Final Report Advisory Committee Members, Board Members and Community Food Connections Coordinator Evaluation Feedback (1)

Advisory Committee Members, Board Members and Community Food Connections Coordinator Evaluation Feedback July 2021 Content by: Celeste Gotell Design by: Celeste Gotell and Janelle AuCoin

What would you consider the biggest success/es of the project and what made it successful? Number of meals delivered; variety of meals. The number of older adults that were reached in such a large geographical area. Outreach work; contact with seniors. The creation of the advisory committee which Providing free meals to assisted with outreach work. seniors who may have Forming an Advisory Committee at the beginning otherwise gone without and reaching out to other organizations whom may and enabled seniors to have folks in mind that can be referred and benefit use those monies for from the program we were offering. other household needs. The biweekly reporting to the Board. The eligibility requirements. Erin MacInnis was a tremendous help with keeping track of the daily expenses and meals in excel and Terri Simpson was a great help as well looking after sage. The relationships/and networks formed throughout the project. Providing meals to seniors in their home provided client and community safety by reducing travel for essentials. Routine check in/interaction with Coordinator provided seniors with a social link/support. Creating public awareness of community development/support through these types of initiatives; infographics and promotions. Public exposure for Mulgrave Medical Centre. Strengthening relationships within the County and Advisory Committee Members. Providing essential meals to seniors who needed them because of the cost of food increasing continuously and the lack of increases in their pensions. Making a difference Dedication of those involved in acquiring the funds in the lives of local to cover the cost of these meals and they were people, providing organized and delivered to all those seniors who food security and a had requested them. short but meaningful Successfully reaching those in our community who touchpoint during need to services. Referral process. the pandemic. The professionalism and expertise brought to this program by Celeste Gotell was the main contributor of this success. Mentor to the Coordinator. Coordinator did a great job communicating with the clients and delivering the meals. When I completed assessments, clients would identify the service, and specifically reference the Coordinator, when he would drop off meals. Individuals enjoyed the meal delivery service and see the value it holds in term of being a part of their home care plan.

What would you consider the biggest challenge/s and why? The Mulgrave and Area Medical Centre does not have the proper structure in place at the current time to hire and manage staff. This was a challenge. I think staff found it challenging as well. Not having a guide book to help us with Having a new employee working on his this program. We created the rules as own in a pandemic was challenging. we went along. Policies and procedures were created as we went so we did not Hiring someone that did not have much have a policy until it was needed and related work experience had limitations. then it was created. This may have led It resulted in extra effort from many to some biases in creating them. people involved such as Celeste, Erin, Jocelyn, Valerie, and Shaunna. Managing a project as a volunteer Staff learn from other staff and in this board, many roles and responsibilities situation he worked in isolation. Board members made themselves available to (book keeping, excel, promotion ). him but was that enough? As part of the board, I would want staff to receive the best training that we could offer. In terms of the day to day expectations of being a full time employee and I don’t think we were able to success in offering this to him. Being only an advisor I did not see many challenges on my end. Starting a new program and providing service in a pandemic. Getting the project started and trying to make sure to reach the people that needed it. Organizing and follow up of ordering and delivering of the meals. Not fully understanding the role of being an advisory committee member, not having a complete referral process, having cold call referrals. Meal deliveries and trying to get hold of the participants to coordinate that they were going to be home for the delivery. The phone number provided by East Link. The 902 777-5685 number looked like a scam, and at times that was the reason I couldn’t get hold of participants that were referred by other organizations. The impact that COVID had on the program, and the challenges revolved around that. We did pretty well at following public health guidelines and making sure every participant felt safe. Having a variety of meal for people that have health and stomach issues. When participants passed away or moved to palliative care, had a harder impact on me, which is something I never thought would. I formed relationships with these folks throughout the last nine months.

What are the collaborative connections that have come about as a result of the project where you see future opportunities? Was great to connect with such a knowledgeable group of community focused individuals. We have done a tremendous job with this project. We have developed relationships with various funding partners, Province of NS, Department of Seniors, Department Communities Culture and Heritage, New Horizons, Community Health Board, various municipalities, service agencies though the advisory committee, suppliers as well as the media. Municipality receiving direct service from Mulgrave Centre. Networking and learning what others do in the area, and making those connections could lead to future employment. Developed a relationship with the senior population and MAMC so that they are familiar with it if other programs arise. Connections with foodbanks to provide more services. Advisory committee, funding partners, GOALS, Armstrong. Connecting with individuals outside Nova Scotia Health, including community members who were part of the committee and making connections outside the geographical areas that I cover. Changing attitudes around how we access our food, which includes the act of simply not having to go to the grocery store and then making your own meal. The service was not viewed as charity, but a community grassroots initiative that clients could tell their neighbors about. From a generational perspective, the service is more normalized, for example, you have Hello Fresh, and other various food vendors that deliver meal kits to the door. One does not have to prepare meals seven nights a week to prepare and cook a meal. Welcome to 2021! Connecting with various people in the community; knowing who may need more help. Also, connecting with organizations that work in different communities. This project has proven the MAMC as being as legitimate, professional organization that offers compassion in its service offering.

