THE POWER OF PEOPLE
News Articles
Media information article From the Alberta Government
June 18
By Howard Mozel
OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF
Edmonton's Ann Keane may have learned the limitations of her body during her cross-Canada run but it was obvious during an Oakville stop-over Tuesday that her spirit appears boundless.
Keane's Power of People Run, which started April 19 in Newfoundland, was undertaken to raise both awareness and funds for home care and long-term care. At the same time, she's running to publicize the Hope Foundation of Alberta, a not-for-profit community organization dedicated to the understanding of the role that hope plays in human life.
"The run is about trying to make the world a better place," said Keane, who has already logged 3,000 kms and plans to reach British Columbia this September. The nurse and single mother of two has no illusions about transforming everything in her path. Instead, she's focusing on drawing attention to the financial, emotional and workplace-related issues associated with the under-funding of home care in Canada.
"Home care is such a tender issue in this country," she said.
The former director of a hospital and home care program in Alberta, plus a member of provincial and national healthcare boards, Keane found herself frustrated by a number of problems, not the least of which is the paltry 4 per cent of the national healthcare budget spent on home care. With the rising numbers and acuity of people requiring home care, Keane recognized something needs to be done.
"I was tired of being a warrior and things not changing," she said.
Home care workers, for example, face a huge time crunch when trying to fulfill their obligations while attempting to preserve the dignity of their clients. How can you properly bathe an 80-year old woman, Keane asks, when you have only half an hour from the time you knock on her door to the time you have to leave?
"Home care people are doing the best with what they have," she says.
Poor morale and a "recruitment crisis" is also a reality when home care workers are paid an average 30 per cent less than those in more formal facilities.
"McDonalds pays more than that," added Keane, fed up with politicians who pay only lip service to the issue.
Keane thought about changing jobs or seeking some other avenue to affect change then everything changed last summer when she sat bolt upright in bed at 3 a.m. after swearing she heard a voice that simply said "run."
Keane quit her job and went to work as a nurse which afforded her the two to five hours a day she needed to train for her cross-Canada journey. A sponsorship deal for shoes and clothes was struck with The Running Room and Canadream Campers loaned her an RV.
Averaging 55 kms a day (she hit a high of 72 once) Keane ran the Maritimes and northern Quebec and detoured into the Greater Toronto Area to attract more media exposure and to see friends in Oakville. She's experienced cold and rain and suffered blisters and black nails but has not swayed from her goal.
"I've never doubted what I'm doing," said Keane, making it clear that her run is only the means to her end, not the end itself. "I really care and if I die tomorrow, I've done my best."
The run has also allowed Keane to experience the best in others, like the woman who pulled off the road and gave the runner her gloves then took her home for supper, or the stranger who washed Keane's dog.
"I've been overwhelmed by the beauty of the path and the people who have reached out to me," says Keane, who believes in fostering hope any way you can, from a major undertaking to smiling at a stranger. "We can choose to make a difference every little second. Hope goes a long way."
Those interested in donating or tracking Keane's progress can do so by visiting www.powerofpeoplerun.com or calling her treasurer at 780-469-5094.
When her run ends this fall, Keane said she basically has to start over, possibly return to a nursing job, but maintains it will all have been worth it.
"I guess it's believing and trying and caring and not being a victim to your fears."
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June 25 Petawawa Post.
Cross-Canada runner champions Homecare reform
by Lisa Buckingham
When Ann Keane quit her job, laced up her running shoes and began her run from St Johns, Newfoundland to British Columbia, she did it with the notion that every single person has the ability to make a difference. Keane has worked in the health care field for the past 20 years, and has sat on home care advocacy boards at both the national and provincial levels, but she got tired of fighting and being a warrior and accomplishing nothing, she said. And I needed to do something about that. So on April 19, the 38-year-old mother of two and her black Labrador Retriever set out on the "Power of People" Cross-Canada Run. She and her road crew passed through Petawawa on the trans-Canada highway enroute to Ottawa recently; on average she covers 30 to 60 kilometres a day and has already tackled more than 3,000 kilometres of the route. Along the way, Keane hopes to raise both awareness and funds for The Hope Foundation of Alberta and for National Home Care. The Hope Foundation works with children, seniors and communities members to increase understanding of the role hope plays in quality of life, particularly in relation to health, learning and community. There are so many things wrong with today¹s home care, so many things that are unethical,she contended. Whatever money we raise will be put towards the things that need it the most - with my background in healthcare, I know the areas that will get the biggest bang for the buck. We have to be really prudent with what we do with every dollar we raise.
The Power of People Cross-Canada run began as an idea in September, 2001 and is expected to end on the west coast in September, 2002. Although Keane admits she¹ll be glad when it's done, she has the utmost faith in her undertaking. In a exerpt from her daily diary entries, she writes: "Overwhelmingly, I BELIEVE in what I am doing! I have such a deep sense of 'correctness' about this, for me, and all. That belief is what sustains me. I go on. Driven.
Mission driven." "I have never done anything like this before, and it's really difficult," she said. "But if we live our lives in fear, we'll never do anything."
To donate to Ann's cause, or for more information, contact John Duke, The Power of People Run Treasurer at 6515 88 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6B 0M1; phone: (780)469-5094; e-mail: johnduke@telusplanet.net or to see Ann's progress, find out more about the run or to donate online using a credit card, please visit www.powerofpeoplerun.com
July 24
"Woman running for home care"
Sheri Block
The Leader-Post (Regina)
Wednesday, July 24, 2002
Ann Keane admits she has no interest in running across the country, but the Edmonton nurse felt this was the best way to raise awareness for the underfunding of home care in the country and The Hope Foundation of Alberta.
Running the equivalent of two marathons a day, Keane truly believes she can make the world a
better place with her Power of People Run that started in Newfoundland on April 19 and will wrap up mid-September in B.C.
"I'm just one lone little soul on the side of the highway, but the power of each person would help make this world a better place in home care, or whatever it is they want to do to change
the world or make it better, but by being silent we abdicate our responsibility to choose to change anything," said Keane.
Because home care is not under the Canada Health Act, Keane said it only receives about four per cent of the health-care dollar, and people are not getting the care they need.
"I am tired of being a warrior. I worked politically with politicians and systems and funders at the national level, at the provincial level, fighting with the different ministers and they'd all say
to me 'yeah, you're right,' but nothing changes," said Keane.
Keane said she got the idea for running across the country after she woke with a start one night at three and heard a voice telling her to "run." She left her job as a nurse, her house and her two kids to trek across the country.
She begins running about 3 a.m. with her black Labrador, Darkie, and finishes up early afternoon, covering about 80 to 85 km a day. Her driver Michelle Picard, a co-worker at an Edmonton nursing home, catches up with her later in the morning with the RV, on loan from
Canadream Campers.
She usually runs just over half of the distance and walks the rest, but said most days she pushes herself until she's ready for a "faceplant."
Although she used to run competitively as a young adult, at 38, she hasn't run for 15 years. "I'm in better shape now than I ever was in my life. It was very, very difficult in the beginning," said Keane, who started out with 50 kilometres a day.
Keane hopes her efforts inspire people to assume responsibility for choice and action.
"Lose the apathy, all it is is taking responsibility not to be silent, smiling, acting, engaging. We are so overwhelmed with life now a days that we don't even feel we have the energy to appreciate and to engage and to take responsibility for changing things that as a group
we could easily change," said Keane, who will move back to Edmonton following the run to look for a job.
"If nothing changes, all I can say is I've done my best."
For more information on Keane and her run log onto www.powerofpeoplerun.com.