Discovery Place – Testimonials

“Sorry I didn’t say proper goodbye and thanks on Saturday when we left.

We want to thank you for your kindness and hospitality during our brief stay at Discovery Place.

Betty and I were very pleased with the whole experience and enjoyed our stay with you. We found virtually everything to our liking. Your staff people were outstanding and always friendly and willing to assist no matter what the circumstances that arose, including a couple of medical emergencies. Their response was always swift and handled with professionalism. The atmosphere of the facility is always pleasant, happy and always upbeat. We had the pleasure of meeting a number of your permanent residents with whom we related many of our “life experiences”, which we enjoyed. The food and food services very efficiently met our needs in all respects.

Our stay at Discovery very much simplified our adjustments to my post-operative recovery and contributed significantly to that end.

Please pass along our gratitude and best wishes for the future to your entire staff who contributed to our stay at Discovery Place. Best of Luck in their future endeavours.”

- Norm Y. and Betty Y.

“Just a little gift for the residents to enjoy. Thanks for making Discovery Place such a warm and welcoming home for so many.”

- Allana T. and Val B.

“Just a quick word about Dad’s party on Saturday afternoon. Good job by all your staff involved.

It was a great day and was enjoyed by all. I don’t get by as often as I should but every time I visit Pops your building is in order and the staff friendly.

My profession before retirement was property/building management, so I know a well-run ship when I see one. Please accept and pass on my appreciation for your efforts.”

- Ken B.

“To all the staff of Discovery Place, congratulations on your nomination for Business of the Year!

We appreciate you and the wonderful care you provide on a daily basis.”

“My most sincere thanks to all the staff at Discovery Place for the amazing care we receive here. I am so glad I am here.”

Glenda

“Just a quick note to thank you and your staff for helping to make Mom’s birthday a huge success. I believe there were over 50 people in attendance and it looked like everyone was enjoying themselves, in particular, Mom. She has a lot of stamina for someone of her age.

Again, we think Discovery Place was the perfect venue and the staff did an amazing job. In appreciation, we donated $100 to their “slush fund” for all to enjoy!

On behalf of Mom and all our family, please extend our thanks to everyone!”

- Marjorie I.

"On behalf of my mother, and our family, I wish to express our sincere thanks and appreciation for the love and care she received from your facility in her declining days. It is hard to measure the value of the service you provide, the warmth, the caring and the feeling of home the residents enjoy. I wish to thank the staff who were very close to my mother, and to whom she turned for aid and support on many occasions. God bless you all, and keep up the good work.”

- M.Y.

"My mother was the first resident to move into Discovery Place. Right from the very first day she was treated with dignity and respect. The staff was always kind, considerate, helpful, and pleasant. There were always activities that she could participate in, if she chose, and the staff encouraged her to join in. She played bingo, helped to look after the plants, always looked forward to the crafts that were done and enjoyed the entertainment that frequently filled the evenings.

During the time that Mom was a resident at Discovery Place, we were very pleased with the care she received. The meals were fabulous; all the staff went way beyond our expectations in seeing that every little detail was looked after for each and every resident.

When Alzheimer’s disease took control of Mom’s life, the staff was excellent with her, and in keeping me informed as to what was happening when I wasn’t around. It was very difficult for us when we had to move Mom from Discovery Place to a dementia unit. If Discovery Place had a dementia unit, we would never have moved her out of the building.

Devon is very fortunate to have this facility. It is a wonderful place for seniors to live.”

- R.S.

“We recently had the opportunity to perform the painting contract at your facility in Devon. I am writing this to inform you all that we had a very nice experience working with you all during our time there. We are very happy to say that your staff and management at the facility are very professional and caring to all the residents. We were very impressed to see the number of activities that were going on every day and to see the number of residents participating in them. We had a lot of residents letting us know how much they enjoy the facility. They are one big happy family. We have worked in facilities such as this one in the past but I will highly recommend anyone that needs such assistance in living to definitely go to Discovery Place and see for themselves what a great atmosphere you have. Thank you all.”

- Kevin C.,

Owner, K.S.C Contracting Inc.

“We all have a responsibility to build a strong community. There are many ways to do this - helping our neighbours, shop local at our various stores. eat local at our local restaurants, etc. We also have a strong community through various community resources, having great amenities and good public servants. When you research. Devon has it all. During these COVID times, it is even more important to stand together and be # DevonProud.

Today. I want to go an extra step and give a special shout-out to Discovery Place in Devon, a retire-ment home for independent living seniors.

Let me explain. My husband and I happily moved to this special community. Devon, two and a half years ago. We have not regretted our move. Last year, my elderly parents followed us by choosing to live in Discovery Place. This was a good move all around. Not only were my parents closer to us, but Discovery Place offered the quality of life that my parents were starting to struggle to offer themselves.

They are doing great, but dad is starting to decline. He needed a home where he could have a reason to conic out of his mom more often. Discovery offered that service with a variety of activities. Some of the activities that my father participates in are bowling, pool. bingo. etc. There are MANY other daily activities that. Kelly, the program director. organizes.

The community at large is encouraged to come into Discovery Place in augment and enrich the activities' roster. To name but a few: United Church (offers fellowship and their Second Hand Store brought clothing and other in sundries to offer an in-home shopping experience for the residents in the building) and the library (bringing books) come in once a month.

There are monthly presentations: singers and dancers. It is incredible how many people and organizations offer their services at Discovery Place (during COVED times, there was a strict minimum of community involvement).

