On today’s CHMA local news:
- Keeping three Montys apart on campus;
- Innovative new program battles social isolation and hunger;
- Sappyfest is underway;
- and the COVID numbers update.
One more COVID-related death identified in Nova Scotia
None of the Maritime provinces reported new cases yesterday, although Nova Scotia reported one more death related to COVID-19.
A woman in her sixties with underlying medical conditions died several weeks ago in the province’s eastern zone.
Her death had been under investigation to determine if COVID-19 was a factor.
New Brunswick still has the final three active cases of COVID-19 in the Maritimes.
In the rest of Canada, there were 476 new cases reported on Wednesday.
Over 300 of those cases came from Quebec and Alberta, with Ontario, Saskatchewan and BC reporting most of the remaining cases.
Keeping three Montys apart on campus
“We have really given a great deal of thought and attention to supporting the town of Sackville. Our students are part of Sackville. Our faculty and staff are part of Sackville. And we are, indeed, all in this together.”
That’s Mount Allison University president Jean Paul Boudreau talking about the school’s plan to make sure the return of students does not put the town of Sackville at undue risk.
Boudreau says campus will be adorned with signs and markings cueing people for things like social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing.
The Mount Allison mascot, Monty the Duck, will feature prominently, says Boudreau
“You’ll see markings on the ground. As we say, ‘Keep three Montys apart’. So that’s part of our campaign to help ensure social distancing is done in a safe and appropriate way. And again, meeting the health guidelines of the province.”
The plan doesn’t stop with signs, says Boudreau.
“We’ve increased the focus on technology. Of course, recognizing expanded technology has very important role to play in the COVID environment. We’re in the final stages of hiring a full time nurse for the campus community. We’ve established a pandemic response plan in the event of an outbreak. And again continue to work collaboratively with the province, Public Health, WorkSafe New Brunswick, and the ministry, again to ensure the safety of all. And you’ll be seeing more details of that plan on our website soon.”
Residence life will be significantly different, especially for students coming from outside of the Atlantic provinces.
“Of course modifications around residences in terms of single occupancy, ensuring health and safety of our students, enhanced cleaning, and of course, program support around self isolation for those students coming from outside of the Atlantic bubble. We also have staggered move-in dates for students coming back to campus, so they’re not all coming in one wave, if you will.”
New and returning students from outside the Atlantic provinces will be arriving the weekend of August 14th, two weeks before the rest of the student body.
“That gives us time for that self isolation to complete. And our team are also working on activities and engagements around what happens during self isolation. We want to create, again, some appropriate engaged opportunities to support them during that self isolation, including activities, food support, food delivery, and so forth. As you can appreciate self isolation for students coming in to a new place, a new community, we want that to be a very welcoming, as it can be, self isolation space. So they will be coming in earlier and then our students from the region will come in later. So again a staggered effort to help support and manage the impact of bringing students to town.”
All students will be required to check in at an off-campus Welcome Centre set up at the Tantramar Civic Centre.
There, students will complete contact tracing forms and get their orientation materials.
Boudreau says the Welcome Centre will be “a critical first point of contact” with the town.
All students will go to the Welcome Centre first, unless they are coming from outside the Atlantic bubble and living off campus, in which case they are being asked to go directly into isolation and check in when that’s complete.
The Welcome Centre is evidence of cooperation between the town of Sackville and Mount Allison, with the town donating use of the civic centre.
Boudreau says further collaborations will be announced on August 10th, when he and mayor John Higham will present a plan for a Mount A – Sackville bubble, and a community pledge for health and safety.
Boudreau says he understands concerns in the community as the town prepares for its first pandemic-plagued September in over a hundred years, but also that the community is interested in having students return.
“They’re an important part of this community. And they are keen and proud to be part of this town of Sackville. And so we hope that that ongoing positive relationship will continue to evolve. And in the context of COVID-19, which I certainly appreciate, it’s challenging and I certainly appreciate the questions that are coming from the town but also coming from, you know, our faculty, staff and students. So we want to be together and protective, and we want to do everything we can to mitigate and continue to flatten the COVID-19 curve, and do our part here in New Brunswick and in Sackville.“
Mount Allison President Jean Paul Boudreau will be speaking and answering questions at another town hall session exclusively for Mount Allison staff, students, and faculty on August 6th.
