Elder Care in Belleville, Ontario

Hello, my name is Debby Smit and I am a middle aged woman who loves adventure. I just came back from volunteering on a medical ship in Papua New Guinea for 14 months. I was the housekeeper and cook. An incredible and challenging time! It's a long story how I got there but it was a dream of mine to work on a ship after watching the Love Boat every Saturday night when a teenager. I had lots of dreams. In my early twenties I moved to Winnipeg to work at an inner city church with Seniors and Adults with disabilities. The seniors were living on their own and didn't get out much - the pastor called them "Mail Box Seniors" as often the only time they got out was to get the mail! My first week there he gave me a list of names and told me to go visit them! Yikes! I'd never worked with seniors before, just kids (ECE Diploma). I helped to organise and implement bi-weekly Seniors Teas's and regular outings for our group. One of our members hounded different agencies for free tickets to the ballet, the theatre, movies and other outings. It was a lot of fun and I really came to love the elderly with all their wisdom, life experiences, humour and love. While living there I was led to start a drop in centre (Manitoba House Drop In Centre) for children ages 5-12 so they would have a safe place to hang out, gain some life skills, get help with homework and feel loved. Living in the intercity is tough for so many as poverty, gangs, violence and addictions seem to dominate. I loved living there. I also worked 15 years with an organisation called Epic Opportunities, supporting adults and seniors living with intellectual disabilities. I've supported many of them on outings in the community and even on a few vacations, including a cruise to the Caribbean! I lived in Winnipeg from 1991-201... when I sold my house and moved back to be closer to my family and my ageing parents here in Quinte West. I'm single, never been married and no children (not that that was my plan but just the way things happened) so I have the freedom to go wherever my feet and heart lead. Some of the things I love to do are take road trips. I've been on many short and long road trips to the east and west coasts of Canada and made a road trip to the Yukon in 2008. I still want to go to NWT, Nunavut and Newfoundland (we live in such a beautiful country!) The longest road trip was 4 months while promoting YWAM Ships Medical Ship in PNG. I drove my 2009 Matrix to BC then all the way to Los Angeles California (25,000km!). On the drive home I went through many states to see things like the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and the Rocky Mountains. One of my favourite parts was driving along part of Route 66. Maybe one day I'll do the whole thing in a VW Camper van (another dream). I took thousands of pictures as I love photography. One of my dreams (I have lots of them) as a teen was to be a wild life photographer. Fear and lack of self esteem buried that dream until 5 years ago. I've taken a few photography courses through YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Kona Hawaii and hope to take another class with them in the fall of 2018 where the focus will be on story telling and media. One of my dream jobs would be to travel and just sit with people and hear and write their stories and take pictures of their life. I was in Germany on outreach with our school and we put together a book of a community in Eastern Germany. We spent a lot of time visiting one of the senior centres where we played games, drank coffee and shared stories. It was a lot of fun, especially playing Rummikub with no translators! I think it would be really cool to go to different nursing homes and sit down with the residents and hear about their lives and write their story. It's hard to go there sometimes and see so many lonely people suffering. I love playing board games, like Scrabble, Rummikub and Euchre. I love to bake (though I'm trying to cut down on my sugar intake and eat more fruits and vegetables). I love making photo cards out of my photography and sell them at craft sales. Right now some of my framed prints are hanging at Bath Works in Belleville. I love walking, biking and being outdoors. I love the beauty of Creation and all it has to offer us. Autumn is my favourite time of the year for all the colours (and because my birthday is in September). I love going to the movies and eating popcorn with Peanut M&M's and then to take that first sip of Sprite. I love to read, especially in my hammock, preferably tied between two trees by the lake with the cool breeze blowing). Netflix is addicting. What else do you want to know about me? I love Jesus and am a regular member of Brighton Fellowship CRC. I like to help people which is why much of my life work has been volunteering different places by raising my own salary (which is really hard to do as it requires a lot of faith in God to trust Him to provide for my needs- which He has, like He promised in His Word). I like to encourage and pray for people if they want. Sometimes I see when people have needs and try to encourage them. I have a heart for people who are poor, people who don't fit in, people who are lonely. I have a heart for the Indigenous people of Canada and grieve sometimes when I see the brokenness in many of the families I worked with. When I owned my house in Winnipeg I used it to bless other people, whether they lived with me for a season or through weekly events at my house. Once a week some of the inner city kids I had relationship with from Manitoba House days, would come for supper that they would help prepare. We had weekly worship and prayer meetings, 12 Step program, Kids club, singles monthly potluck, church picnics, after church fellowship and even a wedding! The cool thing about my place was that it attracted a wide assortment of people from different backgrounds, cultures and people that didn't always fit with the rest of society. It was a really special time in my life. I think I've talked on long enough and you've gotten to know me a bit. Interested in seeing where this might go.