COMMUNITY
Your opportunities can
help us to involve everyone
Growing old or changes in physical ability shouldn’t prevent anyone from connecting with others, contributing to the community or continuing to grow. Everyone can give and receive.
Elizabeth Knox Home & Hospital’s Cultivate programme develops links and relationships with a wide range of community groups and organisations so that Knox residents can be meaningfully involved in the world they live.
Like everyone, Knox residents have interests and ambitions, bucket lists and dreams. Cultivate brings together the opportunities for them to do what they want to. It may be a regular thing or a one-off arrangement but every experience makes a big difference to the lives of those participating.
Here's what resident Maria says:
"We should not speak about disability, but about enhancing our abilities. Some people have lost their voice. For me, my voice is my blessing. I got depressed about no longer working, and I tried to fight it. I felt I couldn’t offer anything. So I started volunteering to test my abilities. You doubt yourself, but I challenged myself. I can teach, I can use my voice to make a difference."
Kohia Terrace
Reading Programme
Residents travel to the school each week to support students’ reading and have proven a hit with students lining up to read to Knox residents.
We loved to see not only the students’ reading develop but also the
relationships between our Knox
residents and the young students develop over the year. “The genuine interest in our students and willingness
to share ideas and personal history was an absolute highlight.” said Kohia Terrace teacher, Rachael.
"I do it for pleasure, not work."
Passions should be indulged.
Neil’s a father of four who spent most of his career in the building trade. He’s always been a provider who loves the outdoors, hunting and fishing. There isn’t much he doesn’t know about building clinker dinghys and flounder fishing either. But gardening is yet another story. A talent he picked up from his mother living out amongst the market gardens of Mangere, it’s no wonder he has the gift of green fingers. At Knox since 2008, Neil has grown and nurtured masses of fruit and vegetables throughout the seasons. And what he doesn’t grow himself, he still likes to head out to market gardens to pick more tomatoes and onions for chutneys and pickling.
Residents may want to help others, learn a new skill, take up or reinvigorate a hobby, join a special interest group, perform a kind deed, give someone a surprise or simply experience something new. We know that the community will benefit from the additional diversity that Knox residents bring.
And don’t for a moment think that Knox residents need patronising because of their age or disability. These are motivated, interesting individuals like the rest of us whose lives can be enhanced by your inclusion. We’re not asking for care assistance, simply the opportunities to share with residents.
