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‘Wind phones’ for people who are grieving coming to Orangeville

May 2, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS, LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER

There are few better ways to cope with the grief of losing a loved one than being able to speak with them on the other side.

In a manner, of course.

Heidi Vanderhorst is the co-chairperson of the grief and bereavement working group that’s part of the Hills of Headwaters Collaborative Ontario Health Team. One of its newest initiatives are “Wind phones.”

“It’s really just placing a rotary phone that’s not connecting to anything in a private place, an accessible place,” she said. “That allows people who are grieving a chance to reach out and speak to their loved one.”

It’s hoped the phones will be launched May 7 to coincide with National Hospice Palliative Care Week.

The wind phone is something that started in Japan and has since spread the world over as a means to help people through grief.

Wind phones provide a special line that, when used with an open mind, provides a means for one’s words to float with the wind “that brings their whispers back again,” reads a plaque designed by the working group.

The team’s goal is to install as many as six rotary phones throughout Dufferin Caledon. Confirmed locations include Bethell Hospice, the friendship garden outside Headwaters Health Care Centre, Hereward Farms, and the Shelburne Cemetery.

One more location is needed. And Vanderhorst said that’s how Orangeville’s council can help out.

The working group asked council when it met on April 29 to secure a location, maintain the location, and inform the group when repairs are needed.

Some of the suggested locations include Kaycee Gardens, Mill Street Park, and Greenwood Cemetery.

“I absolutely love the idea,” said Orangeville Mayor Lisa Post.

“You touched my heart when I read this,” said Councillor Joe Andrews. “Let’s just make it happen because I think it’s a brilliant idea.”

Deputy Mayor Todd Taylor spoke about a family friend who recently died. Her husband hung wind chimes and would imagine his dead wife spoke to him by way of those chimes.

“[It] allowed him to heal and get through what was an awful time for him and the family,” Taylor said.

He suggested Kaycee Gardens would be an optimal place for a wind phone, especially given the joy with which it festooned each Christmas.

“I still have my parents’ phone number still in my phone,” said Coun. Debbie Sherwood. “I still want to call them every day.”

She suggested Greenwood Cemetery or even Dragonfly Park would be suitable places for a wind phone.

“This is just a beautiful thing,” she said.

Coun. Tess Prendergast suggested having two wind phones in Orangeville, one at Greenwood Cemetery and another at Kaycee Gardens.

“However we need to have that happen, I feel like you have the support of council,” she said.

A location will be decided in time for the May 7 launch.

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