The Brenda Strafford Foundation

Shifts Available: Thursdays 4:30-6:15

Position Duties:

• Have fun engaging with our young residents while building a sense of community
• Act as a positive role model for children residing at the Centre
• Assist primarily elementary students with assigned homework or learning materials
• Prepare learning materials and packages
• Direct and redirect children's focus to task at hand

The Ideal Person for this Role is:

• Patient and able to adapt teaching style to learning style of child
• Comfortable working in a culturally diverse environment and with a diverse group of children
• Comfortable working with children that have experienced trauma and may exhibit challenging behaviours 

• You would help plant flowers in our courtyards and planters.
• Keep our plants happy and hydrated.
• Use your creativity to help arrange planters and garden spaces making our outdoor areas as beautiful as possible.

Are you looking for a fun and meaningful way to make a difference in your community? Join us as an intergenerational connector with our senior residents. This is a great chance to bridge a generation gap and create some unforgettable moments with seniors who have a wealth of stories and experiences to share. Think of it as hanging out with your grandparents or your cool great aunt or uncle. You'll be chatting, laughing and maybe even learning a thing or two from our awesome seniors. This role is all about fostering friendships, sparking conversations and bringing a little sunshine into a resident's day. You are a young person who loves to connect and engage with others.

Some of the things you can do:

• Spend time chatting, sharing stories and interests and asking about their favourite movies, books, music or life stories
• Participate in fun activities like games, arts & crafts, or a music event
• Help them to use technology. Smartphones, tablets or social media so they can connect with friends and family outside of the residence. Share your favourite apps with them.
• Be a kind and caring listener, sometimes all someone needs is to share a thought or memory

You will have the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with our residents who will appreciate your company. You can gain insights from the life experience of others, it's surprising how much you can learn. Improve your communication, teamwork and leadership skills and use the experience on your college applications and resumes. 

Opening Minds through Art (OMA) is an award-winning, evidence-based, intergenerational art-making program for people living with dementia. It was developed at Scripps Gerontology Center, an Ohio Center of Excellence at Miami University, in 2007. Opening Minds through Art (OMA)’s goal is to help build a society that values all people, including older adults living with dementia. We achieve this by building genuine friendships between people living with dementia and volunteers as they engage in artmaking. 

People living with dementia (artists) are paired with volunteers (students, families, caregivers) who are trained to rely on imagination instead of memory and focus on remaining strengths instead of lost skills. OMA enables people living with dementia to assume new roles as artists and teachers and leave a legacy of beautiful artwork.

This is a time sensitive volunteer role.

•  For 6 to 8 weeks.
• Site specific

REQUIREMENTS

• Completed application
• Successful completion of the interview process
• Positive reference checks
• Pass a Police Information Check and Vulnerable Sector Search
• Complete the orientation and screening process
• Complete training for OMA program