SARATOGA SPRINGS — Families with loved ones living at Prestwick Chase at Saratoga were invited to drive around the building as they smiled, waved and said hello to their mothers and fathers this past Sunday.
Since COVID-19 restrictions struck the community, John Rowe, director of marketing at Prestwick Chase, said they have shut down access to the building and asked residents not to leave. Since no visitors are allowed in, residents were missing a connection with their families.
“We try to help people Facetime with their family members on phones and we have taken Facetime videos. We walk through the hallways and through the buildings so families can see them, but they really don’t have the connection with them that they want,” Rowe said.
Rowe said the whole team at Prestwick came up with the Mother’s Day Drive after being inspired by other senior apartment buildings.
“For Mother’s Day we’re giving all the mother’s an Adirondack chair. The chairs will be spaced apart on a couple of the different wings so people can drive around. It’s a family parade of cars,” Rowe said.
Residents saw a plethora of cars in the parade. Families were invited to wave, but were asked to not hand anything directly to the residents. Rowe said a sanitation room has been set up with ultra violet lights they put all groceries, deliveries and packages in before distributing to the residents.
“We have asked everyone to stay here. The staff has been doing all the residents grocery shopping for them, the pharmaceuticals…anything the residents might need we are doing it all for them,” Rowe said. “We’re just trying to make it the best we can for a situation like this.”
