Letters from children lift spirits of seniors in isolation

A Brisbane community has rallied to help lift the spirits of residents who are in isolation in an aged care facility.

A drawing by Kaia Walker, 8, of Brighton for a resident at Regis Aged Care, Sandgate.

A BRISBANE community has rallied to help lift the spirits of residents who are in isolation in an aged care facility due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kelly Walker of Brighton has collected drawings and letters from northside children to be delivered to Regis Aged Care, Sandgate for distribution among the residents.

“When talk of social isolation first started a few weeks ago, my first thought went to those people who were elderly and potentially living alone,” Mrs Walker said.

Kaia Walker, 8, of Brighton with a drawing she did for a resident at Regis Aged Care.

“My grandmother lives in a seniors’ residence in Canada and is still very active and social so the thought of her having to isolate inside her apartment without any visitors was just heartbreaking.

“I knew that receiving letters and cards and drawings from her grandchildren and great-grandchildren would do wonders to help brighten her spirits.

“Then I started thinking how fortunate she is to have such a large family, but what about those people who may not have children or grandchildren of their own. We wanted to do something to help get them through this as well.”

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Mrs Walker contacted a friend who works at Regis and received approval to go ahead with the project.

“I put the call out on our community Facebook group. It was received very well and it’s been fun seeing all of the beautiful envelopes popping up in our mailbox over the last week.

“I’m not sure how many letters we’ve received. We had two collection points – our house and another home in Deagon.

“People were sending me a message to get the drop off address and they would just leave them in our mailbox. We were each just taking the letters from our mailboxes and putting them into a box and not rifling through them again.

“Being mindful of not getting more germs into our home, I just had a box on the floor inside the front door so would grab the letters, put them in the box and then go wash my hands.

“Regis will have their own protocol and waiting period on their end before they distribute the letters to the residents.”

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Mrs Walker said she and her daughter Kaia, 8, made about a dozen cards and drawings.

“It’s hard to explain what’s happening in the world right now to young children so I’m not sure how many of the children involved really understand the impact that their drawing or letter can really have on someone who is completely isolated, but from what I could tell they all did a fabulous job.

“As far as I’m concerned, this project doesn’t have an end date.

“We also encouraged people to include a return address in case any of the residents would like to write back to keep that connection going.”

A Regis spokesperson said, “Regis continues to look at ways to keep our residents better connected with loved ones and the community during these unusual times. Our Sandgate residents were delighted with Kelly’s initiative to receive mail and hear from the local children.”