50 Faces of SECC – Jacqueline

Fun with New Found Friends

Jacqueline is a long-time client who was first introduced to SECC through a series of social events hosted in her Leamington apartment building. These events had to be discontinued once the COVID-19 pandemic started, but Jacqueline enjoyed the socialization so much that she reached out to SECC to see what else they were offering. She decided to register for Security Check and began to receive daily phone calls from staff. This continued throughout the entire pandemic and Jacqueline came to rely on these wellbeing checks, not only for the friendly interactions they provided, but because her sugar levels fluctuated all the time and she felt much safer knowing that someone was checking in with her on a regular basis.

When SECC launched free virtual activity programming during the pandemic, Jacqueline was interested in participating. However, she didn’t have access to a computer, tablet or phone and wasn’t sure how to join. Thankfully, she was able to borrow a Chromebook from SECC and a staff member even came to her home to provide training on how to connect to virtual programming 3 times a week. Jacqueline was thrilled to have learned a new skill and ended up meeting 9 new friends in the process. She also began to use her Chromebook and new skills to connect with her granddaughter over Zoom during the pandemic.

SECC then started to offer exercise classes at Meadowbrook Church every Friday morning and Jacqueline was thrilled with the idea of joining. Unfortunately, she had no means of transportation to and from the classes. Thankfully, SECC had received some generous donations to help with client transportation and was able to provide free transit for Jacqueline to attend these classes.

Not long ago, Jacqueline phoned the office to let the team know that she was going into a retirement home and to express her most sincere thanks to the team. She wanted to ensure everyone knew how much SECC meant to her during the pandemic and how grateful she was for SECC’s different programs and services. According to Jacqueline, “Zoom and exercise saved my life!”