Becki Zerr:
I'm Becki Zerr, and welcome to Raising Kindness, a podcast all about promoting volunteerism within our community. Join me each month as I'm joined by my 12-year-old son, Bennett and his friends demonstrating that together, despite my vision loss, we can definitely make a positive difference in others' lives. We may not always know what we're doing precisely, but we're going learn, meet new people, and have a lot of fun during the process. So grab a friend and join us on our volunteering adventure that we call Raising Kindness.
Welcome to Raising Kindness. I'm Becki Zerr, and I am excited to navigate us through our next volunteer adventure. I know that as a person living with vision loss and any other health challenge for that matter, that we can often feel like people are always helping us and giving us a hand. And sometimes this may lead us to wonder how can I possibly help somebody else?
But I'm excited to demonstrate through this video podcast that despite my disability of vision loss, I'm most definitely able to contribute to my community in a meaningful way. It's really important to me as a mom and a wife that I can show and teach my son that people with all abilities should be valued and encouraged to give back to their communities.
We live in a society where there's an endless amount of volunteer opportunities that are all around us, that are existing. However, I'm a person that likes to kind of think outside the box and when something doesn't exist, I can't help but think, "Why not?" So when I was putting together this episode, I reached out to a local care home and I asked them if they would be willing to participate in this podcast, and having our little team come out and spend a few hours volunteering and spending some time just with their residents. I was told that they currently did not have an existing volunteer program in place.
However, this did not end the conversation, but rather it was the beginning of new ideas that were being sparked and just because of a simple idea that I had, this care home then reached out to its sister organization and conversations were started, and I'm super excited that our little team got the ball rolling for this organization in regards to volunteering.
So if you want to help out at an organization that currently does not have a volunteer program in place, I don't necessarily think that it means no. I just think that you need to go in with an actual plan and be willing to have an open and honest conversation and just see what they have to say because chances are you might get a yes and you might all leave feeling really excited about all of the future possibilities. Okay, let's get started with this episode.
We had an opportunity to volunteer at Trinity Manor in Westerra, and like I said, this was a totally new experience for all of us, and I was quick to find out, however, that a small connection already existed. When I first graduated from nursing school, I was hired to work for the very first time as a registered nurse on a medical ward, where I'd completed my final practicum as a student. The nursing manager that was working there, her name was Tricia Engel, and she believed in me.
Then fast forward a couple of decades later, and it turns out that Tricia now oversees the care home that we connected with, and she once again believed in me and said yes, talk about a total small world I think, and I'm not really sure if she remembers me from back in the day, but I most definitely have not forgotten her, and I was so grateful for the opportunity that she provided to me back then, and I'm once again grateful to her again today.
So I'm so excited to welcome my first guest, Executive Director, Tricia Engel. Welcome to the show.

Tricia Engel:
Thanks, Becki. Good morning everybody.

Becki Zerr:
So Tricia, for as long as I have known you, your nursing career has focused on providing care to geriatric clients. What draws you to this area of nursing care?

Tricia Engel:
I think it is the opportunity to spend time with these clients and really be able to become a meaningful part of their lives. Typically, geriatric clients have longer stays in healthcare environments. It's not the fast in and out, have the surgery, get your stitches and leave and go home and recover. It's usually a longer stay, and that means there's an opportunity to begin to build a relationship and really, to make a difference in their life with the care that you provide for them.

Becki Zerr:
Can you tell us a little bit about Trinity Manor, the care home that the kids and I had an opportunity to spend a little bit of time volunteering at today?

Tricia Engel:
I'd love to. Trinity Manor is a retirement community and a personal care home, new in Regina. We opened about six months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit everybody so hard and created many, many restrictions to how we work and operate and function as a team here at Trinity Manor. Despite that, we were able to continue to deliver care in our care home and to provide a supportive retirement community for our independent residents.

Becki Zerr:
It was such an amazing facility to be in. I'm wondering from your perspective, what are some positives that came from the volunteer opportunity that we had today?

Tricia Engel:
First of all, reconnecting with you, and I have to say, I do remember you, Becki. You made an impression on me as a young nursing student during your practicum and as a new graduate working on my unit, and so that was a gift that was unexpected and delightful. I appreciate your resilience and your ability to shift gears as life happens to all of us. You have just been a shining star in your endeavours to create opportunities to care for people.
And so your nursing heart is pounding strong and I appreciate the opportunities that you present to us and the possibilities that I see for our future, that right now it's not a part of our programming, but I do see volunteers as a significant part of our community as we grow.

