In their solemn sojourn to safety, many families from
around the world have made Sojourn House Family
Shelter program their home away from home in 2021.
Undeterred by the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of highly
dedicated staff supported by management have been
able to provide the necessary support through out the
year. However, the year was not without challenges.
Despite our best effort in preventative measures, the
family program experienced a COVID-19 outbreak
at the beginning of the second quarter of the year in
which a number of our families were affected. Through
surveillance testing and a subsequent intensive
vaccination drive, we were able to minimize the impact
of COVID on our families. We are happy to report that
all families infected by COVID were able to fully recover.
Our service partner, Women’s College Hospital, played a
pivotal role in not only conducting the surveillance testing
and vaccination, but also in disseminating timely and
relevant information on COVID-19 and the benefits of
vaccinations. As a result, we were able to achieve 85%
uptake on our vaccination drive. We are also pleased to
report that no staff had contracted COVID-19 through out
the year.
Families who had tested positive for COVID and had to
isolate, received extra support from staff which included
frequent check in on their conditions, grocery shopping,
medication pick ups from pharmacies and so forth.
The extent to which staff supported these families was
recognized by management and more importantly by the
clients themselves with much gratitude.
Our success in the vaccination drive was one factor that
enabled us to organize various activities for our clients
when restrictions were reduced. Subsequently, we were
able to organize trips to High Park Animal Zoo and
Central Island. Our families enjoyed both trips immensely.
We had a fitting send off for the year 2021 with Santa
gracing us with his presence and bringing a whole lot of
happiness to our families and the children in particular.
We are always grateful to Santa for bringing joy to us all.
And many presents of course!
We want to conclude by thanking our families for staying
strong and resilient despite the outbreak and for their
patience during the surveillance testing which was not
easy for many of the families, especially with the children.
The staff team at the Grange must be acknowledged for
their ongoing commitment to the principles of Sojourn
House and for their dedication to the wellbeing of our
clients. Thank you to all of our community partners,
there are too many to mention, and generous donors for
supporting us and our families through out the year.
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