Heat Warning Issued – Fraser Valley – Aug 11 & 12, 2025

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Heat Warning Issued

We have received notice that a Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a Heat Warning for the Fraser Valley for Aug 11 & 12. Daytime high temperatures will reach 33C with overnight lows near 17C. A cooling trend is expected to arrive on Wednesday.

With elevated temperatures, the risk of heat related illness increases, particularly in seniors and those more vulnerable. 

Since 2022 Menno Place has made significant improvements the our air conditioning across our campus, especially in our long-term care buildings. Along with these improvements, what can friends and family members do to help mitigate the heat and minimize its impact on our seniors?

  1. FANS – Ensure your loved one in Menno Home or Menno Hospital has a fan that can bring cool air into their room from the common areas that are cooler
  2. WINDOW COVERINGS – Keep the curtains / blinds closed to keep the heat out.
  3. AIR CONDITIONER – The apartments  can have individual air-conditioners ]installed – Click for air-conditioner specifications
  4. HYDRATION – Ensure your loved one has fluids available for their hydration needs. Menno Place provides water in the apartment foyers and for all residents in Menno Home and Menno Hospital
  5. COMMUNICATION – Call your loved one to see how they are doing. Call Menno Place if you want to know how your loved one is doing in the heat.

To protect our residents and tenants, we pro-actively monitor for heat-related conditions, following our Heat Preparedness Plan.

We mitigate risk by:

  • ensuring hydration to all those who receive care services
  • providing water / hydration stations in all buildings for staff and tenants
  • providing cooling cloths to all who receive care services
  • closing blinds/curtains and ask tenants to do the same
  • ensure those in care are wearing light-weight clothing and reminding tenants to do the same
  • encouraging apartment tenants to seek out air-conditioned spaces or get an air-conditioner installed

As a reminder, fans may not effectively reduce body temperatures or prevent heat-related illness in people at risk. Fans should be used to move cool air around and not be used as a primary cooling device. In Menno Home and Hospital, staff will expose residents to air conditioned spaces whenever possible. Visitors and family members for those in the Apartments should do the same. Residents should move into common spaces which are air-conditioned in the Apartments in order to keep cool.

Does your loved one live in Independent Living Apartments (Pavilion, Terrace West, Primrose Gardens):

Call them daily during the Extreme / Heat Warning to ensure that they know how to keep cool and are following the recommended safety measures (below).

Quick Tips for Extreme Heat

How to keep your body cool and comfortable:

  1. Drink plenty of water
  2. Put on sunscreen when outside
  3. Wear loose fitting, light coloured, breathable clothing
  4. Avoid being in direct sunlight for too long
  5. Place a cold, wet towel around your neck
  6. Keep your apartment cool by closing the blinds, using AC, and limiting oven use
  7. Shower, bathe, or sponge off with cool water

How do I get air-conditioning in the apartments? What A/C unit should I purchase? CLICK HERE FOR ALL DETAILS

And if you experience symptoms of a heat stroke (high body temperature, dizziness or fainting, confusion, and very hot and red skin), call 9-1-1.

How to keep your apartment suite cool and comfortable:

  • Turn off the heat in your room on the thermostat
  • Turn on air-conditioning. Keep it on throughout the heat warning.
  • If you have air-conditioning, keep your doors and windows closed to keep the cold air in
  • Close your blinds or curtains in bedroom and living room to keep out the sun/heat
  • Do not go outside, or choose to take your walks early morning
  • Do not sit in a parked car or leave a pet in a parked car
  • Avoid using the stove to cook a meal
  • Take a break if your suite is hot, and spend some time on the 1st floor of your building in the air-conditioned common areas. Bring a book, or some knitting and relax.
  • If it cools down (below 26C) at night, open your windows and doors to let in the cool air
  • Make arrangements to stay at someone’s air-conditioned place, or hotel to cool down
  • Sprinkle clothing with water
  • Splash cool water on your face and back of neck

If you can’t get cool enough, call your family or support friends and check in. Let them know you could use some help. Try to plan a visit with your family who has air-conditioning.

