This past week I had the privilege of meeting two remarkable women that started a free adult daycare run by volunteers at St. Mark's by the Sea Lutheran Church. The church opens it's doors from 10:00-2:00 every Thursday. Families meeting their criteria can drop off their loved one secure in the knowledge that they will be entertained and well cared for in a locked area. The majority of the visitors to this daycare have beginning dementia/Alzheimer's and cannot be left alone anymore for safety reasons. As you can imagine, constant supervision of a loved one with dementia/Alzheimer's can feel overwhelming. Programs like this daycare allow the caregiver time to replenish their emotional, physical and mental reservoirs by getting the regular break that they need.
Sandy, one of the volunteers and founders, is a woman small in stature but big in personality; she bounced around the room beaming about the program and excited to share. The large room had work stations set up with various projects being supervised by a volunteer. She took me to a table where 6 men where folding used plastic sacks for the church's food drive. This saves the food drive volunteers time as they must prep bags of food to be sent home for 1800 school children each weekend. I was astonished at that staggering number but impressed that her visitors has such purposeful work to do and some were happy to say that it made them feel good to help. Sandy then took me to a table that they dedicate to one on one time. Each visitor has a memory box and in the box there are pictures of important people and events with note cards that are used as conversation starters. The visitor sits with the volunteer and gets to talk about their life then and now. It was quite moving to watch them share. The note cards have their previous occupation, loved ones names and tidbits about them personally so that the volunteer could steer them into the conversation. The last table was an art project where they were coloring tiles with different magic markers. Later a solution was poured over the tile making a kaleidoscope of colors that were quite impressive once dried.
Sandy called Mary over to meet me and introduced her as the brainchild of the operation. Mary had gone through a season of being the caretaker for her mother in law who had dementia. That experience gave her thorough understanding about the need to be able to take a break from round the clock care. She spoke of her own need to replenish mind, soul and body before she reached the point of having nothing left to give to her mother in law. Mary shared that her vision moving forward is to have a coalition of churches join hand in hand so that there is a daycare being offered every day of the week in our community and not just on Thursday. She told me that the daycare has been been open since January and has waiting list. "This need is not going away!" I had to agree with her statement. Mary told me that she doesn't advertise and that out of the 12 regular visitors, only one is a member of their church.
This is such a fabulous idea that I asked Mary if she'd help me get things started in Ormond Beach. My job will be to find churches willing to listen to how Mary's program works and her job will be to come in and educate them about how she made it work. Like Mary, those of us who have been through this journey, have gained much wisdom and need to reach back and share that wisdom with those just starting out. Mary said that the families of her visitors, without any prompting from her, started meeting at the church once a month as a support group and they have created a new community of assistance to one another. This is what happens when a great idea meets a true need, it begins to bless all involved. Look out Ormond Beach --- something spectacular is on the way in senior daycare!!!
Mona McPherson
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