Written by Juanita Fox
Residents at Garden Spot Village have been anxiously awaiting the COVID-19 vaccine. Since March, many residents have been living life cautiously, foregoing large gatherings with friends and family. Those with pre-existing conditions live more cautiously, holding out for their opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
In mid-January Stauffer’s Drug Store reached out to Garden Spot, alerting us to the probability of upcoming clinics. When the announcement reached residents, people immediately started calling Resident Services to add their name to the list to receive the vaccine. When the phone was overloaded, they came and stood in line.
Paula Cole, a resident since January 2019, reached out to her husband, Curt, who happened to be working the screening table across from Resident Services and asked him to sign them up. She also asked, “How’s Kimberly doing?”
Kimberly Stauffer, resident services team leader, was handling resident phone calls and Kelly Sweigart, sales associate was handling walk-ups. When Curt asked, Kimberly said she was OK. Curt told Paula Kimberly was swamped and she should come to help. When Paula arrived, she managed the walk-up sign-ups and Kimberly managed the phone calls. After an hour, traffic slowed and Paula returned home.
Paula’s other-centered mindset allowed her to set her priorities for the morning aside and lend a helping hand when she saw a need. She offered an amazing gift to Garden Spot team members and her neighbors.
On Wednesday, January 27 we learned that Stauffer’s pharmacy received authorization to deliver 150 vaccines to Garden Spot Village independent living residents. While it was just under 20% of what we had requested, we were assured that the total number of vaccines we had specified would be provided, though it may be in small quantities at a time. A vaccination clinic was immediately scheduled for Friday, January 29.
The clinic day was a celebration – although not everyone would get the vaccine, it was a start! For a couple of people, it was their first day out of quarantine after being exposed to the virus two weeks earlier. They were thankful to have the opportunity to get the vaccine. Another resident had recently been given a clean bill of health after battling brain cancer for the last year and was thankful to be healthy enough to get the vaccine.
Unfortunately, others who were at risk had to wait. When Anne Chrobocinski learned that some of her neighbors were unable to get the vaccine and they had higher risk factors than she did, she said, “I’ll wait. Call someone who needs it more than I do.”
Anne explains, ““I know there are some people who are frantic to get it and I’m not. I’m happy to wait until everyone who wants it has a chance to get it.”
Anne’s selfless other-centered mindset makes Garden Spot an amazing place to live. When you are anxiously awaiting the cure to a pandemic and say, “No, I’ll wait,” that’s an amazing gift for your neighbors.