Canada-based Guyanese Deslyn Jack Willock is a ‘Special Person’

Jul 17, 2022 News, Special Person

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Steadfast in her efforts to serve senior citizens at home and abroad…

By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – When Canada-based Guyanese Deslyn Jack Willock left these shores in 2008, she wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of finding a career path, she only knew that she wanted to further her studies and secure “good enough” employment that would make her family proud.

Today, the former reporter and assistant editor has not only made her family proud but is making her mark as one of the youngest executives involved in long-term care services for senior citizens in the city of Toronto, Canada. In fact, Mrs. Willock holds several credentials in her field.

She has an administrator certificate from the Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for seniors; is a qualified Social Service Worker – after obtaining credentials in Gerontology (the study of aging processes and individuals across the life course) from Seneca College, Toronto, ON, Canada and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from York University, Toronto.

By age 28, Willock had become the first black person to lead the Rekai Centers homes, Canada’s first multicultural home owned by the prestigious Hungarian doctors Paul and John Rekai – one of Canada’s profound and most recognised families.

She said, “I went on to then become Executive Director with Responsive Health Management and it has been a life-changing career and experience for me.”

This week’s ‘Special Person’ has served now in the long-term care and support services for over 14 years and helped senior citizens of her adopted homeland find safe and nurturing facilities to live out the rest of their days.

Willock told The Waterfalls – Kaieteur News’ Magazine – that her work in long-term care has helped foster her love for serving others.  To this end, Mrs. Willock has been involved in several initiatives aimed at providing hampers with basic needs for senior citizens. These hampers included several personal care items and other necessities.

The overseas-based Guyanese said that she feels honoured to be able to give back to her homeland.

She stated, “I’ve been blessed and it’s only fitting to give back to my home country, my heart and passion is health care and specifically senior care.  Our elders took care of us and have paved the way for us. Let’s do the same for them. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.”

GUYANESE UPBRINGING

Before migrating to Canada, Willock shared briefly that she spent her formative years with her parents Dennis and Sandra Jack in the community of Meadow Brook Gardens.

“I was raised by my father and grandmother. My grandmother, Florence, was very influential on me, and always instilled in me that education was key to success.  From a very young age I would recite poems at her Lodge Meetings where she was a senior council member,” she revealed about her Guyanese upbringing.

Willock shared too that before leaving these shores, she was involved in pageantry.

“I was a former Ms. Guyana Universe contestant,” she said. As related to her work experience locally, Willock is a former Prime News reporter and Assistant Editor at NCN Radio.

Added to this, she has been the host of Happenings TV a local entertainment programme, and former Public Relations Officer (PRO) for Splashmin’s Fun Park and Resort – which was her last place of employment before migrating to Canada.

CHANCE CAREER

She told this publication that entering the field of Gerontology and long-term care services was a career she picked up by chance.

“When I got to Toronto my parents and other family members had already been living there for years, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I just knew I wanted to go back to school and get qualified, possibly in the field of media studies. I had my daughter young so that kind of caused me to put a hold on my studies,” Willock related.

As such, she noted that it was totally by chance that she chose a very different path from her media life.

“I remember doing some research on colleges and stumbling across Gerontology and my curiosity led me down this path. I had never heard that word before or the term Alzheimer’s. I fell in love with the field and the joy and opportunities it brought me to help others and make a difference,” she added. Soon after discovering the field of study, Willock enrolled in an information session on Gerontology.

“I went back to school. I now have a degree in sociology from York University, also a Social Services worker Diploma specialising in Gerontology from Seneca College graduating top of the class with honours,” she said.

Mrs. Willock is also an Executive Director at Revera Living Canada and has almost 10 years managing multi-million-dollar organisations in senior health care with Canada’s top healthcare operators including Extendicare and Revera Living Canada, spending most of her career with Responsive Health Management Inc.

YOUNG EXECUTIVE

She describes being one of the youngest executives involved in Long-Term Care as a highlight of her career.

“I have been excelling at my role. As a recognised leader in the sector, I’m proud of this achievement. I can’t say it was easy but I believe my foundation and experiences as a young Guyanese woman certainly played a role in my eagerness to excel,” she said.

With Responsive Health under her leadership, Mrs. Willock and her team lead the way in piloting many of Canada’s health care initiatives such as E-connect- (electronic patient records system in real-time, having the ability to access medical records of hospitals and all parties involved in the circle of care for a patient or resident in Ontario); robotics in Long-Term Care with collaboration with University of Toronto, and also offered dialysis beds for residents in Long Term Care in collaboration with University Health Network and many other major projects.

These efforts earned Mrs. Willock the Ontario Long Term Care Home of the Year award in 2015 for her exceptional work in the field.

She said, however, that her work is not always ‘sunshine and roses.’

As a health care provider, she noted there are almost always staff shortages.   She explained, “Our sector is currently facing severe shortages, and competing with agency staffing costs is very expensive. COVID has affected our sector in profound ways but we as a sector are committed to resident centre care and safety and have and continue to make major changes that positively impact the care our seniors deserve.”

According to Mrs. Willock, “Currently I’m involved in improving access and care for seniors with a Caribbean background as there is a great need to incorporate specific cultural services such as food choices and social programmes. This will help with the holistic approach to their unique care needs and create a true thriving environment.”

In times of doubt, she reminds herself why she chose a career tending to senior citizens.

“My residents, their families, and my staff keep me grounded. When times get tough I always remind myself why I got into the field and it helps me to stay focused and resilient.” Added to this, she said her husband of five years, Andy, and her two children – daughter Alexis, 17, and son, William, 4 – are key motivators to holding her successful career together.

She noted, nevertheless, that “it’s super challenging balancing work and family, especially having the demands of an executive.”

“It’s a sense of responsibility and obligation when you have hundreds of people’s lives in your hands and every decision you make has an impact. You have to try your best to balance. However, my husband and I make every effort to ensure that our family is taken care of and that there is uninterrupted family time. We spend time at home and outdoors, or mini getaway trips to the cottage or resorts help us to stay connected.”

SERVICE TO SOCIETY

Despite the demands of her work and home circle, Mrs Willock still finds time to volunteer her efforts to help those in less fortunate circumstances. She revealed that for the past three years, she has been a dedicated Rotarian.

“I love helping others. As a member of the Rotary Club of Scarborough, I’m honoured to be able to provide my service to those in need. I’m currently the Co-Chair of the Public Relations Committee,” Mrs. Willock said, adding that she was also a part of several fundraising activities including ‘Rib Fest,’ and Remembrance Tree for persons who died from COVID-19.

Through her charitable efforts, she has donated financially to several initiatives in the land of her birth. The senior healthcare executive also founded the Willock Foundation through which she has embarked on assisting senior care homes in Guyana by providing hampers for seniors. These hampers include several personal care items and other necessities.

According to Mrs. Willock, the initiative is part of an ongoing commitment to support seniors in need in Guyana.

“I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with several lovely ladies living at the seniors’ home. Their smiles and appreciation during my visit were so heartwarming, I will continue to support it in any way possible,” she said.

In the interim, Mrs. Willock says she remains humbled and dedicated to service above self.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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