BaptistCare Watermark’s Ethics recognition ‘well deserved’
BaptistCare Watermark Village was awarded the Wagga Wagga Business Chambers’ Excellence in Business Ethics Award last week, acknowledging the villages’ core values of Love, Respect, Reliability and Empowerment.
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29 January 2021
Stories
| Retirement Living
BaptistCare Watermark Village was awarded the Wagga Wagga Business Chambers’ Excellence in Business Ethics Award last week, acknowledging the villages’ core values of Love, Respect, Reliability and Empowerment.
Sandra Fletcher said - in her particular experience – it is well deserved. “Sarah, Watermark’s manager, her team, and the residents, went above and beyond those core values for me during quite a difficult time my life.”
A native Sydney resident, Sandra received an urgent call to Wagga earlier this year. “My daughter was extremely ill. I expected to be in Wagga a couple of weeks, so I threw a few things in my suitcase, and I went. It was seven months before I came back home,” said Sandra.
After a couple of months, her daughter’s ex-husband stepped back into the house to look after the two children. “I needed help. I couldn’t manage my daughter’s illness and the kids. I could then be with my daughter in hospital everyday as I needed to be at the time.”
This left Sandra without a place to stay. “Most units required a six or twelve month lease. The dilemma was I didn’t know how long I was going to be there.”
Sandra happened upon BaptistCare Watermark on Church Street and thought it would be absolutely ideal for her situation. The apartments are usually sold, not rented, but by chance there was one apartment available. Hearing Sandra’s circumstance, Sarah wanted to help. Quickly renovating the apartment, Sarah added all the little touches that made it a comfortable home.
“I tear up thinking about it. It was so homely, it was beautiful. I came to Wagga with nothing. I intended to borrow pots and pans from my daughter, but Sarah thought of everything.”
“Sarah encouraged me to join in village life and gave me a buddy - a magnificent lady who would check up on me, making sure I was okay. I am quite social. I went to my first Happy Hour, rushing home from the hospital to put on some nicer clothes. I went down and, honestly, the residents were so beautiful.”
Village life gave Sandra a small reprieve from the heartache every mother feels when her child is unwell. “Everyone was so friendly and caring. I’m still in contact with them.”
Sandra’s daughter was in Wagga Base Hospital for over three months. “She’s doing much better now. She had a wonderful care team. They didn’t know if she would get better, but she is almost there, just a few little issues remaining that we can live with.”
A permanent move to BaptistCare Watermark is high on Sandra’s priority list. “The village is big enough but not too big. And the position in Wagga is just amazing, with all the balconies looking out at that view. I would always walk the long way round to my letterbox through the gorgeous gardens. And you can easily walk anywhere. I miss it. It’s a beautiful place.”