Firm Donates Video Conferencing Devices to Senior Homes
Valley – The Omaha law firm Inserra | Kelley | Sewell has been hard at work to change the way nursing homes and assisted living facilities provide visitation with residents’ families and friends.
While video conferencing has become a way of life for some during the pandemic, many seniors have been isolated from their loved ones for a long period of time. Many facilities still do not allow visitors, making seeing loved ones even more difficult.
With the help of the national outreach event known as the Injury Board Day of Action, personal injury attorneys at Inserra | Kelley | Sewell were able to donate three Amazon Echo Show video conferencing units to three area senior residence facilities: Valhaven Care and Rehabilitation in Valley, Bickford Senior Living in Omaha and Risen Son Christian Village in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Attorney Craig Kelley said the Echo units will make it easier for residents to connect with their loved ones with more frequency.
“It’s a big part of our mission to give back to the metro area, which has been so good to us these last 70 years,” Kelley told the Douglas County Post-Gazette in an interview.
“It’s been tough for families to properly bond and spend quality time with their loved ones in nursing homes or living facilities, due to COVID-19,” Kelley said. “Our firm and Injury Board national group decided these Echo Shows would be an amazing addition to bring back happiness and comfort to others.”
Inserra | Kelley | Sewell has been supporting the community over the last decade with its Lawyers Against Hunger program, created in 2012, and the Day of Action programs in conjunction with the Injury Board since 2015.
Kelley said Valley’s Valhaven facility was selected this year because Valhaven had taken care of his grandmother before her passing from Alzheimer’s disease.
“They took such great care of her over the years, and we wanted to give back to them,” he said.
Sharon Kelley, the firm’s office manager and Craig Kelley’s mother, visited Valhaven last Friday to drop off three devices. Roger Bayliff, the facility’s director of nursing, said it was a very touching gesture from IKS to make such a generous donation.
“I think it’s awesome of the firm to do something like this for us,” Bayliff said.
While the community support is always welcome, the fact that it came from a family connected to the facility “makes this donation even more special to us,” he said.
“During this time, I know it’s been hard with families not being allowed inside to see their loved ones,” Bayliff said. “This is a special tool that helps residents see their families again, which is important due to the isolation they have experienced over the last few months. We’ve tried to provide opportunities for families, but it’s just not enough. For them to press a button and visit with family without staff is awesome.”
As seniors begin to set up times to virtually meet with their family and friends, Kelley wishes the video units will leave a beneficial impact for the residents.
“We hope to make the lives of the residents of the three homes much better in spending more quality time with their loved ones who are unable to see them in person,” he said. “We’ve been hearing that ‘we’re all in this together,’ for months. But for so many who are living in institutions, being together is no longer an option. We want our donation to help parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles connect with the people they love.”
This story was distributed from the Douglas County Post-Gazette through a partnership between the newspapers and was edited by the Daily Record from its original version.
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