Assisting those with special needs has been a passion of Christine LaChapelle’s since she was a kid, looking out for her schoolmates, but she never imagined she’d be working through the challenges of a global pandemic.
LaChapelle, a senior support worker with Empower Simcoe, has been a developmental services worker in the region for 18 years.
“I was always drawn to helping other kids, especially kids with disabilities in my class,” she explained.
Ensuring a fulfilled and meaningful life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is a rewarding but challenging job at the best of times. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, “it changed drastically,” she said.
“We support people who don’t necessarily understand what physical distancing is and why they have to do it,” she said. “We’ve had to become pretty creative to make their days as meaningful as possible.”
Some clients enjoyed going out for a meal, attending church, going shopping or even making a stop at the bank, simply for the opportunity to interact with others. Those outings are now limited, but LaChapelle has been doing her best to get them out for walks, drives and coffee breaks.
“It’s difficult and it varies from person to person. A lot of it revolves around missing their families,” she said, noting frequent online video calls with their loved ones are helpful. “We keep things as normal as possible.”
LaChapelle has a wife and two medically vulnerable kids at home, and she’s the only essential worker in the family, so she’s careful to not put them at risk after a day of work.
“It’s pretty daunting,” she said. “We’re doing OK. We’re getting through. We’re in Week 12, so we’re adjusting.”
Not only does she have to deal with the stress of potentially bringing the virus home; she also has to constantly keep the safety of her clients in mind when she’s off the clock. That’s why she does as much online shopping and curbside pickup as possible.
“The staff have taken that very seriously. We’ve really set our minds to ensuring we’re not infecting people,” she said.
It seems to be working. No Empower Simcoe staff or clients have tested positive for the virus throughout the pandemic.
The agency has been reworking schedules in an effort to restrict staff movement as much as possible, and LaChapelle wouldn’t be surprised if that continued to an extent post-COVID-19.
What the experience has shown her is the need for “increasing our ability to think outside the box, to adjust on the fly.”
For now, she’ll continue to take it one day at a time and look forward to going home to her family at the end of the day, where they all wind down together while catching up in the backyard.
