I grant funded four workers - adminis- She was elected chairman of the On- couldn't even walk trator Jean Young, a secretary- tario Association of Visiting Home- So with my trusted doctor I had bookkeeper, a development officer maker -Services in 1987, and is a to have a talk and one homemaker. member of the advisory committee "Find me. someone special to Knowing that funding for u. the interministerial committee come and live with me, only one year, the committek. ,..ick- at.,:ressing the critical issues in the 1 o keep me independent and help ly prepared a charter, a constitution homemaking industry.• me to be free" and bylaws, and incorporation as a Homemaking agencies have come "I'll sec what I can do", he prom - non -profit agency. a long way in a short time, but still ised, and was gone. Fund-raising was a priority. With have a way to go. Low wages ac- An official -looking woman was no direct government funding, the count for a high turn -over of staff, in my room at dawn. agency is dependent on the fees re- and the committee wants this.recti- "I want a helpful Homemaker",I ceived• for services purchased by Pied. Young read some of the coin- said, "to be with me every night Hone Care, Social Services, Fami- mittce's recommendations at the To help me when I go to bed, and ly and Children's Services, Home dinner. These include a requirement tuck me in real tight Support for the Elderly, the Cancer that all homemakers be trained at To fetch a drink of water when So:;iety and private clients. Part of home support level 11, and recieve I'm feeling dry and brittle the money raised is used to subsi- regular pay while being trained, that And help inc back to bed when I dize partly or wholly those private a minimum wage base be set at $7 get up to widdle." clients who need the services and per hour plus ,employee benefits She thought this request quite cannot pay the full cost. equal to at lease 20 percent of wag- strange, the likes she'd never heard, Initial support from Huron Coun- es, and restructuring of rates to in- To pay a Homemaker to sleep, to ty was lukewarm, although the cun- corporate all the costs of delivering her seemed most absurd. Cil gave a first grant of $3,000 in the scrviccs - recruitment, training, "I cannot justify any action of 1979 and have since become firm administration, staff salaries, bene- this sort, supporters. Cardno thinks confu- fits, mileage and other costs. I'll put one in on days, but at sion about Home Care and Home "Looking back, ,I wonder bow I night you hold the fort makers was responsible. Ilome had the uerve to do it, but I enjoy a Talk to the girls in Huron, I Care, under the ministry of health, challenge, and I go one day at a know that they'll agree administers, assesses and coordi- time", Young said. She recently at- Your request is most unreasona- nates services. Home Care buys ble, it makes no sense to me." homemaking and home support scr- Your Kitchen If I could talk to Sheila, I'd have Could Look Like This vices from provider agencies such as Town and Country Homemakers. Immediate growth • The agency began to grow imme- diately after birth. In October of "78, Canada Works funded a Home Help program offering cleaning, handyman, hairdressing and barber service for shut-ins 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 moved to an office on Main St. in Wingham, and then on to 92 Victoria East in 1980. The house was bought in 1981, and the Cali 236.4457 v rI andscaping SodJivpply LANDSCAPING R.R. 2 Hensall, Ontario 1 Your key to year round beauty • rake advantage of our complete professional landscape design service • Phone and our landscape designer will make on appointment to call on you and produce o detailed drawing • Paving Brick • Fertilizing • Ground Work • Sodding • Seeding • Railway Ties • Design Service • Nursery stock planting Order your nursery stock now...or the work con be done by our . landscaping specialists. 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She would understand my need, she'd give it her best shot. And so we talked to Sheila and her immediate reply Was "Certainly, no problem, to find one we will try." And sure enough, they found one and special, was she ever! Would 1 ever find one just like her? No, truly, 1 would never. She came and made inc din -din, washed dishes and all that She tidied up around the house, she even fed my cat. ' She proof-read my journalistic work, entertained many a guest, Made casseroles for me to cat, long after she had left. She made my•bed and dressed me, and helped me with my bath Many a day she brightened my world, and shared with me a laugh She helped me into bed, and out, and just about everywhere else Until the day came when I found I could do these things myself It was good to be feeling better, and finally be self-sufficient But it meant it was time to gay goodbye to a worker so efficient. The day she last went out my door she left an empty void In my humble home, she'd no • longer be employed But one thing sure, forever, she would always be my friend For everything she'd done for me, I'd be grateful to the end Town and.Country Homemakers, you do a super task FLORAL TRIBUTE - Executive director Jean Young was given the head table centrepiece at Town and Country Homemakers annual din- ner. And if I ever need some help, I'll sure know who to ask. To show how much I love you, and I say this for a'fact: I'd even have another hip job done just to have you back!!! MAKE A DIFFERENCE _ SUMMER SCHOOL 1988 The Huron County Board of Education offers the following courses at Cen- tral Huron Secondary School from Monday, July 4th to July 26th, 1988. SECONDARY July 4th to July 26th IMPROVEMENT COURSES 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. English IG English 1A English 2G English 2A English 3G English 3A English 4G English 4A Mathematics 1G Mathematics 1A Mathematics 2G Mathematics 2A Mathematics 3G Mathematics 3A Mathematics 4G Mathematics 4A SENIOR TUTORIALS An effort will be made to provide tutorial instruction for Senior Secondary students for upgrading purposes. Individual application to the Summer School Principal is required. ELEMENTARY -July 4th to. July 22nd 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Grade 7 — Grade 7 — Grade 7 — Grade 8 — Grade 8 — Grade 8 — Remedial English Remedial Mathematics Remedial English and Mathematics Remedial English Remedial Mathematics Remedial English and Mathematics DRIVER EDUCATION FEES: Secondary Elementary Driver Education No Fee No Fee $150.00 July •4th to July 13th 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration forms and further information aro available at all elementary and secon- dary schools in Huron County, or by calling the Summer School Principal Frank MacDonald Principal "Summer School 1988" . 482-3496 R.B. Allan Director Huron Public Education Opening Up the world J Jewitt Chair 8UNNISFli CASUAL INDUSTRIES INC. 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