Forest View Place Extended Care Senior Living’s first Adopt a Resident program was a resounding success, completing its goal of having all 21 residents “adopted” inside a week of announcing the initiative.
Adopt a Resident involved staff at the facility putting up an Adoption Tree in one of the hallways, decorated with red and green ornaments, each with a different resident’s name and Christmas wishlist on it.
Members of the public then selected an ornament from the adoption tree, wrote the chosen resident’s number as well as their own name and phone number on a provided form and bought the items on the wish list for that particular resident.
“This is our first year; we were trying something new so we can better utilize money from our recreation program, rather than trying to give gifts out of our recreation money,” said Shelly Redman, activity worker at Forest View Place Extended Care Senior Living.
“We also have a Christmas Party and Clearwater Rotary Club brings in a gift bag and we have Santa come in, so residents get a present then, but we didn’t have anything under the tree — previous years we’ve always bought it, but now this is an idea to try to involve the community and save ourselves money.”
Some of the items on the residents’ wish lists included quilts and blankets, clothing like non-slip socks and sweaters and activities like puzzles.
“We tried to make it personal for each one based on what they may need and want or different things they sometimes get short of or outgrow,” added Redman.
“We strive to make all of our occasions extra special for all our residents and these lists were developed by residents and staff with their needs in mind.”
Staff at Forest View said they’d like to thank everyone who participated and made the initiative such a success, noting how supportive and giving the Clearwater community is.
Redman said the Adopt a Resident program will likely now be an annual initiative based on the success of this year’s inaugural run.
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