Ashby Village Remains Here for You As We Navigate These Times Together
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Check Our Calendar to Stay Up To Date
As changes keep unfolding please check our online calendar to see what events are taking place this
month.
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A Letter from Our Executive Director
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The depth and strength of our Village has become keenly evident during this extraordinary period. Our staff, now working remotely, have jumped in – with thoughtful, strategic care and commitment – as we re-craft programs and services. A committed group of 20 representatives (staff, members, and volunteers) is meeting weekly to ensure that Ashby Village accounts for the needs and concerns of everyone in the Village. Teams and committees are embracing this as a moment to step-up and build vital engagement whenever and wherever possible.
The strong infrastructure we have built over the years highlights the support we are able to provide in this most challenging of times. Our large corps of volunteers - trained, screened, oriented and ready - are providing assistance, guidance and support. We are adapting our program offerings for online accessibility, providing links to activities hosted by other organizations, and steadily increasing our own virtual offerings.
Finally, considering that we are a community of the most vulnerable population for this virus, media have been contacting us and there have been several prominent stories.
View them here:
I'm grateful we're here to support one another in this challenging time. I encourage each of us to use this mandated retreat - an unexpected gift of time and personal space - to seek hidden gems of insight and discovery.
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Andy Gaines
Executive Director
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Program and Member Support Updates
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Programming and Events
Since the cancellation of in-person meetings, Ashby Village has been creating a Weekly Schedule that provides our members with suggestions on how to keep you engaged online throughout the day. Offerings range from exercise classes like yoga and stretching to virtual museum visits and online classical music concerts.
We are actively working to create additional “live” programming which will take place each week at a regularly scheduled time. Such offerings will include exercise classes like Stretch, Strength, and Balance, yoga, and meditation, Lectures, and additional programming. We’re also working with neighborhood, interest and support groups to bring their meetings online, maintaining the vital bridge of connection that Ashby Village provides.
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Member Support
Even in this time of physical distancing Ashby Village seeks to support its members to continue leading healthy lives full of meaning and purpose, so that we can age in place as successfully as possible. Knowing what resources are available, and making the important decisions required to reach our goals, can be challenging. The Member Support Teams of Ashby Village are to assist you.
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Connections Team: During this “Shelter in Place” you might be feeling lonely or isolated, and possibly anxious about the disease itself. Connections volunteers are available for weekly phone check-ins to help you feel connected to others in your community. Our volunteers can help you access your Ashby Village resources and other resources in the area. For more information, please email Ellen Newman:
enewman2k3@yahoo.com
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Social Care Team: Volunteers are ready and available to help members by providing referrals and suggestions to the current challenges you might be facing. This team is composed of semi-retired and retired health professionals and social workers that are available for you over the phone. For more information, please email Julianne Morris:
juliemor@earthlink.net
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If you feel a need to talk, or get some further particular guidance, please email Erik Whitaker,
erik@ashbyvillage.org, the Ashby Village Program and Member Support Manager.
Ashby Village is here for you, so please know that you are not alone.
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Volunteer Services Are
As Strong As Ever!
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Ashby Village has been overwhelmed with support during these difficult times. We’ve been so grateful to see the way our volunteers (and members) have stepped up to serve each other.
In the last two weeks, volunteers have shopped and delivered groceries to over 19 members! In addition, medications have been picked up, packages delivered, virtual tech support has been provided and 29 callers reached out to members in need of friendly connection. It didn’t stop there -- they’ve even picked up prescription cat food for a member’s beloved kitty!
At a time when older individuals are more vulnerable than others, the efforts of those who are helping to make home deliveries of vital essentials to our members have been invaluable. Heartfelt thank you to all volunteers and members who’ve helped us emulate exactly what a community does for one another.
But this coronavirus is far from over.
If you part of Ashby Village community and one of the lucky ones who has the time and enthusiasm to support our members during this national health crisis, your help will be appreciated. Please check Volunteer Connect emails to know what services our members are asking for or contact
Pat Carvalho
to see how you can help.
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How about some
UPLIFTING
data?
With the daily barrage of information about COVID-19, we thought it was the perfect time to share some inspirational data about how our volunteers step up each and every day.
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Have you wondered...?
- What percentage of member service requests were filled in 2019?
- How many hours volunteers spent helping Ashby Village Members in 2019?
- What percentage of volunteers signed up and stayed active in 2019?
THANK YOU to our volunteers
who have supported members at this time
and throughout the year...
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Reducing Stress, Anxiety, and Worry
These are tumultuous times for us all. Lots of uncertainty abounds related to health, financial and political issues. As we age, all this uncertainty takes an even greater toll as we look for, and need more stability in our environment.