Has your knowledge and understanding of food security among older adults increased because of your involvement? Yes, tremendously. This has demonstrated the need for a full-time senior’s safety officer among many other things (housing, food security and transportation). Yes, I learned that there are seniors who are just making it by on their monthly pension incomes. Providing these meals has certainly helped them ensure they get good quality meals without any cost to them. Yes. Especially in Guysborough County and the limited resources in the county to purchase food. I became more aware of how COVID19 affected people. It became increasingly difficult for older adults to even share a meal with their family. I was aware of food insecurity within our municipality. I had a previous understanding of the situation due to my previous work with Rainbow Food Bank. Yes, however in my role working with the elderly, I was certainly aware of food security issues. Yes. Very much so, we have even started a food pantry in Mulgrave and it is being well utilized. I now understand, many struggle with food security, it is happening right in our back yards and it is sad to see. Some of the participants' living situations were very sad to witness.

What are some of the lessons learned that you can share? Ensuring appropriate communication in key to success! Regular communication is needed. The group did a great job of reaching out to so many participants. Perhaps radio advertising might have been something to consider. Ensure you have a project champion that has the knowledge and expertise and that there is a budget to support this. There are opportunities for communities to liaison with Government programs to better support seniors living on their homes. Ensure systems are in place before you start a project such as this. A program such as this requires good infrastructure at all levels to manage the day to day operation of the program. Ideas include: Establish expectations with all key players right at the beginning. Including role of the coordinator, consultant, board, advisory committee and day to day supervisor. Develop as many policies in the beginning to ensure proper policies and procedures in place before hiring an employee, such as sick leave, vacation and time off in lieu policies, work from home policy, use of computer and cell phone is in place. Onboarding and regular staff supervision monitoring should be done consistently (same person). Ensure proper insurance is in place and budget allows for contingencies that come along throughout the project. Knowledge of computer processes is required to manage a project of this size. Separating the funding accounts so each has its’ own cheque account made it simpler to track. Kept all transactions using a dual system (both in excel and in sage)for accountability and transparency. The number of people that who are in needed to run a project of this complexity. \" Just because you Fact or Myth? don’t know of Food insecurity is not a significant problem someone personally challenged with food in Canada. security, doesn’t MYTH mean it is not a real problem in our community.\"

If other funding opportunities were to present itself for the Mulgrave and Area Medical Centre to provide programming to older adults, do you have suggestions about ways we can improve program delivery? If offering again and online option so that caregivers, support persons can order, near or far. Meal kits, and even perhaps having a I think we have done a fabulous job with volunteer assist with cooking the meal, the meal delivery program, however this more like a social program. Having a meal kit delivered then the program required the resources of a client skyping/zooming into someone consultant, a book keeper, a data entry actually preparing the same kit and person, a coordinator as well as board leading the preparation and cooking of members who committed an additional the meal. This would have limits due to social connectivity, lack of technological 30 hours per week on this project. skills, or access to internet, computers, tablets, etc. Have someone an additional person work with the coordinator, even part- time for delivery purposes or receive phone calls/take the orders for the following week. It would be quite busy and a lot of travelling to cover all of Guysborough County More consistency with deliveries would be ideal. There were some weeks where delivery fell behind a week or two, because of issues with the delivery truck, holidays, didn’t order enough meals starting out etc. More storage space so extra meals were available as new participants joined. Access to a larger vehicle, perhaps a van or truck, to offer desserts. Coordinator’s car was full at times. The most meals that could be delivered was 216 in a day. On the referral form, make sure to add a family or relative contact in case of an emergency. As much as program was advertised, more could have been done. People were calling in the last week when they found out about the program through word of mouth. Reach out to Eastern Housing Authority and have them advertise, even just the menu in all seniors’ complexes in Guysborough County. There was only one participant in Isaacs Harbor. Charge a subsidized price, now people that were relying on these meals and will no longer have access, since the funding is over.

If other funding opportunities were to present itself for the Mulgrave and Area Medical Centre to provide programming to older adults, do you have suggestions about ways we can improve program delivery? Closer contact with Continuing Care Agency or colleague or NS Health colleague for when clients are ill or sick, or moved into palliative care. That is when they would need the meals most. A full-time manager to move forward with large projects, the volunteer board is not set up to properly manage and take on any additional projects. Need a manager with experience with payroll, receiver general, HST, T4s, supervision as well as experience dealing with charities. Ensure there is bookkeeping support in place. The board is committed to taking on a project (committed means meeting regularly, willing and able to provide expertise and guidance to the manager and committed to the project until project completion) - recruitment of new board members may be necessary. As of May 21, 2021, over 9000 meals have been delivered throughout Guysborough County. Since November 200 older adults have benefitted from this worthwhile program.

Have you any other reflections that you would like to share? I think this program was well planned, developed and implemented and on all levels and a complete success Have clear and complete expectations for advisory committee members and operating staff. It was a pleasure to participate. I never really thought having participants passing on or have move to palliative care and not seeing them or hearing their voice again would have such an impact on me. I was given many nicknames such as foodman, food guy etc. while delivering. Participants were thankful and appreciative. Many smiles on my quick visits and enthusiasm during chats. This was a tremendous opportunity for the MAMC and all those involved. I think we have learned lots and we can share an abundance of our knowledge. How do we continue to offer these valuable programs given our structure? What changes need to be made? How do we make the changes? Is the board interested in dong more of these projects if there was a chance to the structure? Celeste we could NOT have done this without you!! Thank You!! I think Brent, and you Celeste, did a fantastic job on organization and distribution of information and meals for seniors. As an advisory member we were always well informed. The board needs to identify their purpose ( is it the same as it was 30 years ago), does it need to change, what does this change mean, does the existing board have the enthusiasm and wherewithal to see through these changes? Thank you for the I was given cards, boxes of opportunity to be a chocolates, notes and coffee part of this change. amazing initiative. This experience will be something I will never forget.