Northsider launches TV drive for nursing home residents isolated by coronavirus
Mary Buffington delivers a television to John Richards, who is hoping to bring TVs to residents in need at the Villa of Bryn Mawr nursing home. Photo by David Pierini
By David Pierini Staff Reporter
COVID-19 has forced skilled nursing facilities to isolate their residents, cutting them off from family visits and group activities, like bingo and shared meals.
Many residents of Villa at Bryn Mawr, a long-term care center in North Minneapolis, lack an essential item that could make that isolation more tolerable: a television.
John Richards, who organized last year’s Christmas party for Villa residents, put a call out on Facebook asking his Santas to raise money to buy TVs.
So far, he has raised more than $1,500 and has received used, working sets as donations. One donor dropped off three wall mounts for TVs. Another, a contractor, offered to mount the sets to the wall free of charge.
Richards, whose late mother, Mary, lived at Villa before she passed away in August, said residents are scared and frustrated. He believes the televisions can keep people informed on daily news as well as occupy their minds with ordinary programs..
“The population at Bryn Mawr includes people who were recently homeless or in the early stages of recovery,” he said. “It’s not just your 80- and 90-year-olds. They know what’s going on in the world. They are locked in a building with people who have the virus, but they don’t know who has it or how bad it is. It’s nerve-racking and they have to stay in a room that’s 10-feet by 12-feet.
“It just twists my head and heart all at once,” he said.
The coronavirus has swiftly spread through nursing homes across the country, including Minnesota, where the number of facilities with cases is at 111. Villa at Bryn Mawr is among those with cases, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Further details about case counts and deaths have not been released.
Of the 256 deaths in Minnesota, 78 percent have been in long-term care facilities.
In early March, some nursing homes put into play a number of strict safety protocols for residents and staff to contain the virus, including keeping residents from leaving their rooms.
With their hands full, a Villa at Bryn Mawr staff member called on Richards to see if he could start a TV drive. Villa has about 100 residents and at least 35 lack a television in their room, Richards said.
“John is great,” said Madeline Kurvers, an administrator for Villa at Bryn Mawr. “He puts a big Christmas production on for us and gives our residents a ton of gifts. He’s a very good volunteer, and we asked him to see if he could help.”
Richards couldn’t say no. The voice inside, that of his mother, Mary, would not let him.
For years, his mother organized the collection of used medical equipment through her church to be given to people who couldn’t afford it. She wanted every church in the towns along Minnesota Highway 2 to have at least one wheelchair and one walker at the ready for members in need.
Mary Richards could not walk. She lived at Victory Health and Rehabilitation Center for six years before moving to Villa. It always bothered her to see residents with no visitors at Christmas time. Her son and a friend suggested they adopt a couple of residents to dote on. Mary said, “We will adopt them all.”
Richards finds out what residents want for Christmas and organizes a gift drive and begins planning the party in October. Mary Richards was 72 when she died, just two weeks after moving to The Villa. But John Richards organized Villa’s Christmas party to honor his mother and has been volunteering there since.
“When I got the email [from Villa], I thought, ‘Oh, I am not up to this project,’ ” Richards said. “But I could hear my mother’s voice say, ‘What do you mean you’re not up for this?’ That was my mom. She couldn’t stand for people not to have what they needed. Her voice is strong.“
Richards didn’t wait for a headcount or for his mother’s voice to return. Not long after he got the email requesting his help, he started a Facebook fundraiser page and many of the Santas from past Christmas parties quickly responded.
On Tuesday evening, longtime friends, including the Santas who buy gifts for a nursing home resident for each Christmas party, stopped by Richards’ home on Bryant Ave. N with televisions for the cause.
“It challenges the concept of staying separated if you don’t know what’s going on in the world,” Richards said. “Just having a TV can help, even if it’s just noise to take your mind off what you’re going through.”