Some of our children at Gates visited our Grandmas and Grandpas last week, and apples were on the agenda. They discussed the different varieties of apples and their health benefits. They read the story, “The little Red House with No Doors and No Windows,” which tells the tale of a little boy and his search for a “house” which also has a star inside. We also learned that when an apple is cut in half, a star is revealed!
Each summer our Child Care Camp puts on the Krazy Kids Karnival! Each location designs, builds, works and then plays the carnival games. Our Edler Care program also gets involved and this year enjoyed a picnic lunch with our kids and watched each centers perform at the annual “all camp” Talent Show. They also got busy putting together all the prize bags for the children. The “photo booth” is always a huge hit! The kids and seniors dressed up in crazy hats and masks and use props to create one-of-a-kind fun-filled photos! What a fantastic event it is every year!
May is Older Americans Month, and one of our many celebrations this month included recognizing the value of meaningful social interaction between our older and younger generations. For our Inter-generational celebration, we invited Gates Town Supervisor, Mark Assini, to join in by reading to our grandmas, grandpas, and children. He amused us all by singing and acting out the Spiderman song! Later in the day, the Gates-Chili Jazz Ensemble entertained us with several tunes that had the kids up and dancing and the seniors smiling from ear to ear! We also celebrated this month with an ice cream social and today we are focusing on health and fitness. Lots of fun, exciting things happening this month!
Every year our Elder Care participants take a trip to a local farm store, The Garden Factory, to view the beautiful holiday Pointsettia flowers and the amazing toy train exhibit. The Pre-K class from St. Mike’s joined them this year and had a wonderful time with the grandmas and grandpas!
On Monday, September 9th our Elder Care participants celebrated the life of Lu Anderson, who passed away last year at the age of 95. Her family donated money to purchase a beautiful oak bench to be placed at our Gates, NY location. Lu attended our program for almost three years. Generations had a plaque made that said, “In loving memory of Luella Anderson, “Grandma Lu.” 10-1-17 — 11-7-12.”
We had a small dedication ceremony with our “grandmas and grandpas” and their families. The photos show Donna Delvecchio, Elder Care Coordinator, Mae Evans, who works with Donna, and Chris and Jack Long, Lu’s daughter and son-in-law. Many thanks to Grandma Lu’s family for the generous gift.
New York State defines Social adult day care programs as those offering “a structured, comprehensive program which provides functionally impaired individuals with socialization; supervision and monitoring; personal care; and nutrition in a protective setting during any part of the day, but for less than 24 hours”.
Social adult day services (SADS) are an important component of the community-based service-delivery system that helps to delay or prevent nursing home placement and the need for other very costly services, while providing vital assistance to the older person with cognitive and/or physical impairments and supporting their informal caregivers. Research demonstrates that caregivers who experience stress and burden are more likely to “burn out” and, thus, place their loved ones in an institution, directly impacting Medicaid spending for skilled nursing home care. SADS can help to ease the burden of caregivers by providing them with time to take care of other needs and address other priorities; the service also allows many caregivers to continue to work. At the same time, it addresses the basic needs of the individual needing care in a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment. (Source New York State Office for the Aging.)
Our innovative program offers a safe environment where Generations strives to meet the needs of Seniors and Caregivers. We aim to foster new peer friendships, help participants find interests and skills they never knew they had and help them to maintain a healthy meaningful lifestyle.