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Lisa 22nd Apr 2023 Activity Director
Hello I have recently been hired as the Activity Director for a small long term care center in Billings Montana. The Director of Nursing want me to reinstate a program that is called Life Enrichment program which is supposed to get involvement of the community, getting volunteers to lead group discussions, make the residents dreams or wishes come true for example in the past a lady got to spend a day at the bank where she used to work and the staff came and talked a little about what happens at a bank during the day to the rest of the residents, another individual to a group of people fishing on the Yellowstone river. Our facility hasn't had an activities department for sometime now and am curious how to get the community to want to help our great facility again.
thank you in advance for all of your generous help and ideas.
Lisa
Susan 24th Apr 2023 Activity Director
Hi Lisa
In theory, this sounds like a lovely idea, but in practice may be hard to pull off in this day and age
I assume you don’t have any staff to help
So is your job to make this community involvement happen or are you supposed to plan activities for the residents??
Do you have any sort of budget to make this happen?
Is this home for profit or a nonprofit organization??
You might be able to put them ads in the news paper, saying why do you need
I would say start a Facebook account
I would put flyers up at churches and schools, asking for volunteers, and briefly saying what you might want
You also have to be careful about the people that you let volunteer
What about family members of the residents or staff at the facility??

Your residents are long-term care, but they must have some mental or physical disabilities, which have to be taken into consideration when planning any type of outing
There is a lot for you to think about
You can start by reading this article and answering some of my questions so I can be of further assistance
https://www.goldencarers.com/how-to-establish-a-volunteer-program-/4229/
Katy 26th Apr 2023 OTA/PTA
Advertise as much as you can! In Canada, local highschool students need to have a certain amount of hours of volunteer work to graduate you could get your local schools involved. Set up a facebook group to show what you are doing and put adds out for volunteers. We use ads in our local paper, our local community facebook groups, posters with rip away numbers on community boards (post office, supermarket, unemployment office etc.) . I have found that the more volunteers you have involved, the community tends to take notice more and are wanting to get involved in the fun.

Bigger companies will help with donations of trasport to and from activities because it offers them a bit of a tax write off. Local nurseries will tend to donate plants if you ask. Big chain stores might be willing to donate perenial plants near the end of the season (they might not be in good shape when you get them but when you plant and take care of them they look amazing the next season). Offer advertisement on your facebook page to smaller bakeries and flower shops in exchange for birthday cakes and arrangements.

Your local library will be a good resource for scouting volunteers. As daunting as the task is, getting on the phone or visiting local businesses in person and letting them know your program has been reinstated and you're looking for community support is the best way to get them involved.

Ask your Residents and their family members. For things like being able to spend the day at their old job, ask them they may still have contacts that could help. Send out a poll to the Residents on what type of outings they would enjoy to streamline your efforts.

I hope this helps a little! :)

It's the best job you could possibly have, I hope you have soo much fun!

Katy
Laura 26th Apr 2023 Engineer
Thanks for this interesting information!
Beth 17th May 2023 Life Enrichment Coordinator
(why is the DON telling you what she wants you to do at your job?)
Vickie 7th Jun 2023 Activity Director, Certified
Hi Lisa!
Welcome to the life of an activity professional!
Greetings from your Montana neighbor just 320 miles away :) I am the Activity Director of a small facility as well so feel free to reach out to me at anytime!
[email protected]
or find "professional me" on FB at Vickie Grimsrud Adc https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008463602928
Susan 12th Jun 2023 Activity Director
Hi Vickie
Thank you for your offer

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