Becki Zerr:
Oh, that's so fantastic. I just love to hear that new insights were brought forward just by you and I have an opportunity to reconnect. But building on that, what did you think about the kids being part of the volunteer opportunity today?

Tricia Engel:
I truly believe that multi-generational relationships are very important, especially to our seniors. We live in a time when we don't necessarily have multi-generational homes anymore and people move away. The world is very small and lots of families are distant from their seniors. So connecting with young people is a really important part of support and relationship building for our seniors. I think it's a very significant piece of socialization.
So the young people bring a gift of youth and excitement and enthusiasm, and an opportunity for our seniors to share their stories, to provide a verbal accounting of some of the history of our great province and of their own lifetimes that will stay with the young people and perhaps influence some of their choices.

Becki Zerr:
Absolutely. I completely agree that young people bring out a unique flare in seniors, and I actually remember that from the first time when I worked on that war that we were both connected to before, and that was something I learned then, and I was so excited to see it actually transpire once again when we were visiting yesterday, and it was just so fantastic. So thank you so much, Tricia, for the opportunity, for your time to come and join me today, but one last question for you is if people would like some more information on Trinity manner located in Westerra in Regina, where can they best reach out to find that information?

Tricia Engel:
People can reach out to us for information by Google searching Trinity Manor at Westerra or Trinity Manor Regina, and I invite people to like us and follow us and share us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Becki Zerr:
Perfect. Thank you again so much for your time and for the opportunity way back then, and for the opportunity that you gave us once again today. It's been such a pleasure reconnecting with you Tricia.

Tricia Engel:
Thank you. My joy and my privilege, Becki. Good luck.

Becki Zerr:
Next up, we're going to be joined by a special guest, Dan. Jean was a resident that we got to meet today and Dan is one of her family members. I'm excited to hear his perspective on our volunteer experience. Thanks so much, Dan, for joining me on today's show and for having a quick conversation with me. Welcome to the show.

Dan Stinnen:
Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Becki Zerr:
To get started, I'm wondering if you can just share a little bit about yourself and what you like to do for fun?

Dan Stinnen:
Okay. Well, I've been married now to Jean's daughter for 34 years, and I always kid around that I am Jean's favourite son-in-law because I'm their only son-in-law. She's got lots of daughter-in-laws. Oh, well, here come my dogs. Hi guys. And yeah, Jean is very special to me, especially in the last couple of years since I have lost my mother. She's kind of the only motherish figure I have left, so that's why I enjoy spending lots of time with Jean and helping her out as much as I can.

Becki Zerr:
Well, the few minutes that I had with her today, I have to say, she is clearly an amazing woman.

Dan Stinnen:
She very is much so. Yeah, and we're all very proud of all her accomplishments throughout her life for sure.

Becki Zerr:
Absolutely. So as you know today, my son Bennett, his friend Colbey and myself had a little bit of time to volunteer today at Trinity Manor and Jean was one of the residents that we had an opportunity to spend some time with. I'm just wondering, Dan, what you thought about us coming there and volunteering today?

Dan Stinnen:
Oh, that's awesome. I think it's very good when people come and help out. I think all too many times, some homes that people get put in them and then not many people come to visit or that type of thing. So this type of thing is awesome, like when schools come by or things like that. It's great because the residents just light up.
Well, you saw my dog's nose poking in the screen here. We always bring them every Sunday and the residents get a big kick out of the dogs, that's for sure. Nope, they're bigger than your average dog. They're Great Danes, so they really get a kick out of them for sure.

Becki Zerr:
That's fantastic. I did hear all about the dogs today and I did see how much attention the dogs drew in because I had Lulu, my guide dog with me today, and I had to say she was a pretty big attraction, but-

Dan Stinnen:
Oh yes.

Becki Zerr:
I'm just curious what you thought about the kids joining in as volunteers today at the residence?

Dan Stinnen:
Oh, kids are... They're very special to the seniors and elderly. A lot of them, their whole lives were looking after kids and children and stuff like that. Their eyes just light up when some of the younger generation pop by, and especially even if little guys like babies and their toddlers come in, I tell you, their eyes just go wild and just because that's their motherly and fatherly instincts are kicking in and they just adore them for sure.

