Meeting the community’s unmet needs has been the mission of St. Joseph’s Care Group since the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie opened their first hospital in 1884. They are still meeting unmet needs 133 years later, through a combination of tradition and innovation. In order to evolve client-centred care for all age groups throughout Northwest Ontario, the Care Group has a partner to ensure their own needs don’t go unmet. A partner that, you could say, provides a solid foundation.
St. Joseph’s Foundation was established in 1983, with an objective of raising funds to support much-needed equipment purchases for the Care Group. Thirty-three years and tens of millions of dollars later, the number the Foundation is now focusing on is one. The Power of One website was launched last year in an effort to give more control to potential donors. The website allows people to select specific items from the St. Joseph’s Care Group “wish list” and donate directly to that specific item. Donors can also be a champion for the item, with people choosing to hold their own fundraising events, and sharing the digital link with friends and family through email and various social media platforms.
Katrina O’Neill, Executive Director of St. Joseph’s Foundation, says the Power of One campaign allows people to feel more connected to their donation by choosing to support what matters to them most.
“We had one family who wanted to make a gift in honour of their mother, and they purchased a blanket warmer,” O’Neill said.
“All the kids got together and everybody made their donation. They got to purchase this expensive piece of equipment that the floor needed. When their mom was in care, all she wanted was a warm blanket. So they were able to provide that for someone else.”
This year, St. Joseph’s Foundation is using the Power of One site to promote their Sleeper Chair-ity campaign. The Chair-ity campaign’s goal is to raise funds to purchase 14 specialized chairs that transition into beds, allowing people to stay comfortably by the side of their loved ones during the day and at night.
The initiative caught the attention of TBaytel. The company has bolstered the Chair-ity efforts with a pledge of seven sleep chairs, bringing the Foundation half-way to their goal.
Debbie Maijala, in honour of her husband, was the first person to say she wanted to buy a specific piece of equipment. Her sleep chair donation was the inspiration behind the Power of One. When her husband was a resident of St. Joseph’s Care Group, she’d go home and end up not sleeping at night, worried about how his evening would go. Maijala says “If you were there, if you could just curl up in the bed beside them, think of how much easier that would be.”
St. Joseph’s Foundation is making sure the power of one to meet the unmet needs of the community of Northwestern Ontario, has never been stronger or easier.
To find out if a specific item inspires you to donate, visit https://power.sjftb.net.
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Text the word CHAIR to 45678 on your mobile phone.