Heat Exhaustion Symptoms

  • Skin rash
  • Heavy Sweating
  • Headache
  • Dizziness
  • Fainting
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Rapid Heartbeat and breathing
  • Muscle cramps
  • Extreme thirst and/or dark urine or decreased urination

Anyone with one or more of these symptoms should move to a cool space immediately and let someone know they are not feeling well.

Heat Stroke Symptoms

  • High body temperature
  • Dizziness
  • Fainting
  • Confusion
  • Lack of coordination
  • Very hot and red skin

Anyone with any of these symptoms should call 911 immediately.

 

You’re Invited to Grandparents Day – Sat Sept 6

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Grandparents Day at Menno Place is a special time for kids of all ages to enjoy a fun-filled and whimsical afternoon with grandpa, grandma, or a special friend!

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May 28, 2025 – Menno Place Strategic Framework Open House

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Thank you to all who attended the Menno Place Strategic Framework Open House on May 28th. Click to see photos!

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Join us for the Annual Butterfly Release!

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Join us for the Menno Place Butterfly Release on Friday, June 13 at 2:30pm, following our annual memorial service where we’ll be honouring those who have passed since June 2024. Click for details on how you can pre-purchase your butterfly!

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Mother’s Day Flowers – May 11, 2025

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Every year on Mother’s Day our campus is flooded with beautiful floral arrangements that bring joy to residents all over Menno Place. If you’re thinking about gifting flowers this year we wanted to remind you of a couple of guidelines.

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Update on our new TV and WiFi System at Menno Apartments

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MEMO

Date:  March 27, 2025
To:       Family and Contacts of Menno Apartment Residents
Re:       Update on our new TV and WiFi system at Menno Apartments
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Family and Contacts of Menno Apartment Residents,

Our switch over to our new TV and WiFi system is almost complete. At this time I wanted to update you on what has changed and ask for your help to support your loved one as they get used to the new system.

Our residents may need help to:

  • Familiarize themselves with a new TV remote and new TV home screen
  • Access to Menno TV Channel (formerly known as Channel 10)
  • Connect their devices to WiFi

As always, the LEA team will be available to assist during regular hours, but with everyone switching over at the same time, your support will speed this process up significantly.

Television Package

All suites have received a brand new set-top box with a new remote. This new box is an app-based smart TV set-up. In other words, it is now possible to log into apps like Netflix or YouTube directly through the TV box. Navigating the system is slightly different. We have distributed a cheat sheet and an updated list of channels to every suite.

Unfortunately, our local channel is no longer “Channel 10”; it is now a “Local Camera” App accessed directly from the home screen. But rest assured, our Menno TV Channel is still live and available. The Telus TV cheat sheet has instructions on how to access it along with pictures of what the new screen looks like.

The new remotes have one additional feature we haven’t announced to the residents yet. There is a Google Assistant button that allows voice control of the remote. Feel free to assist your family member/friend if you feel this will benefit them.

Lastly, the new system allows devices connected in the suite to cast to the TV. I’m sure this feels intuitive to the younger generation, so feel free to utilize this feature if you want to show your loved ones some pictures from your phone via casting.

I want to thank the Telus technicians for their work on this over the past few weeks, and my Life Enrichment team members who are doing what they can to assist with learning a new system. Please join me in expressing my thanks to them when you see them.

Click here to download the Telus TV Cheat Sheet
Click here to down the updated List of Channels

WiFi Network Upgrade

The other major component of our upgrade is a completely updated WiFi network. To summarize, every apartment now has their own private network with their own password to access the internet. This will allow devices such as smart speakers, wireless printers, WiFi enabled smart plugs, Google Home devices, Alexa, etc. to properly connect and be used.

My team has distributed a print-out to each suite that has the unique password for that suite. (You can see an example of this here.) Every member of the Life Enrichment team has access to the passwords and we can very quickly print a new one or provide you with the information you need. Please note that the new network is called “Menno Place Resident WiFi” (do NOT use Menno Place Residents any longer). Each suite has the password written out, along with a QR code for quick access. Again, I would appreciate your assistance in getting your loved ones’ devices on this new network. (The old network will be taken offline soon.)

Thanks for your support.

I have repeatedly heard appreciation for Menno Apartments providing the telecommunication services for our residents. I trust this will continue to be the case. Currently, I’m asking for your assistance in helping our residents learn to navigate the new systems. My team is grateful when we see a child/grandchild or friend assisting someone in connecting to the internet. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Life Enrichment team with further questions.

