Visiting the Grand Pals

When young and old share time together, our communities are stronger and brighter. 

At the YMCA Hamilton| Burlington | Brantford, we have over 120 Child Care centres, but there is one special place that offers a bridge between generations.

The St. Joseph's YMCA Child Care Centre is connected to St. Joseph's Lifecare Centre, a long-term care home and hospice. It’s a unique opportunity to have children and older adults in the same space, and it’s something both the Y and the Lifecare Centre have embraced for almost two decades.

“I started doing the Grand Pals program about 10 years ago. At the time I was doing it with the three and four-year-olds,” says Steve Linesman, A recreational therapist at St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre.

“We did puzzles, crafts, music programs—a little bit of everything.”

He says the pandemic forced the program to pause, but they’re finally back at it.

“The residents really enjoy it when the kids are here. You can see it lights up their faces. It brings them a sense of community, lots of life and energy.”

According to Michelle Wright, a Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) and the Child Care Supervisor at YMCA St. Joseph’s Child Care Centre, they got permission to start wandering through the Lifecare Centre again this past April, and the Grand Pals program started up again in May.

She says as long as everyone is healthy, the children visit their grand pals three times a week.

“On Mondays we have a preschool group visit, on Tuesdays we have a preschool group and a toddler group visit, and on Thursdays we have our infants visit,” says Michelle.

As we wander through the hallways of the Lifecare Centre, Michelle leads the way to a courtyard. There, we found the preschool group bouncing balls and blowing bubbles with a group of residents.

One resident in particular was playing catch with two of the children. As they blow bubbles towards her and toss the ball in the air, a smile spreads across her face.

“I enjoy playing with the kids. I really look forward to it,” she says.

As an Early Learning Facilitator, Tamara sees the positive impact that an intergenerational program can have on both the children and the residents.

“It’s really fun watching them all interact and just be engaged with the children.”

“The kids love it, they have so much fun here. It’s probably their favourite time of the week to go see the grand pals.”

Tamara asks the children if they like visiting the Grand Pals and they all say, “Yes!”

“When we go for a walk in the hallway because the weather isn’t good, all the kids know the grand pals by name and ask to go see them. ‘Can we go see Kirk, can we go see Harold!’ and we sit there and talk to them,” she says.

Over in the toddler room, Registered Early Childhood Educator Sarah Miller says, “socializing with other age groups helps the children learn and grow.”

“We have a few children who were shy when we restarted the program, but each week they move further away from us and become more comfortable with the residents and staff,” she says.

“It’s nice to watch them be less dependent on us."

She also says the program gives the children experiences they might not have otherwise.

“The children were learning about chickens and ducks, so we watched the progress of chicken and duck eggs in incubators at the Lifecare Centre and we watched the eggs hatch together.”

A few weeks later the Lifecare Centre held Farm Day—an opportunity for the residents to do something different and spend time with farm animals like horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, and ducks.

“We saw one of the chicks that we watched hatch just weeks before and how it had grown and was now a duck,” says Michelle.

“It was a learning experience for all of us,” says Sarah.

On the other side of the room, a Lifecare Centre resident says she is filled with joy whenever she gets to see the children.

“I love their freedom.”

“Watching them is enough. But playing with them, picking things up, giving it to them, it makes me smile.”

She trails off in laughter as a toddler walks over to give her a toy. It’s a small moment that means so much to her.

Moments like these happen because every day Early Childhood Educators like Michelle, Sarah, and Tamara give our children the best experiences possible. Our ECEs and Child Care Workers are the spark that ignites the potential in every child. 

#ECEAppreciation2024 #IgnitePotential #ShineOn #BeTheSpark