August 2023: Using Your Vacation Days, Illness Prevention, 4 Pillars of Mental Fitness, Celebrating our 10 Year Anniversary, and this Month's Recognition & Rewards Winners
Posted on Aug 16, 2023
Utilizing your Vacation Days
Hey there! How many vacation days have you taken this year? There is still lots of time to book a vacation if you haven't used it all. At Heartland Housing Foundation we recognize the importance of personal time off for the health and wellbeing of its employees (that's you!) Please speak with your manager to determine if you have any remaining vacation time to utilize before the year is up. Even if you get paid for your vacation on each cheque you deserve the time off and require down time to prevent fatigue. Ensuring that you take your minimum allotted time means that you are taking care of you, and you deserve it.... after all, you are so great at taking care of the residents, let’s make sure you are taken care of too!
Healthy Habits for Illness Prevention
And just like that, the summer is coming to an end. With the introduction of fall, kids are returning to school and the flu season will be back in full swing which increases the risk of illness exposure. Here are some health habits to prevent germs from spreading at home and at work.
Happy Hands: One of the most important healthy habits to prevent the spread of germs is to keep your hands clean. Our hands can carry germs, so it is important to wash them often, even if they don’t look dirty. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
Keep it Clean: Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, doorknobs and handrails, especially during flu season or when someone in the area is sick.
Avoidance is Key: Try and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Avoid close contact with others whenever possible. Avoid coughing or sneezing into your hands by coughing or sneezing into your elbow or into a tissue. Discard tissues immediately.
Sharing is not Caring: Stay home if you are sick with a spreadable illness.
Four Pillars of Mental Fitness
We all know the importance of physical fitness in keeping us healthy and vibrant throughout our lives. What you may not know is that mental fitness is equally important. In fact, the two are intertwined. Neglecting your mental health can make you less resilient to life’s ups and downs, leaving you more likely to make poor lifestyle choices. You can only achieve mental fitness if your body is functioning well.
What is mental fitness?
Just as there are four components to physical fitness—cardiovascular endurance, strength, flexibility, and a healthy weight—there are four components to mental fitness. These are:
Emotional. This includes self-acceptance, self-esteem, resilience, and the ability to manage strong emotions.
Social. Friends are important because they bring companionship, support and enrichment to our lives. According to the Mayo Clinic, people who have friends are generally physically and emotionally healthier and enjoy a better quality of life.
Financial. According to a 2016 study, 40 percent of us experience stress due to money issues, often enough to negatively affect our work and relationships. Financial wellness is not about having a certain amount of money at your disposal; it’s about feeling in control of your finances, being able to handle financial setbacks, and being on track to achieve your financial and life goals.
Physical. Mental and physical fitness and health are intertwined. You can improve both through a healthy diet, regular exercise, and enough sleep. You can also reduce your risk of developing chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression.
Taking steps to build your mental fitness enhances our ability to cope with stress and improves your physical health, productivity at work, relationships, and overall happiness. If you would like more support as you work to build your mental fitness, call your assistance program.
Every Employee of Heartland Housing Foundation has access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Find more Information about Mental Fitness, Mental Health or many other topics on our EAP website offered by TelusHealth (Lifeworks)
UserID: Heartland
Password: eap
Celebrating 10 years as Heartland Housing Foundation
This year, Heartland Housing Foundation is celebrating 10 years of proudly serving both Fort Saskatchewan and Strathcona County as an amalgamated Housing Management Body! In 2013, Heartland Housing Foundation was formed by the amalgamation of Pioneer Housing Foundation (Strathcona County), the Fort Saskatchewan Foundation, and Fort Lions Haven.
We are excited to share with you some of the ways we will be marking this important milestone this fall. There will be a 10-week social media campaign, commemorative planters built at each lodge, and a special gift for staff that will be personally delivered to you by our leadership team!
Follow Heartland Housing Foundation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hearthousefound to see the 10-week campaign kickoff in September and stay tuned for more news about this milestone.
Recognition & Reward Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the July's Employee Rewards and Recognition Program.
Dr. Turner Lodge - Nominee: Gerry Doell
Clover Bar Lodge - Nominee: Terri Wheaton
Silver Birch Place - Nominee: Cathy Pabalate
Coordinated Services - Nominee: Colleen Spencer
These people do extraordinary things each and every day. All it took was a special person to recognize that work and enter a ballot into a draw. The feedback and entries that we received in July told some remarkable stories. We can't wait to see the entries for August! Nominate your co-worker today!