Community Connects will bring youth and seniors together
A Mount Allison student is starting an innovative new program to help combat social isolation and food insecurity with seniors and youth.
Hannah Crouse is a volunteer for the Tantramar COVID-19 Task Force, a volunteer group that helps individuals and community groups with pandemic related issues.
She noticed that seniors in Port Elgin and surrounding rural areas face multiple challenges during COVID-19.
“I was doing some food deliveries for Nursing Homes Without Walls. So I went to PEDVAC, which is a community organization. They have the food bank. So we were putting together these boxes from the food bank to deliver to the seniors who were living by themselves or who were isolated, didn’t have family to come visit them like x y and z there’s so many, like different variables that they could have, or perhaps like a mixture of all of them, right?”
Crouse drove to isolated seniors to bring them food and supplies.
She says she cannot ignore the conditions isolated seniors are living in.
“Once I got in there, I would see them try and put away their little food bank items. And the food bank can only offer so much right? But seeing like, how empty their cupboards were, or just how lonely they were… I remembered my very first box I delivered. She was a sweet little lady, and she was like, “Please don’t go like I haven’t had anyone visit me in months. You’re the first person I’ve seen” and like, all of these things, and she was like, “I’m so hungry, and I’m so glad you brought this food” in your cupboards were empty. And I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.” And so we just sat on her porch and we talked and she told me all about her grandson. He’s coming to Mount A in the fall, and she told me about her favorite thing she used to do when she was my age. Everything that she wanted to talk about basically, she just wanted almost like a soundboard. And then she just cried when I left. She was like, “Thank you so much for just listening to me and like treating me like a human.””
Crouse says she could not wait to get the project going after her first shift.
“I called Jessica Hughes, who’s with Sackville 2020, and I was like, ‘Listen here,this is what’s going to happen.’ And she was like, ‘Oh my gosh, yes.’ She connected me with these other resources, then I made another call. And then I got into the United Way funding from there. So I had like two calls, and I had $4,000 kind of secured, which I’m hoping to get by the end of this week. So it was just like a bunch of random calls within an hour.”
The project is operating under the working title “Community Connect.”
Crouse says the project aims to help both isolated seniors and young people.
“The goal of the project is to pair a youth and a senior in the Tantramar area. It’ll likely be in Port Elgin, but the youth will be from all over Tantramar. So we’re going to be kind of pairing these two. You get a food box. I’m hoping to do it with the Farmers’ Market. The youth will pick up a food box, and then they will take it to the seniors. Then they’ll cook a meal together.
I think a lot of the focus was on the seniors, but in reality, not every student can afford a meal. Right? I think that’s overlooked. So it’s kind of getting to two different groups and fighting social isolation and food insecurity. So they’ll cook that meal together, kind of build that sense of community with each other, and they’ll meet once a week for eight weeks. But I’m hoping that I’ll be able to continue it past the eight week mark. That’s just kind of where I have the funding.”
To make sure that the participants can social distance, Crouse is considering pre-cooking meals for them to enjoy together.
People interested in participating in the program can contact Hannah Crouse at hacrouse@mta.ca.
Sappyfest is underway
The pandemic-friendly, alternative offerings of Sackville’s biggest festival started yesterday.
Sappyfest began with the opening of the Sappy Support Line, a call centre where people missing the festival can call in for music or conversation.
The call centre is hosted by frequent Sappyfest performers, Ariel Sharratt and Mathias Kom of The Burning Hell.
The call centre is open noon to 8pm daily through to Saturday.
You can test it out by calling 902-417-0586.
Also on tap for Sappyfest today are a live Instagram session at 2pm with Klarka Weinwurm called On Tour in Town, and a live-streamed performance by Egyptian Cotton Arkestra at 9pm.
Links and details are available on the Sappyfest website and social media channels.
That’s it for the CHMA local news.
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