Becki Zerr:
Absolutely. Yeah, that was really evident too. So I'm just wondering, following up on that, what other kind of activities do you think it would be a positive experience for everyone to have a volunteer coming in and helping out with?

Dan Stinnen:
Well, and I don't know if this is ever possible, but just taking them out a little bit. It doesn't have to be out on the town type of thing, but just take them. If they're in a wheelchair, just take them for a walk around the block, take them to the corner co-op gas station, which is just down the block a little bit. I know we do that for Jean on Saturdays or Sundays. My wife takes her for a walk there and then take her there and they have a little drink and a chocolate bar and then they wander back.
So it's just getting them out. Sometimes, especially during COVID here, locked in, looking at those same four walls all the time, it would drive me crazy. [inaudible 00:14:09], but I can't imagine being there every day and not being able to get out. And especially on your own. Jean was so independent before and a lot of them were of course, but now they rely on other people and family and if they don't have family, the staff of Trinity Manor to do what they have to do.
So it's a great outing if somebody would just go by and take them for a walk around the block or they have a little courtyard, just take them out and wander a couple times around the courtyard, sit in a little bistro and have a coffee and a cookie with them. That would make their day.

Becki Zerr:
Absolutely. And those are some of the things that we got to do today and talk about with Jean too, which was amazing. I have to say from the word hello, once I found out she was a nurse, I felt like I had this easy connection with her-

Dan Stinnen:
Yes.

Becki Zerr:
And I got to hear about her vast nursing career and all of the volunteerism that she did after her career. And I have to say, I heard, a little bird share with me that you tend to volunteer at Trinity Manor as well. So I'm just wondering if you can share some of the things you've been able to help out with?

Dan Stinnen:
Well, I don't know. I don't really call it volunteering. It's just when I get there and in the winter and there's snow on the sidewalk, there's a shovel there, I just go out and shovel it away. I would hate for somebody to slip and fall on it. In the middle of COVID, before we could go up and Saturday and Sunday mornings, I go there early and used to go sit and have... I don't have breakfast. I sit there and when they're eating and that and when somebody's out of coffee, I just go grab the coffee pot and fill up.
The aids and nurses and that, they got so much to do that it's sure nice sometimes they want that second cup of coffee and they may not get it because they're busy doing other stuff. So I just grab the pots and I go wander around the facility and I got to know them all and which one wanted decaf, which one needs sugar, which one needs cream, which are diabetics, so you got to give them their sugar substitute, that type of thing.
Again, I say I don't really call it volunteering. I'm just helping out. That's Kind of just the way I am. I enjoy the... Hello there. I just enjoy helping people and in my work too is I'm a denturist. So what I do is I make false teeth. So it's been a great career for me and I have never in 34 years said, "Oh darn, I got to go to work this morning." So all I do is make people smile all day long. So it's a great career. Yeah.

Becki Zerr:
Oh, I love it. I love it. And I think that you just summed up as well. You can add the, "I make people smile," to the simplistic things in life like pouring a cup of coffee for somebody who might not be able to attain it themselves, and just treating people like people. And that is something I'm most definitely trying to teach my son right now, is it doesn't matter who you are, where you sit, where you live, or what you're walk in life has been like. We're all people at the end of the day and everybody should be treated the same.
So thank you so much. It was such an honour to meet you and your mother-in-law. She's a gem and I wish you guys all the luck in the future, and I really hope that we have an opportunity to come back and spend some more time at Trinity Manor and hopefully cross paths again.

Dan Stinnen:
Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Becki Zerr:
Next up are the stars of the show, the kids, Colbey and Bennett. Colbey, I'm wondering if you can start out by giving us a brief overview of what you guys got to do today? And Bennett, feel free to jump in and help her out.

Colbey:
So today we went to the senior retirement home and we got to talk with some of the seniors, hand out flowers and just have some nice conversations with them.

Bennett:
We brought flowers with them just to give to them and... Oh, we ate a lot and a lot of food. It was so good.

Colbey:
Lots of ice cream.

Bennett:
Yeah, we had ice cream, cookies, pop.

Colbey:
They were all really nice there.

Bennett:
Yeah, they were really good. Really good.

Becki Zerr:
What was something that you guys learned today or maybe something that took place that you really weren't expecting?

Colbey:
Well, one of the things I wasn't expecting was how big their facility was there. I thought that it was going to be a home with five bedrooms and something like that, but it ended up having to fit 200 or something.

