ENGAGING HEARTS … ENRICHING MINDS

The Gathering Place opened its doors in April 2008, we started out with just 4 participants and 19 volunteers. By late summer our numbers doubled and we just continued to grow from there!

There was a realization of the unmet need in the community, a need for families and caregivers to have respite. And also a need to provide engagement and socialization to the individual with memory loss.

As soon as we opened it became apparent that our program was so much more than just a “respite” program, the focus was on the participant and the result was generating positive effects. The Gathering Place focuses on having meaningful and supportive relationships with participants. Providing a 1 to 1 ratio volunteer to participate, so the participant stays fully engaged.

Most people would not think that improvement is an option with this population, but was do see improvements on a daily basis!

Improvements we see are:

Social Engagement

Better Word Finding

Alertness

Improved Fine Motor Skills

Increased Attention Span

Increased Confidence

Improved Mobility

Better Balance

Better Sleep Balance

Relationships within the entire care family are improved by the positive effects at The Gathering Place.