By Meg Cunningham
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.
