Joey Wahler (Host): It's a major part of St. Joseph Hospital's mission, so we're discussing how they care for the community. Our guest is Michele Canto. She's a Certified Administrator of Volunteer Services and Director of Community Ministries for St. Joseph Hospital. This is Wellness First, a St. Joseph Hospital podcast where we hear and learn directly from the experts on all things health and wellness.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Joey Wahler. Hi there, Michele. Welcome.

Michele Canto, CAVS: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Host: Great to have you. We appreciate the time. This is such a great topic. So first, in a nutshell, why is it so important for St. Joseph Hospital to focus on supporting the most vulnerable members of the community beyond, of course, just the great healthcare that's provided?

Michele Canto, CAVS: Absolutely. Well, I mean, all the way back in 1908, our foundation of our hospital was based on our mission and started by great people, that served the community of all kinds, all different walks of life and nobody was turned away. And we continue that today in 2025. We care for everybody.

Doesn't matter, race, sexual origin, whatever your religion is, we care for all and encompass the whole body.

Host: Yeah. That's so cool that you're maintaining tradition that started generations ago. Right.

Michele Canto, CAVS: Absolutely. Absolutely. It was to transition that to where we are currently, the Grey Nuns, when they retired from our hospital, they gifted us, one of my departments, the Grey Nuns Thrift Shop, with the understanding that we would continue their mission in the community. And that's exactly what we're continuing to do today.

Host: Yeah, and you led me beautifully there, Michele, into my next question because you've got some great programs going on and I want to take them one at a time. How about the thrift shop? Tell people what that is and what it's all about.

Michele Canto, CAVS: So the thrift shop is really amazing. We were kind of tucked away in a part of Nashua for many years. And just about in 2023, we moved to Main Street in Nashua and we have completely exploded. We partner with over 30 community partners now that have access to our voucher program so they can get their clients a voucher that allows their client to get, you know, a sleeping bag, tents, clothing.

If somebody's finally getting into their first apartment, they can get housewares as needed at no cost. And, our paying customers we're so grateful for them because if it wasn't for them, it wouldn't be possible for us to take those resources and give them to the people that cannot afford to pay for them.

Host: Yeah, that sounds great. You know, if you go to thrift shops in certain parts of the country, you go to a thrift shop in New York City, you might be awfully surprised at the not so thrifty prices, but this is a real thrift shop, right.

Michele Canto, CAVS: Real fresh shop. $3 shirts, $3 pants, $1 items. It's funny because sometimes when I get the deposit at the end of the day it's a hundred dollars and 10 cents because they sell the cards for 10 cents. So it's kind of every penny matters, to pay our bills so that we can stay open to serve the community.

Host: I'm sure. I'm sure. So what should people know about your senior resource center?

Michele Canto, CAVS: So the Res Senior Resource center is a Day Away program, and we're a program that assists caregivers when a loved one has dementia. So it's a day of respite for a caregiver. It can be exhausting mentally and physically for a caregiver to care for somebody that has all kinds of dementia, so they can come, their person can come to us from nine to three on Tuesdays, and we provide social, exercise. We provide meals and that allows the caregiver to actually care for themselves. They can do their own appointments, have lunch with a friend, go and get their hair done, where they don't have to worry about what is happening with their loved one. It's a really great program. In partnership with that, we have a support group that happens on Mondays.

So the caregivers have access to ongoing support, one from their peers, and also we have a registered nurse that runs the support group. So, it's really grown a lot and there's a lot of need out there. There's a lot of people that, that are touched by different kinds of dementia in our community.

Host: And there are of course, many programs for seniors with conditions like that. But what's great about this is you're caring for the caregivers who often get overlooked, right, Michele? They've got a tough job.

Michele Canto, CAVS: Absolutely. It's a lot because with dementia comes different kinds of behaviors. Do they wander? Are they agitated, are they bored? Are they mischievous? And so it gives a caregiver just a day to reset, you know? And also the support group, a lot of them have become friends outside of the support group.

So the group is from one to three, but they actually all enjoy company, their company so much that they've extended it to coffee hour from three to four, where they don't talk about caregiving, they just talk about who they are, what they like to do, what are their plans coming up, and they need those kinds of resources because many caregivers when they are in their sixties, seventies, early eighties,

and a spouse gets dementia diagnosis, their social circle kind of falls apart and people don't know how to interact with them anymore now that one part of the couple doesn't participate the way they used to. And it's really a struggle for a lot of caregivers because they're very, become very isolated.

