Client Testimonials

See what our clients have to say about SPRINT Senior Care’s services, staff and volunteers. We invite you to share your experience with us by calling 416-481-6411 or emailing info@sprintseniorcare.org

North Toronto seniors relieved to receive COVID-19 supports

Magda and her dog Romi“Thank you for the grocery delivery, it was wonderful. I have been using other grocery store deliveries and now there is a backlog. It is so good that I can phone up and place an order. I have tears in my eyes I am so grateful. The lady who brought the groceries to my door was so nice and patient and put the items on my walker so that I could bring them inside. Thank you for keeping people like me living independently, with a smile.” – Anonymous client 

“SPRINT Senior Care has been stellar in their operations during COVID-19. Today I received three appealing and healthy salads, and you provided a grocery delivery earlier. I am most grateful. Last week I really was feeling anxious as my food supplies got lower and lower.” – Judith 

“Please extend a huge thank-you to the SPRINT Senior Care team, from the folks making and packaging meals, to those organizing deliveries and to the delivery drivers. The food you brought to us yesterday, helped ease anxiety and brought smiles to many faces.” – Karen


Clients and caregivers thankful for the House Calls program 

“The House Calls team is fantastic… we can rely upon them. They are always attentive to our needs, and we feel very safe and well cared for. We trust our team so much.

We’re happy and secure with the service provided, just as it is. We don’t have to think about anything. The doctors are right there – there’s always someone at the other end of the phone.

Without the help we have from you, I don’t know how I’d manage.”

– Anonymous House Calls patient and caregiver

***

Dottie Wilson’s husband, Bill, has faced numerous health issues since 2013, including two strokes, two heart attacks, kidney failure and heart failure. The Wilsons were referred to House Calls from Bill’s doctor at Bridgepoint Health after he had brain surgery.

“[House Calls] is a boon for both of us,” Dottie says, speaking on behalf of Bill. “It has caused us less stress, there are no more $15 penalties at the pharmacy …. No more sitting waiting for an appointment in the doctor’s office. We have never experienced anything like this.”

Although Bill gets in-home personal support, Dottie is his main caregiver. “It has caused so much less stress at home for both of us. There’s been such a marked improvement for both of us.”

“It’s life saving. It’s mind saving,” she says. “To think he is still at home, despite all he has been through! This service is remarkable.”

Bill’s House Calls physician “is marvellous,” Dottie says. “She is so kind and gentle and so caring. She’s a consummate professional.”


Supportive Housing client thanks SPRINT Senior Care for helping her to stay independent at 95

GertrudeAt 95-years-old, Gertrude is intent on maintaining her independence. She has lived on her own in Montgomery Place, a Toronto Community Housing building, for around 20 years, takes daily walks to Tim Hortons for lunch and is a frequent movie goer at the cinemas.

A few years ago, Gertrude was experiencing periods of confusion and forgetfulness and was feeling unwell. She was referred to SPRINT Senior Care, as Montgomery Place is one of four Toronto Community Housing buildings from which we provide Supportive Housing services. The Supportive Housing team at Montgomery Place began to assist Gertrude with bathing, meal preparation and medication reminders, and within a short period of time, the improvement in her memory and general well-being was very noticeable.

“I like living in this building and the SPRINT Senior Care staff help me. They’re very good to me, especially Rio,” Gertrude says of one of her PSWs photographed here. “They’re very helpful. Very nice.”


In praise of SPRINT Senior Care: Post stroke SPRINTing

Submitted by the grateful daughter of a Community Wellness client

Recently, my 96-year-old father had his first stroke while we were grocery shopping. Not only was it “just plain lucky” that I was standing beside him at the time, and able to summon help swiftly, but it was equally lucky that I was also standing beside him a couple of weeks later, when he had his second stroke as we were walking into his cardiologist’s office. The third lucky twist is that my father is a “SPRINTer” – a senior who, twice weekly, participates with anticipation, dedication and enthusiasm in SPRINT Senior Care’s Community Wellness supervised exercising programs.

From the moment my father entered the hospital’s emergency department after his first stroke, the common comment from doctors and nurses alike was amazement with my father’s state of physical fitness for someone his age – his core strength, his muscular tone, his balance, his flexibility and his endurance. My father’s steady recovery is directly attributable to SPRINT Senior Care’s supervised exercise programs, say his cardiologist and neurologist.

Thanks to SPRINT Senior Care’s superbly designed supervised therapeutic exercises – free weights, stretching, Tai Chi, Yoga, and much more – my father is back in his home and back to walking over three kilometres daily, with his goal being the five kilometres he walked daily, prior to his stroke. SPRINT Senior Care’s program not only fortified his steady post-stroke recovery, but is also helping to restore his pre-stroke balance, flexibility, mobility, and perhaps most importantly, his mood and self-confidence.

I am a very grateful daughter. Thank you, SPRINT Senior Care.


Caregivers of sisters living at Ewart Angus SPRINT Homes relieved to have found SPRINT Senior Care

Norma and Faye, sisters living at Ewart Angus SPRINT HomesSuzanne is amazed at how easily her mother Norma, 94, transitioned into life at SPRINT Senior Care’s unique dementia care residence, Ewart Angus SPRINT Homes (EASH), in February of this year. She was introduced to SPRINT Senior Care through a good friend whose mother has been living at EASH for seven years, and says she thought the home was amazing the first time she saw it three years ago. Thankfully, a spot was available when Norma needed it.  “She moved into Ewart Angus and never wanted to go back to her apartment, which was amazing to me,” Suzanne says. “She just asked me to make sure I say goodbye to all her friends there for her. She was good to go from day one!”

Shortly after Norma moved in, her sister Faye, 91, fell and broke her hip. When she recovered, it was evident that she could no longer live on her own.  Thankfully again, the room next to Norma’s was available and Faye moved in. The sisters are accustomed to living so close to one another – the two of them, along with a third sister who has since passed – lived in the same apartment building in Toronto for 25 years. “There are angels somewhere,” Suzanne says. “Here are these sisters in their nineties, eating dinner together at a table with other residents of Ewart Angus. It’s unbelievable!”

Suzanne says her experience of being a caregiver for her mother prior to her moving into Ewart Angus made her realize the stress and tension brought on by caregiving. “It’s a very unnerving experience because you’re going to bed every night just hoping they’re going to be okay,” she says. “SPRINT Senior Care’s Ewart Angus Home has given me a lot of peace of mind.” She says the difference in her mother since moving in is night and day. The staff are great, the rooms are spacious and it’s incredibly clean. I like to take my mom out on the beautiful balcony to let her feel the breeze in the air. I can’t say enough how great it’s been.”

Recalling the day Faye moved into the room beside Norma, Suzanne says before bedtime her mother thought of the old song Knock Three Times and said to her sister ‘Hey, this is just like the song’ and sang ‘knock three times on the wall if you need me.’ “That is her incredible mind,” says Suzanne. “The song came to her at the right moment.”


Client Thanks SPRINT Senior Care for Service to LGBTQ Community
Submitted by Patrick, a grateful Older LGBT Social attendee

I was present today for the Older LGBT Social hosted by SPRINT Senior Care. I want to take a moment to sing the praises of Justine, who has been with the program since the beginning. BIG thanks to Justine for her lovely and winning ways. She has truly made SPRINT Senior Care a home for us. She is full of energy and fun and hope.

Thanks to SPRINT for your services to the LGBTQ community. Much appreciated.