Sep 09, 2020


Thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area, an innovative strategy was put into practise this summer by Community Living-North Frontenac.

The agency, which works with adults with developmental disabilities in Central and North Frontenac, hired Geoff Dewar, to deliver a series of one on one workshops with people that the agency works with.

“The workshops were mostly held outside, with social distancing in all cases, of course,” said Mariah Lockhardt, who works in Employment Supports for Community Living. “The grant helps us purchase kits for everyone, which include hand sanitizer, a cloth face mask, an easy to read story, a laminated hand washing and hand sanitizer poster, a laminated visitor checklist for signs and symptoms, and three videos.

Geoff Dewar, who is also someone the agency works with, traveled to homes across the region to deliver the workshops. He had educational tools with him, including some 2 metre floor mats, as well as the kits to leave behind.

“It made a difference that Geoff is someone who is part of their community,” said Lochardt, “it turned it into a social interaction, and the loss of so many opportunities for socialising has been hard on everyone, but especially hard on this community.

Geoff Dewar had to undergo a training program to learn presentation skills, before beginning to lead the workshops. The items he covered are the familiar COVID-19 topics, how to put on and wear a mask, hand washing, distancing, and more.

“From some of the workers who work with people that Geoff met with, it appears that his workshops were very effective. They were following COVID-19 protocols and demonstrating a greater understanding of how it can be spread and the dangers of catching it. The program ran for two and a half months.

This was the first time Community Living – North Frontenac has worked with the Community Foundation of Kingston and Area.

“We went to a workshop they gave in February at the Sydenham Library branch and applied for another grant this spring, and they delayed and then cancelled that program, because so much had changed with COVID-19 that they decided to start again. That’s when we designed this program and they supported it. We hope to work with them again in the future.

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