So it's really a good touch point. We're actually expanding and offering memory cafes coming up, starting in October, partnering with United Way, and we'll be one of the three once a month. And so it's another social outlet for caregivers to come with their person and have a social time and make memories, and hopefully we'll be able to capture them.

So down the road when something happens to the person with dementia, they have something to look back on that makes them smile.

Host: That sounds terrific. And you mentioned the United Way there, and that also leads me into my next question, Michele. Naturally, a big part of all the great work you do is key partnerships being formed. You mentioned United Way, as we said, you've also partnered with an organization, the Plus Company. What's involved there? How does that benefit people?

Michele Canto, CAVS: So we are lucky enough to be a host site for a program called Project Search. So it's for 18 and older, people that have different developmental disabilities, from autism to Down syndrome. And we take, we have a program that follows the school year, and Plus Company is the host parent of Project Search.

And we're the host site, the business site, the first one in New Hampshire. And we have eight to 12 interns yearly. They come in, they learn how to be in a business setting. They learn business skills, they learn communication. They learn how to work independently. And our goal at the end of the year is to get these people employed with jobs that fulfill them, fill their time and can give them a sense of independence. So we're lucky enough that the Plus Company is, they're a great partner in the community and they do great work and they, we have a nice rapport with them. This is our 18th year that we just started, with eight interns. So it's a really great program.

Host: Yeah. 18 years, you must be doing something right? Yes.

Michele Canto, CAVS: Exactly.

Host: So programs like that naturally compliment the hospital's medical mission. And oh, by the way, there are several other programs you're involved with as well. That's just a small sampling. So talk about how this compliments that.

Michele Canto, CAVS: So these programs build trust in our community and if somebody has a good interaction at the St. Joseph Hospital thrift shop, and they need medical care, and there's a sense of rapport and trust; they might see our mobile health clinic out on the road and they might be like, oh, I wonder if that's a good place that I could get care, or they might be more willing to choose our emergency room and receive care.

So for me, it's all about trust. Trust, not judgment free, inclusive and I feel like with the work that my staff and the volunteers do at the thrift shop, it encompasses all of those things. And it's a sense of security that I feel. I've been with St. Joe's for 24 years and I feel a sense of security when I hear our name out in the community.

And it's not just because I'm an employee, it's because I see the work that we do on all different levels and I think people tend to choose us because of that.

Host: Absolutely. Now, in terms of the difference that all these great services make in people's daily lives, Michele, I would imagine you have many. How about one story that best illustrates the great work that you do in terms of the impact you're making on people's lives.

Michele Canto, CAVS: You bet. Recently in January, the thrift shop started partnering with the mobile health clinic and we do a mission meals and medical event once a month. We serve a hot meal, in front of the thrift shop. They bring the mobile health clinic, which is a converted bus, and they see patients, patients, people can check in and, we had a woman come up and she needed a meal. It was April, so it was still cold, still some snow on the ground. And, she was wearing high heeled sandals and her feet were bright red. It pained me to know that she had walked here for a hot meal in those shoes. And I don't know if you've ever had that feeling before when your feet are cold and it feels like pins are pricking your

the bottom of your feet. And that's what she was walking in. And she got her hot meal. She was seen on the mobile health clinic. And I said, do you have shoes? And these are all I have. She said, it's, it's all I have. And we were able to get her into the thrift shop with a voucher. And we got her shoes.

We got her some, a warm blanket and it was just a really humbling moment because without the resources between those three things, I don't know where she would've ended up that night. I didn't put shelter over her head, but I certainly made her conditions that she had for the rest of the night, together with the team, we made it better for her.

Host: Yeah, it seems like it's emotional still now, just for you to talk about it. Huh?

Michele Canto, CAVS: It is. I mean, that, and you said just one story I could go on, but, it's just statements that people say when you're talking to them and you have the opportunity to be on the same level as them. People say, well, what do you mean go back to my home. This is my home. And you lose perspective.

And I'm talking, referring their home as outside. Like, you lose perspective in the fact that I get to go home, I get to go get my car, and I get to warm up and I get to go take a hot shower or whatever to defrost. But these people, this is it. And they're going to take their hot food, they're going to go back to their tent or their car or whatever encampment they're living in. And, it really, until you see it firsthand, you don't really, you don't really know that it's happening in our community. It's well hidden.