Last year, during the month of December, I was AMAZED to see how many organizations and/ or people stepped up and offered "something" to the seniors. The director welcomes community involvement as much as possible to make the residents' lives more interesting.

Every time I walk into Discovery Place, the staff gives me a welcoming and warm greeting. From the front desk staff to the residence's caretaker. They all take time for me (and other visi-tors) with a smile or a discussion. It feels good to walk in.

AS soon as I open Discover’s front door, I feel like I'm walking into my parents' home and not my parents' residence. My mother observes often how the staff tease each other and laugh together. They enjoy their work This is a strong indication on management - aka Lorrie S., the director.

Lorrie S. is a good leader for her staff. Last year she was awarded a cash prize from Servus Credit Union "for recognition of her work at Discovery and supporting the residents through a difficult time." - quote from Discovery Dispatch. Oct. 23, 2020. Lorrie S. has an open-door policy and welcomes discussions. She is very accommodating. It is a joy to walk in her office to spend a couple of minutes with her.

I would be remiss in not men-tioning the kitchen and their staff. Crystal, the head cook, and her as-sistant, Pam, (along with the other friendly and industrious kitchen and dining room workers) offer a rich and varied menu from their very pristine kitchen. The food is not only delicious, it is home-made, nutritious, hot and plentiful. Every Sunday, the residents receive a home cooked roast beef dinner. If you call ahead of time, you can come in and have a meal at Discovery, at a cost of course.

The kitchen staff also encourage the residents to give them their favourite recipes to integrate in the Discovery Place menu. That is why they now offer an excellent and tasty borscht soup. Their talent in cooking is also shown in respecting special diets such as my father who has to follow a low salt diet. For anyone who has cooked for a low-salt diet, you can appreciate that this is not an easy feat. However, Crystal and her team have gloriously risen to the occasion. My father's good health is an excellent indication of their wonderful work.

Even though she is not an employee of Discovery Place, Laurie K., the hairdresser, is an integral part of this lively residential facility. In her upbeat and happy manner, she not only does her professional business of offering her wonderful hairdressing ser-vices (to Discovery residents and the community at large), she ac-tively interacts with the residents in different ways. A case in point: she recently did glamour shots for some residents. The residents felt good seeing themselves in such a good light.

She regularly makes huge snow images in the snow (the area between Discovery and the Com-munity Garden) for the residents to view. Some of you might be familiar with the fact that Laurie K. made the news (radio. CTV, newspaper) for her immense snow poppy on Remembrance Day, giving good publicity to our wonderful community. This post went viral all over the world. The Discovery residents who were in-terviewed as part of this post, and received comments from people all over the world.

This December, unfortunately, Discovery Place was declared in "Active Outbreak". I suppose it was just a matter of time that Discovery Place would be affected, as most of the Alberta seniors' homes were infected with COVID. Discovery Place instantly went into "COVID mode". Lorrie S. (and the Discovery staff) did everything that needed to be done, including the shut-down of the building, hyper-disinfecting, meals served in each of the resi-dents' rooms, etc. etc. These extra protocols added to the staff's regular workload. The staff was very concerned for the residents' wellbeing. These front-line workers had the added worry and stress of a serious possibility of bringing COVID back to their home to their loved ones. Being the professionals they were, the staff worked diligently and worked VERY hard to take care of the residents.

At one point, Lorrie S. hired an onsite nurse to take care of the sick. Even though this was a very worrisome time for our family, seeing how sick my parents were from COVID, I was comfortable in the fact that under the watch-fill eye of the Discovery Place director (and all of the loving and devoted staff), everything was done that needed to be done in taking care of my parents and all of the residents.

Lorrie S. worked hard to successfully oversee the COVID outbreak and thanks to her quick response, COVID cases were kept at a minimum. By the beginning of January, many of the COVID restrictions were lifted. I am very grateful for the on-point care that my parents received during this challenging time. I send all the Discovery staff a heart-felt thank-you during these trying times. You have my total respect.

In closing, why am I #DevonProud? I am #DevonProud because we are very lucky that Devon offers such a rich and much needed service - independent living for seniors. Discovery offers a quality of living for seniors by offering, among other things, activities, a place to meet other people and nutritious meals from their clean kitchen. It is an excel-lent place to live a quality of life. A BIG SHOUT-OUT to this wonderful service! As a daugh-ter of one of the Discovery Place residents, my mind is at ease that my parents are living in such a wonderful place. Discovery Place - just another reason to be: #DevonStrong and #DevonProud!! I want to ask you - why are you #DevonProud?”

- Angele L.

"I am writing to you to share our very positive thoughts about Discovery Place. Stanley Crothers, our father and his partner Betty Trimble lived at your facility from January 2020 - September 1/21. Unfortunately Betty passed away on Dec 23/20 due to COVID 19.

The staff at Discovery have always gone the extra mile to ensure the best possible care for both Stan and Betty, especially in the time of COVID 19. They were so kind during the months of the COVID spread in the facility and brought individual meals, Christmas presents, and special desserts during the lockdown. Thank you for hiring the COVID nurse who was outstanding. Stan's needs were met to a higher level after he recovered from COVID 19 and we are truly grateful for all of it.

Home Care workers are extremely busy and in a time crunch. Your staff daily saw to it that our dad's pants were done up, he had a coat on, attended all of the activities, was immunized, and best of all, he was part of their family. The consistent care is extraordinary! There's plenty of love and laughter.

Please send your staff a warm thank you from us and know that they're doing a great job.

Warm Regards,"

- Kathy and Rob C.