Life in the Covidiverse - Amanda Hall of Battersea

Jeff Green | May 27, 2020

Amanda Hall had a plan for 2020

With her son just over a year old and her four year old daughter in Junior Kindergarten at Storrington Public School, Amanda Hall was ready to get her relatively new business, Willow Family Health Services, Occupational Health Therapy specializing in women's health during the perinatal phase of life, up and running.

She was doing house calls, as part of her business services, in South Frontenac and Kingston.  She was also preparing to  build a clinic on the farm property on Milburn Road, near Battersea that she shares with her husband Paul, a Queen’s University Researcher.

They also have a fledgling farm-based business related to their fruit tree orchard and small vineyard, and Amanda plans to incorporate the 100-acre property into her Occupational Therapy business.

A very busy year was well underway in March, when like so many others around Ontario, everything started to change rather quickly. It started when her phone buzzed. It was an alert from the school informing her that all schools in Ontario would remain closed for an additional two weeks after the March break.

March break plans were cancelled, stocking of supplies became a priority. The COVID-19 universe starting taking hold of their lives.

By the end of March, when the lockdown was underway, Amanda put up a blog post on the WillowfamilyOT website, describing how her family was coping and how she was keeping her business running.

“That one alert on my phone was a pivotal moment that sent my lovely routine crashing to the ground. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'm fortunate to be able to stay at home with my two kids and husband. I know so many of my friends and colleagues who would love this opportunity. I don't take this time lightly. But I miss my routine. Everything is different; pressures to homeschool, making sure the kids get enough time outside and not a lot of screen time, still keep my business active while working from home and processing the constant Covid-19 updates,” she wrote on March 27.

Two months later, with the pandemic still in full force, she is maintaining a focus on the long term, while struggling with the demands of full time childcare and a business..

“Fortunately, although my husband is still working full time from home, he is able to spell me off when necessary so I can meet with clients, virtually of course,” she said on Tuesday of this week.

Work on converting the garage into a clinic stopped when all permitting and construction was suspended. Home visits, a key component for many of her clientele, especially for the first few sessions, are not happening either.

She has purchased software for teletherapy and is offering that to her clients, and the Occupational Therapy students from Queen’s, who are doing placements with her, are also working with her virtually.

But it is difficult to be running a young business and raising a young family right now, and she knows that things will not get back to normal any time soon.

“It’s so uncertain right now, with my business being so new, the effects on people who are self-employed can be extreme. I obviously had no idea I would be having something like this to deal with so soon after starting my business,” she said.

With school out for summer now, and daycare services unavailable as well, the summer may be a challenge, but Amanda is hoping to be able to begin visiting existing and new clients in their homes as soon as that is opened up.

In the meantime, she has been looking for creative ways to help young mothers who are struggling. One of them is an art project that is running this week.

“Research has shown that cortisol, our stress-related hormone, is significantly lower after only 45 minutes of participating in art,” she said, involvement in art also allows us to momentarily forget about life; it gives us time just for us, it gives us a change to possibly do something new, go out of our comfort zone, and lets us express feelings we may not even be aware off.

“I’m putting a call out to mothers to become involved in a collaborative art project to increase awareness of what motherhood looks like for mothers during Covid-19.  You don’t need any fancy art supplies; you can use any medium you feel comfortable with or have available to you. You can paint, draw, sculpt, crochet, write poetry, make a collage, or use any other method of self-expression through art. It doesn’t need an explanation; it can hold a meaning that only you the artist are aware of.  The end product will hopefully be a unique, personalised representation of what being a mother looks like or means to you during the days of Covid-19.”

She is asking mothers to take a photo of the artwork that they create and send it to her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by June 1. The pieces will be incorporated into a collaborative art presentation representing the perspective of motherhood during Covid-19 that she will exhibit virtually somehow, and will likely end up being displayed at her clinic at some time in the future.

Aside from being a therapist, Amanda is also concerned about her daughter, like all parents with school-aged children.

“She’s only in JK, but we were trying to keep her learning up, although it is not easy. Her teacher has set up video meeting sessions, and she really looks forward to them, but afterwards she has been sad because they make her want to see her friends and she doesn’t understand why she can’t.”

All in all, Amanda is optimistic about the future, both for her business and her family, but getting through the next few months will not be easy.

“We are having our ups and downs like everybody else these days. We all share that.”