In this episode, we are visiting our Community Day Program to discover how it is meeting the needs of the greater community, and why participants enjoy spending time in the program. 

The Community Day Program is a welcoming and vibrant program that offers participants the opportunity to connect with people in meaningful ways while supporting caregivers in the greater Saskatoon community.

Participants come from all corners of Saskatoon and are welcomed by program staff when they enter our Tawaw Centre, which is our main gathering space at Sherbrooke.

There are so many examples of people making genuine connections in the Community Day Program, while being able to access the art studio, our physiotherapy gym, spiritual care services, and join our recreation team on excursions. 

This episode will introduce you to several participants, along with Community Day Program staff, to give you a sense of how dynamic and caring this program is.

Thank you so much for listening to Welcome to Sherbrooke podcast. My name is Eric Anderson, and you can listen to episodes wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Visit our website to learn more about Sherbrooke, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we are taking you to Second Neighbourhoods to learn about Sherbrooke’s Neighbourhood Developers and Friends program. This program sees Sherbrooke managers and staff who are not involved in the daily care of Elders spend time in a specific neighbourhood or house at Sherbrooke to help staff create opportunities for Elders, families and staff to come together and create community. 

Hopefully by the end of this episode, you will learn why creating opportunities for Elders to get to know each-other is so important for us at Sherbrooke, and how Neighbourhood Developers and Friends help to make these opportunities happen.

You can listen to Welcome to Sherbrooke episodes wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Visit our website to learn more about Sherbrooke, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we will introduce you to cats, birds, guinea pigs, and people to discover the important role animals play in our Sherbrooke community, and how animals fit with the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care.

Having animals at Sherbrooke provides so much joy, connectedness and meaning to Elders, and it connects with many of the Eden Alternative’s principles including Principle Three which states We thrive when we have easy access to the companionship we desire. This is the antidote to loneliness.

You will hear examples of how animals are enriching the lives of Elders, staff, families, students, and volunteers, in this episode and hopefully feel inspired to think of how animals can play a bigger role in your long-term care home.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Welcome to Sherbrooke podcast. My name is Eric Anderson, and you can listen to episodes wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Visit our website, www.sherbrookecommunitycentre.ca, to learn more about Sherbrooke, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Thank you again for listening and we’ll talk with you soon. 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we are visiting the Creative Arts Studio; a hub of activity, relationships and joy in our building. 

Step inside Sherbrooke’s Creative Arts Studio and immediately you feel a wave of creativity wash over you. There are paintings, drawings and sculptures created by residents on the walls, the floor is splashed with paint that was once on the wheels of wheelchairs, and anything you can imagine to help a person create something from scratch (paintbrushes, coloured markers, or the ingredients for paper mache) are available for residents to use. 

The Creative Arts Studio fits so well with the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care as the act of making art in this space helps alleviate loneliness, helplessness and boredom, which you discover in this episode. The studio is also a space where residents find meaning and joy through their practice, and feel comfortable and secure in being themselves. Meaning, joy and security are three of the seven domains of well-being in the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care, and you’ll hear them discussed by residents and staff throughout this episode.

Thank you for listening to the Welcome to Sherbrooke podcast. Please leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear and feel free to share the podcast with all of your friends! 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we learn the importance of Sherbrooke residents connecting with people and organizations in the greater community, and we take you to Saskatoon’s Remai Modern Art Gallery to show how these connections make a difference in the lives of residents. 

One of the seven domains of well-being in the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care is connectedness, which takes many forms in Sherbrooke. It can be the connection between a resident and their care staff. It can be the bond a resident feels with a cat who calls Sherbrooke home. 

For this episode, we are going to explore the connection that residents and staff can form within the greater community. 

There are many examples of community connections Sherbrooke has formed over the years, but we will focus on a recent example involving a local artist named Gabby DaSilva.

Last year, Gabby worked on the second edition of her zine, ‘invisibly ill’ with Sherbrooke residents and Grade 6 iGen students. The zine, which resembles a magazine, explored themes of disabilities and invisible illnesses through stories and artwork from residents and students iGen students. Gabby’s work brought visibility to artists living with visible and invisible disabilities and we were proud to be included in this zine. 

We were also proud to partner on this project with Saskatoon’s AKA Artist-Run Centre and the Remai Modern, which hosted a launch party for Gabby’s zine. You are about to meet some very excited Sherbrooke residents, along with iGen students, Sherbrooke staff and Gabby DaSilva, on what this collaboration meant to them. 

Thank you for listening to the Welcome to Sherbrooke podcast. Please leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear and feel free to share the podcast with all of your friends! 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we visit our annual Christmas Buffet where residents enjoy a delicious holiday meal with friends and family. It's a wonderful example of how food and the dining experience can bring people together, and you'll hear from several Sherbrooke staff about why this is an important aspect of the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care. 

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Welcome to Sherbrooke. You can listen and follow Welcome to Sherbrooke wherever you find your podcasts and don't forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear. 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

My name is Eric Anderson and I’m the Communications Leader for Sherbrooke. 

In this episode, we feature a very special guest to only our Sherbrooke community but the Eden community around the world, Dr. Bill Thomas.