Leonard Klassen,
Manager of Community Enrichment

Importance of Pendant Use and Nurse Assessment after a Fall

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MEMO

Date:   March 26, 2025
To:       Terrace East Residents
Re:       Importance of Pendant Use and Nurse Assessment after a fall
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Residents of Terrace East,

This is a reminder about the importance of using your pendant if you experience a fall, even if you don’t feel hurt. The pendant is an important safety tool that helps ensure you get the help you need right away.

Please remember that after any fall it is essential to have a nurse assess you, even if you feel fine and can get up on your own. This helps ensure your safety and well-being.

Push the pendant to inform the care staff if you fall. Do this at any time of the day or night. And do remember that the pendant can be used at other times if you need assistance from the care team (it is not only for use if you fall).

Thank you for your cooperation!

Reminder: LTC Family Council Info Session

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If you support a loved one living in long-term care we would like to invite you to a Menno Place Family Council information session:

What:         Family Councils, What are They and What are They Not?
When:        Thursday, March 20 2:30-3:30PM
Where:       In Person: Menno Hospital Corporate Boardroom (behind reception desk at main Menno Hospital entrance).
Online: Microsoft Teams

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 226 601 181 847
Passcode: 7xT7i4Zk

Why: Family Councils, as prescribed by the care home regulations, are most successful when certain key factors are present. This session will start at the beginning to define what a family council is, and provide insight to making it the best it can be.

Lisa Dawson, Interim Chair of the Fraser Association of Family Councils (FAFC), will facilitate this meeting. Lisa has a long history of being a family caregiver. Her Father is in long-term care, and she is the Chair of their family council. She is also the VP/Secretary of the provincial association of family councils (ILTCCABC)

For more information on Lisa and FAFCC:

www.VancouverCoastalFamilyCouncils.ca

fafc.regional@gmail.com

Phone: 604.341.1447

The goal of this get together is to create awareness of what a family council can be and to inspire interested families to come forward for further conversations to lead the family council.

If you have any questions, please contact Menno Home Social Worker Kim Wiebe (604-851-1361) or Menno Hospital Social Worker Dan Janzen (604-851-1350).  We hope you will be able to join us for this informative session!

 

MEMO: TV and WiFi Upgrade for Menno Apartment Residents

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Date:               March 12, 2025
To:                   All Residents of Menno Place
________________________________________________________________________

Dear Menno Apartment Residents,

I am writing to inform you all of an upgrade coming to our TV and Wi-Fi system at MENNO Apartments. This upgrade is needed in order to ensure our system functions well.

What does this mean for you?

Over the coming weeks, a TELUS representative will enter each of your suites and replace some of the equipment. You will be getting a new TV cable box and a new remote.

We will also be changing our wireless network and be giving each of you your own password. This will improve the system so we can better connect your devices that require Internet connection.

Unfortunately, any of the recordings you have saved on your current PVR will be lost. The new boxes are also PVR enabled and so we hope you can re-record shows that you want to watch.

Some of you have added channels and/or a second TV box through TELUS top up program. We are waiting for final details on how this may transfer. If this situation applies to you, please let one of the LEA team members know.

Thank you. I appreciate your flexibility as we don’t have complete firm dates for all the installs. We will keep you updated as best we can via daily announcements.

Leonard Klassen, Manager of Community Enrichment

You can contact the Life Enrichment Team at 604-851-4004

Seminar: Vital Conversations About Aging

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You’re invited to a seminar happening at Clearbrook MB Church in Abbotsford.

What: Vital Conversations About Aging presented by Lorraine Dick
Where: Clearbrook MB Church 2719 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford
When: Thursday, March 20. Doors open at 9:30. Seminar begins at 10:00
Cost: Donations Optional

This seminar is about the hard conversations that come with aging. It is designed for seniors and their families.

Some of the topics that will be covered are:

  • How to make decisions about driving, moving, and downsizing
  • Taking care of relationships – with family and God
  • How do I want to be cared for when I am no longer able to care for myself?
  • Organizing and collecting important documents
  • End of life decisions