Rudin describes resident feedback and food improvements
Rudin says Borden is a 24-7 operation, 80% of clients report a positive experience, food is the biggest complaint, the vendor changed to Healthy Beets, monthly surveys are conducted, and more changes are being explored.
Borden is a 24-7 operation.
It does more than provide shelter.
It helps veterans to recover, build stability.
Our 75 staff members work not just to provide a bed and meals, but also all the services veterans need to live dignified lives.
We make a point of listening to our residents.
We create opportunities for residents to provide input through biweekly meetings, community forums, surveys.
80% of the clients at Borden tell us that they're having a positive experience there.
We also hear a lot of constructive feedback, and we try to act to fix things that are problematic.
You know, we've talked a lot about food, and that is the single biggest complaint that we hear when we get together with the residents of Borden.
We have been trying to iterate to get to a good place with food.
A couple of years ago, we changed our food vendor from Regina to Healthy Hearts, and we prevailed upon the city to increase our food per diem.
In the immediate aftermath of those changes, we did get good feedback from veterans.
Now we're hearing more constructive feedback about the food.
People have new concerns.
So we're exploring additional changes.
We have a monthly surveying process on food.
We ask the vendor to throw out meals that are not popular.
We do the more popular meals more often.
And as the commissioner of DSS mentioned, we are in a broader strategy.
contemplation about improving food more broadly.
I want to say there's always room for improvement.
Sometimes that requires more funding.
I want to shine a light on the people who work at Borden.
I'm really grateful to our 75 staff who show up in hazardous weather, in global pandemics, in power outages.
They show up to serve our veterans and to do the best work they can.