Singing our Unsung Heroes

We are all so grateful to our Healthcare workers, who many have referred to as heroes throughout this pandemic. Some of them shy away from that description, but there is no doubt that Doctors, Nurses, Caregivers and other Healthcare workers are heroes. They have, and continue to put their own lives and health at risk while caring for others.

But we should similarly recognize that there are many behind-the-scene heroes who have been working tirelessly throughout this pandemic. They too have worked, and continue to work, at risk to their good health in order to meet the needs of the ill and/or vulnerable. While we continue to be hopeful that the COVID pandemic will soon be behind us, we should acknowledge these hardworking, unsung heroes who have kept our residents safe and sound throughout. Here are tributes to some of them here at Handmaker:

Tracy must have put in tens of thousands of steps a day throughout the pandemic as he sanitized every door knob, hand rail, arm rest and every other surface touched by human hands multiple times per day.

Keith likely moved hundreds of residents and all of their stuff from one room or unit to another through the multiple quarantines and lockdowns during the pandemic. In addition, before and after each move, he and other environmental services staff, like Rose, had to sanitize every inch of every room, surface and piece of equipment to help stop the spread, all while in full PPE from head to toe.

Speaking of PPE, in order to make sure that we had enough to keep everyone at Handmaker fully protected and geared up, Mary was constantly searching out different suppliers for this difficult to find but necessary equipment, as Ramon and Hector regularly delivered and restocked the needed supplies to each unit.

Ginger, Tiffany, Cora, Ana and many other servers took orders and delivered meals to residents in their rooms and apartments during each lockdown period throughout the pandemic when communal dining was not possible, and are still working hard to serve food to our residents who are now back in the dining rooms.

Nahid, Angela and others in the activities department donned N-95 masks, shields and multiple gowns to engage residents during the pandemic lockdowns with one-on-one activities and video calls to loved ones in order to keep them connected during some the most trying times.

Working in the laundry to keep clothing and bedding clean and sanitized is hard work in normal times, but additional safety protocols and the risks due to the pandemic were what Tim and others in the laundry had to deal with every day during the pandemic.

Bob and Dan in the maintenance department always have their hands full keeping everything in working order at Handmaker, but fixing things while wearing PPE added an additional challenge, and risk at times, but we are grateful that they have still been here for us.

So thank you to all the healthcare heroes for all that you have done and continue to do, and to those behind-the-scene heroes who have been there for us too. Anyone who wants to show their appreciation for all of the Handmaker Heroes can do so by contributing to the Handmaker Employee Appreciation fund at https://www.handmaker.org/donations/employee-appreciation-fund.