JOL healthcare’s “projects with purpose” initiative creates 400 blessing bags for Austin area seniors & homeless

LEANDER, TX – When JOL Healthcare launched the “Projects With Purpose” initiative last month, an ongoing initiative designed to connect seniors isolated in long term care communities with students through contactless, socially distanced community service opportunities, they had no idea how many needs would be met, especially in the wake of Texas’s “Snowpocalypse.” 

The first project in the initiative was the collection of personal care and high-protein food items and the assembly of “Blessing Bags” for those experiencing homelessness across greater Austin.

The initial premise was that students would collect the items, seniors in long term care communities would assemble the items into bags, and project coordinators would get the bags to organizations directly serving our homeless population.

“JOL Healthcare recognized the toll isolation fatigue was taking on quarantined seniors’ overall health, and we wanted to support the staff in long term care who had been carrying the responsibility of keeping their residents physically safe and engaged for the better part of a year.  We knew seniors still wanted to contribute, to feel purposeful.  We saw that JOL Healthcare was in a truly unique position to connect and support both students and seniors in making a difference for our community,” says JOL Healthcare Marketing Director, Amy Wright.

Due to the unexpected ardor of participating communities, JOL Healthcare invited Project Ambassadors, Blue Water Homecare in Leander & CarePatrol of Central & South Austin, and other businesses and organizations to donate. 

Anna McMaster, owner of CarePatrol of Central & South Austin shared, “I put the call out to my neighborhood in Circle C, and I was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and generosity of my neighbors and fellow business owners that wanted to support these two populations so devastatingly impacted by the pandemic. I think it’s really important that seniors that feel isolated in long term care communities are reminded that we are thinking of them even though we can’t be together, and I’m glad that we were able to create and sponsor this opportunity to work together.”   

Jennifer Prescott, RN, owner of Blue Water Homecare, said, “At Blue Water, helping the elderly is the mission to which we are called.  Uniting with like-minded organizations to elevate our community reinforces the truth… we can all make a difference.”

Generous donations poured in, including:

• $1,500 worth of deodorant & lotion donated by 100 Black Men of Austin
• 250 pairs of Bombas socks donated by Leander ISD
• 200 Colgate toothbrushes & Tom’s of Maine toothpaste from FirstLight Home Care of Austin
• Personal care items from Riojas Elementary, Blue Water Homecare, CarePatrol of Central & South Austin, Austin Allies, Yoga Peace School, Dell Children’s Medical Center, Cross Creek Hospital, Riverbend Church, and others

The staff and residents at six area assisted living & memory care communities – from Georgetown to San Marcos – assembled 400 Blessing Bags that have been distributed to organizations serving those experiencing homelessness, as well as seniors impacted by the pandemic and the winter storm including Compassion Ministries in Waco, FrontSteps in Austin, and Combined Community Action, Inc. in Giddings, proving that not even a pandemic or “Texas freezing over” can keep us from coming together for the greater good.

JOL Healthcare is a female founded, privately owned, and locally operated home health and hospice company, headquartered in central Texas. Passion, Professionalism, Integrity, Compassion & Collaboration are what guide us on our mission to positively impact 1,000,000 lives through home health and hospice.