Resident’s work helps everyone at Willows
‘It’s not just helping them, it’s helping me’
Tuesday May 6, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
Willows Estate resident Bobby Martin says he isn’t the type of person who likes to sit still. In fact, since moving into the Aurora long-term care home a year ago, Martin has made it his mission to help the home out as much as he can.

From fixing clocks to repairing furniture to doing paint jobs to cleaning the yard to helping the maintenance department with jobs around the home, there is never a shortage of things for Martin to do at Willows, he says.

Martin, who did kitchen renovations and worked for a plumbing company before he retired, says the work he does around the home not only helps out staff members, it also helps him.

“I enjoy it thoroughly — if I didn’t do it, I’d go squirrelly,” chuckles Martin. “I don’t feel like sitting back and twiddling my thumbs. . . . It’s not just helping them, it’s helping me.”

Toni Muscat works in the home’s life enrichment department. She says having Martin helping out with jobs around the home has been a major asset to staff members at Willows Estate. She notes that the work Martin does around the home for staff and residents sets a good example for everyone, too.

When he’s not helping out with fix-it jobs around Willows Estate, Martin is often repairing items brought in by staff members from him to fix.

And it’s not just handy things Martin excels at; he also has a strong humanitarian side. Aside from doing repair work, Martin can also be found helping staff set up for activities, as well as joining them on shopping trips, Muscat adds.

Everyone at the home is grateful for the things he does to help, she says.

“He is a wonderful, wonderful man. When I see him doing things, I see someone who’s got compassion,” she says, adding that Martin will often spend his own money to buy things for residents. “He has got compassion for every single person here.”

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