Newmarket resident Katie Gilligan did a beautiful thing: the salon and spa owner quickly sourced from her beauty supplier urgently needed surgical masks and gloves and delivered them to a local seniors’ home to help protect residents and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When contacted by health-care staff asking for help to locate the supplies for the Eagle Terrace long-term care home, Gilligan called her Toronto beauty supplies dealer and learned they had plenty of both items in stock.
“The home reached out to me in an emergency, they had the money for the items but couldn’t find any,” Gilligan said. “So I went down to my supplier and picked them up. They have so much of these types of supplies.”
Being mindful of physical distancing, Gilligan then delivered 10 boxes of masks and 10 boxes of gloves to the Eagle Street home.
Gilligan said there’s great need in the community, after receiving a tremendous response to a social media post asking if anyone needed help during the near lockdown in the community.
“There are a lot of people who don’t have any family to lean on for support,” she said.
Even before the provincial order to close non-essential services this week, Gilligan closed up her shop, Timeless Harmony Salon & Spa at 1091 Gorham St., about two weeks ago out of an abundance of caution.
With that closure came the layoff of seven of her staff, including three spa workers, and four hair stylists who rent chairs at the salon.
“It’s incredibly scary, but we’re all scared together,” she said. “I’m not panicking or freaking out because I know that every single person that has a business and that’s paying rent is in the exact same position as me. I’m not alone.”
“I hope that landlords are going to realize that. I’ll be able to make my April 1st rent, but if we’re shut down for all of April, I’m not going to make my May 1st rent payment,” Gilligan said.
“I think the message is that everybody needs to work together. We’re not stuck at home, we’re safe at home. Let’s change our thought pattern,” she said.
Newmarket Councillor Bob Kwapis said he is "always blown away by the kind acts within our community".