Host: I'm sure that's a great story and it illustrates what you and yours do about as well as anything I'm sure. So, a few other things. How about the important role that volunteers, donors, community partners, play in making all these great programs possible?

Michele Canto, CAVS: Well, as I mentioned, our paying customers are an invaluable asset, and they understand and support our mission. A lot of times people when they get their bill and they've got a bag full of clothes, they'll say, here's another $10. Please put it towards a new tent. So we have a huge amount of generosity. Without our volunteers; the thrift shop alone has 22 volunteers. And then the Day Away program, they also have 22 volunteers. So right there, between those two programs, we have 44 active volunteers. And those programs continue to grow because they have such a draw for people. They're, they know, they can see that they're making a difference.

We couldn't do it without them. We absolutely, the program, the thrift shop would definitely close down or at least have limited hours, and the Day Away program would be non-existent. So, we try to celebrate them as much as possible. Our community partners are great. We have a thrift shop fashion show coming up the end of September.

A lot of our community partners buy tables to, to reciprocate our their support for us. So, we help them by providing vouchers to their clients, and they support us by making it possible for us to continue to do that. So, it's a really wonderful, beautiful partnership between all my programs. I couldn't be more proud.

Host: So how do people in need that are joining us right now connect with these services on both ends in terms of both giving and also if in need of receiving?

Michele Canto, CAVS: At the thrift shop, if somebody wants to donate, they have the ability to accept donations. On our social media page, our Facebook page, we also have an Amazon wishlist, which includes the tents and sleeping bags. Sadly, this is September. July, we gave away 11 sleeping bags

in Nashua, to people that didn't have anything else to sleep in. And so these are our main needs. We just had a wonderful, generous donation. A community agency decided to do a personal care item drive, and they donated a four huge boxes of toothbrushes, toothpaste. We're always accepting those kinds of things.

But you can, the people's clients, people just have to reach out to me, happy to set them up with a voucher, in our voucher program. And then they have access to the hospital and they can also go directly to the thrift shop because we, I always say to the staff and the volunteers, what would the nuns do if somebody's standing there in need?

And they don't necessarily have a paper voucher. What would the nuns do? The nuns would say, come with me. What do you need? We're not going to turn somebody away because they don't have a significant piece of paper.

Host: Sounds like a great bumper sticker. Michele, what the nuns do right?

Michele Canto, CAVS: What would the nuns do? Yes, yes.

Host: Finally, in summary here, Michele, what's the long-term vision for all these super important initiatives? How do you see the hospital's role evolving in caring for these disadvantaged people?

Michele Canto, CAVS: So we continue, uh, it sounds crazy, but we continue to promote and grow the voucher program, every time, no questions asked. If somebody says, Hey, we think we'd benefit from being on your voucher list, sure, gimme your information. We get it out there because even if it assists one more person, that's one more person that isn't struggling for that day or week or whatever it is, especially when it's a like a young family and they have kids involved, we always say, what are the necessities on the vouchers?

But the staff and the volunteers are great. They take the kids to the toy section and say, Hey, maybe a family had house fire. The kids lost everything. Hey, do you want to pick out some new toys or a new game? They really feel and promote it with heart. And so just making sure that our mission people through the mission, meal, people have access to that.

Awareness through events, public speaking opportunities, our fashion show, as I mentioned, a rotary club we spoke at, and that was huge. We got so many donations after that as well. So I think it's just continuous. You can't get compliant, right? You can't think, oh, they know about us. They're tired of hearing about us because there's one more person out there that hasn't heard about us.

They don't know what we do, and we have people that'll come into the thrift shop and say, oh, your prices seem kind of high for a thrift shop, even though it's a $3 shirt. And when we explain what we do in the community and what our mission is, they say, oh, let me give 20 extra dollars, because I didn't realize that you guys gave back to the Nashua community so much.

So, it's a message that we need to continue to get out into the community.

Host: Absolutely. Well folks, we trust you are now more familiar with Community Ministries at St. Joseph Hospital. Michele, keep up all your wonderful work and thanks so much again.

Michele Canto, CAVS: Thank you very much.

Host: Absolutely. And for more information, please visit stjosephhospital.com/our-mission. Now, if you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media. And thanks again for being part of Wellness First a St. Joseph Hospital podcast.