It is even more important than ever, that we look for ways of reducing our stress these days. Take a walk in nature, engage friends at a safe distance - or by calling, zooming, or emailing, get a good night’s sleep, and eat nutritious meals.
We need to heed the warnings to keep ourselves safe, but we also need to be on guard not to overreact and become too worried, stressed, or anxious. Some recommendations:
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Keeping Active and Engaged during the Pandemic
- One way to reduce stress is to walk in nature: it’s fun, it can lower your blood pressure, and if you allow for safe social distance while walking, you can even walk with a friend or family member to make up for all the exercise classes you have been missing.
- Turn any corner of your home into your very own Y! They have live, and recorded workouts on their website. ZOOM workouts begin on Monday morning, they have recorded workouts available anytime, and for 60 days their "MOSSA Move" is free with login credentials.
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Taking Our April Pre-Social Hour VIRTUAL! (4/3)
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Since we cannot gather together in our usual first Friday of the month pre-social hour, Ashby Village will instead be hosting a live, virtual check-in entitled,
"Touching (From Afar) Base With Ashby Village Staff".
Who:
For Ashby Village Members and Volunteers
What: Ashby Village staff will lead a check-in on how we have pivoted to meet our community's needs during this time, and to answer any questions that you may have.
When: Friday, April 3, 3:00-4:00 PM
Note: There is a maximum limit of 100 participants, but we will record this meeting and make it available afterwards.
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If you already have questions you would like staff to answer, please email them to
info@ashbyvillage.org. Questions will also be able to be asked live on Zoom. We look forward to re-connecting then!
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**A Note About Zoom
Many of you may have been hearing about, and maybe even starting to use, "Zoom" lately. Zoom is a video conferencing application that has been allowing people and businesses across the globe to stay connected while being remote.
If you have never used Zoom but are curious about it, we will be hosting a
practice session for Ashby Village members and volunteers tomorrow, Thursday, April 2 at 3 PM, in preparation for our pre-social hour on Friday.
For instructions about how to get connected on Zoom, and how to join on Thursday please
click here
.
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Daily Dose of Dopamine
Positivity is needed more than ever these days, Ashby Village has launched a new "Daily Dose of Dopamine" delivered every morning at 10 AM to your inbox.
These may include a fun activity you can do during this "staycation", a silly video or uplifting quote.
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Member Survey - Part 2! *Coming Soon*
First off, a HUGE thank you to all of our members who completed the first part of our survey. We had 199 members engage with the survey (a combination of online and mailed hard copies) which is
51.8%
of our membership! To view the initial summary data
click here
, and to review the survey questions
click here
.
We are so grateful for your time and investment in helping us continue to improve for you.
While deeply respectful of the uncertainty of these times, we still feel it is important to keep some normalcy where we can, and will be moving ahead in launching the second part of our member survey in the coming weeks.
We hope this will offer you an opportunity to continue checking in and sharing your thoughts with us, and may be a welcome activity to complete while this staycation continues. Keep a lookout in your inboxes and mailboxes!
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The Larger Community is Looking to Us
While all types of communities are re-adjusting their lives, Ashby Village has been honored to be seen as an expert during these times.
If you have other suggestions of how we can continue to support one another please
let us know
!
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As we are sure you are all experiencing, an overwhelming amount of resources are flying around these days, and we are so grateful to our volunteer Tricia Sullivan, who is working hard to help us filter and share important resources and articles as well as fun updates.
Follow us on Facebook by clicking the logo above or
visiting our page and then "like" and "follow" our page to receive notifications of new posts and updates!
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Would you like personal assistance from Technology & Electronics Volunteers?
The Tech Team wants you to know that we're here for you!
Although we're not coming to your home, we're creating ways to help you with technologies for high priority needs. Examples of priorities include:
- ordering food to be delivered
- communicating with your health providers online
- keeping in touch with family, friends, neighbors, and Ashby Village
- addressing major malfunctions of your devices.
We're currently developing our capacities to support you online by sharing screens and working together remotely. If you put in a request, let us know if you're familiar with online communication tools such as Zoom, Skype, Facetime, or similar. If you're not familiar, a volunteer will arrange a training session.
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A Special Note of Heads Up:
Be careful of COVID19-related email phishing scams and browser pop-ups. If you're suspicious, trash the email (or ignore the browser pop-up). It's best to follow COVID19 news & information on the websites of trusted sources.
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Some of the Tech Team "holding hands" virtually
after their meeting on Zoom
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Thank you to the Ashby Village volunteers who contributed to this issue of the Village Voices newsletter.
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Ashby Village is continuing to actively monitor COVID-19 and has ongoing updates and resources
HERE.
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