She calls him a teddy bear, he calls her mouse: This morning Birgit and Hans are snuggled together on the sofa in the foyer of Dorm I of the Lebenshilfe Munich in Putzbrunn. A total of 33 people with intellectual disabilities live here in four residential groups. There is a second dormitory next door, in which there are three groups for 18 people with severe multiple disabilities. In any case, Birgit and Hans seem to love their life and their home in Putzbrunn – almost as much as they do each other. “I have everything I need here,” says Hans with satisfaction, looks at Birgit and caresses her cheek. Then she smiles – and nods.
At one word, however, the two still radiant expressions darken. It reads: Corona. “That wasn’t good,” says Hans and vigorously shakes his head before looking back at Birgit. “We couldn’t see each other then.” After all, the two of them live in the same house, but in different residential groups. And these in turn had to be separated from each other during lockdown times in order to cope with the pandemic that is currently rampant in care facilities. For the people who live here and often also work in the workshops on the Putzbrunn Lebenshilfe campus, this was not the only restriction in those difficult months, remembers Peter Puhlmann, managing director of the Lebenshilfe Munich association. “The main problem was that the residents’ closest caregivers, for example their parents, were no longer allowed into the residential groups.” Especially in the first lockdown in spring 2020, “it was like quarantine for them,” says Puhlmann.
Renate Bauer, the manager of the two dormitories in Putzbrunn, confirms that the social isolation at that time affected a number of residents. “In the beginning it was a real horror scenario and many were afraid.” At the same time, residents and employees have moved closer together, not least because more time was spent together than before due to closed workshops. “We got to know each other very differently,” says Renate Bauer. And yet the times of the lockdown were overall very difficult and challenging – especially when corona cases occurred in the houses a year ago, fortunately without serious consequences. Renate Bauer recalls that the quarantine was lifted on Christmas Eve. As a result, many residents were able to drive home to their relatives over the festive period. However, some stayed in the dormitory and celebrated Christmas together there – under the Christmas tree, with gifts, songs and good food.
The community is not only a high priority in the dormitory on public holidays. “I always compare living together there with a student flat share,” says Peter Puhlmann. “Everyone is involved and everyone helps each other.” There is, for example, a rolling cleaning and garbage service. In addition, people cook together in the kitchen, have dinner and then sit together. Most of the 33 residents have lived here for many years, some even since the dormitory opened in 1994. They have found a new home in which they can look after themselves – as far as they can. At the same time, employees from Lebenshilfe are on hand around the clock, and they also offer a program of activities: from gymnastics to film evenings, from handicrafts to a trip to the riding stables.
For years, this program was limited to the weekends and public holidays, after all, the residents were working during the day, mostly in the workshops on the premises – for example in the laundry, in the metal construction or in the in-house coffee roastery. Now that more than half of the people in Dormitory I have retired, the program has recently been expanded, says facility manager Renate Bauer. “We offer the residents a daily structure – also so that they can get out of their rooms.” In the medium term, Lebenshilfe even wants to build its own dormitory only for elderly people with disabilities. “That would be the first of its kind in the greater Munich area,” says Peter Puhlmann. The house is to be built north of the existing dormitories on the Putzbrunn campus from spring 2022. The first residents could move in two years later.
Birgit and Hans, who are now both retired, may also be among them. The couple is still sitting on the sofa in the foyer – as tightly embraced as teenagers in love. “We help each other,” says Hans and lovingly caresses Birgit’s arm. “She says teddy bear to me. And I say mouse to her.” As if to confirm, Birgit leans her head on his shoulder. And then Hans says: “It’s nice here.”
Christmas wishes for the residents are a tover board per senior residence. In addition to Putzbrunn, Lebenshilfe operates one in Unterschleißheim and one in Obergiesing. This tool can be used to project games onto a table, floor or wheelchair table, for example. Retirees could do very well with that too. In addition, three care bathrooms in the Putzbrunn home have to be renewed. A donation from the advent calendar would be used for these projects.