Following a long and detailed evaluation, the Canadian Red Cross will stop providing home support services at the end of March 2021.
45 for-profit businesses and not-for-profit organizations also provide home support for seniors in New Brunswick through the Department of Social Development.
Home support workers provide light housekeeping services for seniors and meal preparation to help keep them safe in their homes.
The Canadian Red Cross will stop offering home support service in #NewBrunswick by March 2021. We will work with the NB government, our clients and workers and 45 other agencies that offer this service to ensure a smooth transition. Details: https://t.co/sF8MjxuZkk
— CanRedCrossNB (@canredcrossnb) February 12, 2020
Bill Lawlor, provincial director of the Canadian Red Cross, says to minimize the impact on clients and staff, they are giving 13 months’ notice of this change.
“All of our clients are senior citizens and we appreciate and understand very well that with any kind of change it can create stress and anxiety. We don’t want anyone to feel rushed about having to make a change,” Lawlor said.
An evaluation of the program helped determine it was time for a change, he said.
“As the Canadian Red Cross, we are not providing any unique value within the home support industry when 45-plus other organizations are providing that same care,” Lawlor said.
The Red Cross has 349 workers for 466 clients in New Brunswick.