Members of Local 9329, who work at CV Homes just outside of Ontario, Canada, endured the challenge of a lifetime when their long-term care facility was the first to experience a COVID-19 outbreak in the region. Through the scary and uncertain months dominated by isolation and chaos, they displayed tremendous compassion and solidarity.
Because of this, Local 9329 is District 6’s 2021 USW Cares Jefferson Award winner.
Many staff members moved in together to keep their families safe as they cared for vulnerable residents, who were also unable to see friends and family of their own.
“We didn’t have any option,” said Local 9329 President Lisa Cook. “Even my own two children, they were both sent home from their jobs the day it was announced that the nursing home had an outbreak, so they immediately became unemployed.”
During the outbreaks it was all-hands-on-deck for these members, many of whom helped out other departments in desperate need. They also all went out of their way to make their residents feel less alone.
“We were the people who kept them company; we were their connection to the outside world,” said Cook.