Marching the talk
Spirits were high as five residents joined a group of staff members under the Uniting AgeWell banner for the Midsumma Pride March on Sunday 4 February.
The Uniting AgeWell team was among 17,000 people representing 380 organisations taking part in the annual iconic LGBTQIA+ march down Fitzroy Street, St Kilda from the Ian Johnson Oval to the Catani Gardens.
A handful of staff members, wearing rainbow wings and holding dove banners, joyfully stepped out, their enthusiasm as high as the temperature. One of them included Miss Rita Linn, whose Mum Diane Johnson works as an enrolled nurse at Strath-Haven Community. Rita donned a purple wig and trademark high heels for the occasion.
Two residents from Camberwell Community, Condare Court assisted by Lifestyle Coordinator Paul Feckner, two from Noble Park Community helped by Lifestyle Assistant Nicole O Connor-Gunn and Leisure and Lifestyle Assistant Maria Santeco, and one from AKC Community Mornington assisted by Lifestyle Coordinator Kelina Tokaunai were on the air-conditioned bus trailing the procession. They also had eskies with ice to keep the residents cool.
The Uniting AgeWell contingent was warmly received by the crowd, with a number stepping forward saying “thank you for caring for my family” and “thank you for looking after Mum/ Dad or our friend.”
Several people gathering for the procession along Fitzroy Street chatted to the team, saying that it was a wonderful surprise to see a church-based aged-care organisation not just walking the talk, but marching it. Many of those who reached out to our team were older people themselves.
“We all felt it,” says Director, Marketing and Communications, Natalie Dillon. “It was lovely to feel the appreciation for how as an organisation we are making a difference to the lives of older people we provide care for.”
The event was beautifully summed up by Bendigo-based CHSP Care Organiser Dario Musco, whose partner also stepped out with our team for the march. "I came out late in life and this has been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. This has been incredibly heart-warming and I am so grateful to Uniting AgeWell for giving me this opportunity. What a day! What a joy!"
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