Dr. Thomas is the co-founder, along with his wife Jude, of the Eden Alternative philosophy. He is a physician, professor, entrepreuner, a playwright and someone who loves wearing bunnyhugs. 

He has visited Sherbrooke in the past and is a strong believer in the culture we have built. For our organization, he continues to push our organization to provide the best in well-being for residents.

A few weeks ago, four members of Sherbrooke’s Leadership team, myself included, attended the Eden International Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was an opportunity for people from around the world to get together and share their successes and the challenges they are facing in long term care. 

Dr. Thomas and his wife attended the conference and we had this big idea of seeing if he would be a guest on our podcast because it’s fun to dream big!

Kim Schmidt, who is our CEO and presented at the conference, was able to steal 10 minutes of Dr. Thomas’ time after the first day of the conference wrapped up to ask him some questions. 

Kim did a wonderful job of interviewing Dr. Thomas and we are excited to share that conversation with you now. 

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and a big thank you to Dr. Bill Thomas for carving out time out of his busy schedule to speak with Kim for the podcast. You can listen to the ‘Welcome to Sherbrooke’ podcast wherever you find your favourite podcasts including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear. 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we find a comfortable couch, decorated with lovely pillows, to sit down with Trudy Fisher and Patricia Roe to discover why creating an inviting, stimulating and comfortable environment is important to the well-being of residents. 

There are 10 Principles within the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care. Principal number two is what we focus on in this episode. It states that a caring, inclusive and vibrant community enables all of us, regardless of age or ability, to experience well-being. 

When it comes to designing a community through the lens of the Eden Alternative philosophy, few do it better than Trudy Fisher and Patricia Roe. Trudy managed our Tumbleweed Gift Shop for many years until retiring last year. Patricia was Sherbrooke's Communications Leader until her retirement in 2016. They made our community better through their passion for providing well-being to residents, and even in their retirement, you can find them today creating displays and working with residents and staff to make Sherbrooke feel like home. 

Trudy and Patricia talk about why making a long term care home feel like home is so important to residents and how they work with  residents to ensure their needs are being met. 

As you will quickly notice, Trudy and Patricia are dear friends and really don't need anyone asking them questions. They just love talking with each-other! 

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Welcome to Sherbrooke. You can listen and follow Welcome to Sherbrooke wherever you find your podcasts and don't forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear. 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we explore the many benefits of live music in a long term care home and specifically through a staple of our Sherbrooke community, “Friday at 3.”

This unique musical gathering is spearheaded by Wes Froese who is a member of our recreation team. Wes is an incredible musician and entertainer who connects with residents throughout our community. Every Friday at 3pm in Sherbrooke’s Tawaw Centre, Wes plays an hour long concert before a packed audience of residents, family members, staff and volunteers. 

Within the Eden Alternative philosophy, there are seven domains of well-being. These domains are at the core of the philosophy and can be seen and experienced every day at Sherbrooke. One of the domains is connectedness and you will discover how Friday at 3 fosters connections throughout Sherbrooke in this episode. 

You will hear from Wes Froese in this episode, along with Sherbrooke residents, staff and volunteers, who explain why this weekly gathering has become such an important part of our community. You will also hear some fantastic music that will put you in the front row of the Tawaw Centre!

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and don’t forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear. 

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

In this episode, we introduce you to Sherbrooke's Coffee Club and share why it is a perfect example of joy in our community.

Within the Eden Alternative philosophy, there are seven domains of well-being. These domains of well-being are at the core of the philosophy and can be seen and experienced every day at Sherbrooke. One of the domains is joy and it is something that you will experience in this episode thanks to the Coffee Club. 

Robin Kitchen is Sherbrooke's Manager of Learning and Growth and she explains in the episode why the domain of joy is so important within our Sherbrooke community. You will also hear from some very passionate residents and volunteers who have made the Coffee Club a staple in their day. 

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and don't forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear!

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
 

Our hope is to give you a sense of what our long-term care home community is like through the Elders who call Sherbrooke home, the staff and volunteers who care for them, the families who support our community, and the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care that guides our organization. 

Sherbrooke Community Centre is a warm and welcoming long term care home: there are 263 Elders, 100 Community Day Program Participants, 500 volunteers, families, friends, students, pets, and over 500 staff. Like any small town, ours is a community of people with aspirations, dreams, and a desire to live life to the fullest. At Sherbrooke, Elders work, play, shop, worship, paint, garden, sing, dance, and volunteer. 

We wanted this first episode to act as an introduction for listeners to our community and who better to deliver that introduction than our Chief Executive Officer, Kim Schmidt. As you will hear in the episode, Kim has a deep connection with Sherbrooke and shares her passion for our community and the Eden Alternative Philosophy of Care. 

We hope you enjoy this first episode of Welcome to Sherbrooke. Our plan is to release a new episode every month wherever you find your favourite podcasts. Please leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear and tell you friends about Welcome to Sherbrooke!

Thank you for listening.

Episode Credits:

Produced, edited, mixed by Eric Anderson

Executive Producer is Kim Schmidt

Music licensed through APM Music

Gathered on location at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada