New COVID-19 program offers meaningful telephone connections for seniors in isolation

Windsor, ON – The Windsor-Essex COVID Care Coalition is launching the Windsor-Essex Seniors Call Assurance program (WESCAP) to provide outreach and social support to seniors in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seniors can sign up for the program by calling (877) 771-2677 from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. WESCAP will be available to seniors who are 55 or older starting Monday, April 20. 

United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County will receive $102,499 through the Government of Canada New Horizons for Seniors grant program. This federal funding is part of a $9 million grant to United Way/Centraide Canada supporting emergency response services to vulnerable seniors across Canada. All monies will be used to support local seniors programming between now and the middle of June.

“Seniors in our community are not only at the highest risk of poor health due to the COVID-19 crisis, but they are also much more likely to be negatively affected by increased social isolation measures,” says Lorraine Goddard, CEO of United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County. “These funds help us ensure that while vulnerable seniors are isolated, they are also supported.”

The dangers of social isolation to older adults combined with mandated self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic creates a significant risk to the long-term well-being of seniors in our community. The Windsor Essex Seniors Call Assurance program is intended to help alleviate isolation by providing a meaningful social connection and support through regular telephone check-in calls and referrals to other community supports, if necessary. In times of unprecedented crisis, it is critical that all sectors work together and respond quickly to support the most vulnerable people in our community.

“As a community, we know that a lack of social connections and social isolation is a great risk factor for older adults,” says Sally Bennett Olczak, CEO, Alzheimer Society of Windsor and Essex County. “The Alzheimer Society is pleased to act as the central intake agency to provide wrap-around care and support for seniors who call the support line at this critical time.”

Seniors who call the program phone number will be referred to an organization in their neighbourhood to receive a security check call within three days of the initial request. Alzheimer Society of Windsor-Essex County, Amherstburg Community Services, Community Support Centre of Essex County, Life After Fifty, South Essex Community Council, The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County. and VON Windsor have joined forces to offer WESCAP.

More information on the Call Assurance program can be found at www.weareunited.com/GETHELP.

Windsor-Essex COVID Care Coalition partners include Amherstburg Community Services, Alzheimer Society Windsor-Essex, Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor-Essex County Branch, City of Windsor, Community Support Centre of Essex County, Family Services Windsor Essex, Green Shield Canada, Hospice of Windsor & Essex County, Life After Fifty, New Canadians’ Centre of Excellence, ProsperUs, South Essex Community Council, Unemployed Help Centre, United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County, The Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada, Ontario Branch – Windsor-Essex Site, Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society, Windsor-Essex Community Foundation, Windsor Essex Compassion Care Community, Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, Windsor Family Homes & Community Partnerships, and Windsor-Essex Food Bank Association members.

Media Contact:  Angela Kharboutli, Manager, Marketing & Communications,
United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex County | Windsor Essex COVID Care Coalition Member [email protected]  |  W: 519-259-6169 |  M : 519-562-7841

Facebook Group: Windsor-Essex COVID Care Coalition