What are churches in Winnipeg doing to care for their seniors?

Churches in Winnipeg are filling needs all around the city but is there more we could do for the people that helped build our own communities?

Ageing is "a universal condition," said Nina Labun, the chief executive officer of Donwood Manor. "We are all going to grow old, and we want to do that with grace and love and compassion to each other and with each other,"

Donwood is a faith-based organization supported by eight Winnipeg-based Mennonite Brethren Churches. Donwood has five locations throughout Winnipeg providing different levels of care at each.

"I wish that our church communities would see the incredible gift that our seniors have given to our church communities and would honour that and bring honour to that by supporting seniors in whatever way they can," Labun says.

Volunteering and getting involved with senior care "has to come from the heart, it is not something that you can program into your church it has to be a calling for people," says Labun.

This care home is not the only care home focused on spiritual care in Manitoba but is unique in that it came out of eight Mennonite Brethren Churches who responded to that call 50 years ago to create Christian space to grow old.

Hans Boge, the vice president of the Donwood board and a member of North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church shares some reasons as to why his church has continued to value senior care.

Boge says "it is incredibly rewarding to help people who can't help themselves, it is a one way street in the sense of you are helping feed them or bring them down for church and there is often very little they can give back, and yet for the times people are cognisant and available they just love every moment of it."

Volunteers from these churches also "do visits, they do tea with residence, they do end of life care," says Labun.

Explaining what end of life care looks like for Donwood Labun says, "when someone is coming close to their final days in life we will have a volunteer who sits with residents who may not have family or who maybe have family that needs a break."

People coming into volunteer or visit helps alleviate some of the spiritual pain residences feel especially loneliness, boredom, and isolation. "It helps you remain connected to a community of faith, a community of believers and that community connection helps address loneliness boredom and isolation," says Labun.

This care home does have a part-time chaplain in house whos position is entirely supported by donations, however, Labun said "I would love a full-time Chaplain"

Another need that Labun would love to see filled in the care home would be more volunteers for the No One Dies Alone program. "Volunteers are needed to sit with seniors as they come to the end of their life. The care home also offers a training program to prepare volunteers for things they might see in the end of life care."

There are lots of ways to volunteer and bring life into the home. Boge commented that seeing kids in the care home and interacting with the seniors is fun for everyone as the seniors get some entertainment and the kids get an audience.

If you really feel called to get involved in senior care, look into volunteering or apply to fill one of the summer student positions to help with things like gardening and looking after residence.