Bennett:
It was a really, really, really big place. It was super nice. It had a walking path. It was too hot, unfortunately, to take them for a stroll around the walking path with their wheelchairs.

Colbey:
They had a couple of citizens that were like 102 and stuff like that. There was this one lady and she was 101 and she came down the hall and she was eating ice cream with the rest of them and everything.

Bennett:
Yeah, didn't she have a walker?

Colbey:
Yeah, she had a walker but-

Bennett:
Yeah, that was surprising.

Becki Zerr:
I would love to hear the favourite part of the day for each of you guys. Bennett, do you want to go first on this one?

Bennett:
Definitely eating all of the food, hanging out with all of them. It was just a blast. I loved talking to them, chatting, hearing their stories, especially the food. The food was so good. We had pop, ice cream, these cupcake things. They were phenomenal. Yeah, it was overall super fun. I liked handing out all the flowers and yeah, we also... I visited with Jean. She was really nice, really, really nice.

Colbey:
Yeah, one of my favourite parts was talking to Jean. She gave us a bunch of stories. She told us about her life when she was a nurse, and I really liked talking to all the people, all of the seniors. They were all super nice and they all were really happy that we were there and volunteering.

Becki Zerr:
Thanks for joining me today, you guys. I think you guys did a fantastic job. I think you guys should be very proud of yourself, but it's now time for you guys to challenge our audience. It's a time for you, our audience, to get in on the action and help us spread a bunch of kindness all around.
Okay guys, go ahead and tell us all about the challenge that you're giving to our viewers for this episode.

Bennett:
Our challenge for today is to bring just a flower, a flower or two. It doesn't have to be a lot, but just bring a flower or two to a senior and give it to them. Maybe hang out with them for the day, visit with them, even if your neighbour's a senior, you can bring it over to them and have coffee with them in the morning.

Colbey:
It doesn't have to be someone you know. It can be someone... You can go to a retirement home and donate flowers to them and hand them out. Or it can be someone in the hospital or it could be, like Bennett said, your next-door neighbour.

Becki Zerr:
Flowers are always such a good idea. I really like this challenge you guys that you've picked this time. You guys took so much pride in putting together the little bouquets that you took with you guys today to give out, and I'm sure that those who are participating in this challenge are really going to have a lot of fun doing it. I really can't wait to see all of the cool social media posts. My takeaway on this volunteer experience was super positive.
Just stepping back and watching the kids learn to approach somebody new, introduce themselves and start a new conversation was something really exciting for me to see. Of course, I did give them a few ideas initially on how to approach the seniors that they hadn't met before, but totally quickly, they adapted and came up with their own unique style. To me, this is totally a life scale that they were really able to practice today and become confident doing.
The seniors completely lit up when they introduced themselves and followed that conversation with giving them a little bouquet of flowers that they had picked out and brought. That being said, I'm pretty sure that the smile on the kids' face was just as big as the smile on the seniors face', that the kids were actually able to see.
Now, for me, I'll be honest, as soon as I became surrounded by seniors, part of me tried really hard to flip back into nursing mode automatically. I had such a strong desire to help because something that I did so easily when I was frontline nursing was just to scan the environment to see what needed to be done, kind of like what Dan was talking about, but now I really couldn't do that. When I used to be able to do this, I used to just look around and try to find ways that I could help, things that I could tweak to make things better for everyone.
But I think that a lot of this was just simply brought on by the environment. But the other thing is because I was surrounded by a lot of amazing nurses. Tricia, the nurse that once hired me, Laurie, nurse extraordinaire herself that I once worked alongside with, and Jean, the senior resident that just talks so proudly about her amazing 30 year nursing career. I felt a little sad then, but I then reminded myself of all the good that I was able to do during my short nursing career and all the good that I'm able to do now just simply by being me. And that's the end of this episode of Raising Kindness. We look forward to you guys participating in the Kindness Challenge, so please be sure to tag us in on our social media accounts. Take care, and thanks so much for watching.
And that's a wrap on this episode of Raising Kindness with me, Becki Zerr. Thanks so much to all of my guests and to you for tuning in. Be sure to check us out on social media. You'll find us on Facebook and Instagram at raising.kindness.podcast. And don't forget, you're going to want to like and subscribe to the podcast on YouTube and your favourite podcast platform. See you again soon.