Christmas Fund: Amelia worked with seniors, but the pandemic burned her out

Amelia reached a breaking point during the COVID-19 pandemic and had to leave her job as a seniors’ home-care aide.

She had been working with seniors for 11 years. Amelia said she hit a wall and quit on a Friday afternoon.

“I had a burnout,” she said. “I just left that day. I feel bad because I got attached to the people I was seeing. I saw I was making a difference. You’re doing more than just cleaning — you’re developing relationships. Some of them would even get gifts for my sons.”

Amelia says her job cooking and cleaning for seniors in need was never an easy one, but during the pandemic she saw a complete shift in their mental health, which weighed heavy on her.

“They were crying to me; some of them were so isolated,” Amelia said. “I’m just one person — how can I fix everything? I didn’t know what more to do. It was difficult seeing that. The solitude for a lot of them was the worst during the pandemic. I saw that it really caused a lot of damage.”

Since quitting, she has switched fields and is working for a government organization.

“I still feel really bad I left, but I saw horrible things. It affected me so much,” Amelia said. “And for what I was doing, my salary did not match that. It was really not worth it for me to stay. I know there’s a demand for that type of job, but I just couldn’t do any more.”

Amelia is not working full time in her new job. Her parents helped her financially with the transition in jobs, but she’s grateful for the Montreal Gazette Christmas Fund, which will help her buy groceries.

“I really think our health-care system needs to change,” Amelia said. “It’s very difficult to do these jobs, and even more difficult to stay, especially with the salaries. The salaries do not match the efforts we make.

“It was difficult to see how our elders are treated. I had very interesting conversations with some of them. They have so much to teach us, they were here before us, so it’s sad to see how society and our health-care system sometimes treats them.”

How to help

This article is representative of the people your donations will be helping. Because of resource limitations and privacy restrictions, the Montreal Gazette cannot accept non-monetary contributions. Donations to the Christmas Fund can be made online at www.christmasfund.com. Please direct all inquiries to christmasfundinquiries@postmedia.com.

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