A Vancouver senior's residence has released a video of a few residents dancing, clapping and singing along to a live band playing on the sidewalk below their building.
Located on 611 W 41st Avenue in Vancouver, Legacy Senior Living has around 100 residents in the facility and offers some assisted living services. It is an independent living retirement community, and will be celebrating its sixth anniversary in September this year.
Francisco Villalobos, Social Programs Coordinator, Legacy Senior Living, tells Vancouver Is Awesome in an email that the facility's residents are very active.
"They are always involved in our exercise programs, bus trips, information sessions, group activities, foreign language lessons, and all the activities we put together for them," he writes. "Music plays a very important role in their lives."
Villalobos adds that the facility hosts musical performances quite often and that they have a beneficial impact on the residents. Now that they are all in isolation, and thankfully all healthy, he says staff are looking for ways to keep them happy and entertained. Since music has always been important to the residents at Legacy Senior Living, they didn’t want to take it away from them.
"Genia and I have thought of alternatives and ways to make things possible and we thought an outside strolling performance would be a great idea. I hired the performers (Saul & Michelle) who have been at Legacy before and they were more than excited about the idea," he explains. "I made posters and started spreading the word and the residents were looking forward to it."
"It turns out the concert was scheduled right after cocktail hour. So, it worked out perfectly."
On Monday, April 20, Villalobos says that the residents opened their windows or went on their balconies and enjoyed an hour-long performance. He remarks that he saw some people dancing, others sipping on wine, and a few shed a couple tears of happiness.
Here are some comments Legacy Senior Living received from their residents:
“The music was fantastic!”
“Tears were rolling down my face. I was so happy!”
“The music made me remember all the boyfriends I had before I met my husband.”
“What a wonderful treat you prepared for us!”
Villalobos states that he sees the residents every day and has had so much positive feedback after the concert. As such, they are planning on have more of them in the future.
"The residents’ happiness is our happiness and we want them to know that we love them, we are here for them, and we are in this together. The following quote was what was in our mind when we thought of the concert: “When something seems unbalanced and out of rhythm, just a song can tune things up in a moment. The power of music therapy.”
