“When I walk into the Gathering Place, it feels like magic! There’s joy in the air. What’s your secret?”
From the outside looking in, it may seem like magic. Participants are excited to get on the bus or get a ride to The Gathering Place. Once they arrive, they greet each other with joy, and share time together around an activity or some food. They enjoy genuine and ever-deepening friendships. We laugh, play, learn, grow, and expand our minds and our sense of self.
But it’s not magic. It’s carefully planned and executed activities that arise from this vision of adult day services.
Yes, we start with clinical oversight, family independence, nutrition, hygiene, and medical coordination. And that allows us to provide safety and well-being, which is the essential place to start. Once there, we can go so much deeper.
We place the utmost importance on truly engaging with each participant’s sense of their own identity.
It starts with noticing the details about people’s lives and helping find connections to those places. For example, everyone has their own ‘Show and Tell Day’. Someone may bring in their yearbook, or a photo from a family member or past job. Then they use that to tell their tale. We can learn so much by really listening to what each person lights up about – what’s really meaningful to them. And that’s where friendships begin – when we really learn about each other.
I’ve been in other facilities that have huge budgets to spend on fancy activities – but the environments can still be so stale. Real engagement doesn’t happen unless you’re aiming to create connections. And that only happens with careful planning, and community building. We don’t just have music, we create the physical and social environment so that we can dance together.
I hope you can make a gift! Be part of our ‘magic’ at the Gathering Place!
–Dawn Slade
