MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Developmental Center is the setting for the Easter Seals Adult Day Program, where elders and others who need round-the-clock attention can spend their days while their family members work.
Lisa Tharp, program manager, said the day program is “Mount Vernon’s best-kept secret” and is underutilized.
“We have a good program here, and we hope to have more elderly loved ones who live with family,” said Tharp. “We provide them with fun activities that are safe and, most important, they have their dignity. We want to make sure they are in activities that keep their brains working.”
The program is housed in two Rian Hall rooms with an outdoor courtyard; the participants enjoy being outside. One room will be turned into a “sensory room” for those who want to be by themselves — a space where they can relax and listen to music, where the lights are kept low.
“If you’re having a bad day,” said Tharp, “this will be the area where you can decompress.”
On Wednesdays, participants have supervised access to the MVDC gym and pool. Volunteer Steve Hatfield comes by to teach and practice Chi-Gong, a Chinese relaxation therapy, with them. Another volunteer conducts a Bible study, and visitors regularly come by to interact and chat.
“Everyone has the opportunity to choose what they want to do for the day,” said Tharp. “And making noise is not a problem here, if they want to make noise.”
The participants work on word puzzles, make crafts, build birdhouses, and go out for ice cream and picnics. They recently visited the Healing Field of Honor. They keep tabs on their tomato plant growing on the patio, tease each other, and share snacks and the lunches their family members pack for them.
“What’s so exciting about this program is the staff,” said Rob DuVall, marketing director for Easter Seals Central and Southeast Ohio Inc. “You want mom and dad to have options and to be treated as you would treat them yourself.”
One staff member is on duty for every six residents, said Tharp, and volunteers are always welcome to assist.
Day services are as important for the caregivers as for the participants.
“Caregiving is a stressful job,” said Tharp, who has had caregiving experience in her own family. “You have to remember not to stress yourself out, to use a respite service and don’t feel guilty about saying ‘I need a break.’”
Lucy O’Rourke, 85, who has Alzheimer’s but believes she has had a brain aneurysm for the past four years, is a regular participant in the program. She lives with her son on a farm near Fredericktown, where a bus picks her up two or three mornings a week and delivers her to MVDC. Her son works in Columbus all day.
“My kids had bought me a nice car,” recalled Lucy, “and I drove everywhere for two years. Never had a wreck. I had a great time, a wonderful time. Then, four years ago, I had to quit driving. That was the worst time of my life.”
She told how her daughter took her to a doctor, who gave them the diagnosis of “brain aneurysm.”
“It hasn’t affected me,” Lucy said. “It’s never bothered me in any way. I can read without glasses. I have no headaches.”
Lucy remembers well the distant past, serving with the Ohio health department during World War II and working as a clerk at the Lazarus store in downtown Columbus. She speaks fondly and with detail of those days. But when asked what she did yesterday, her answer is vague.
“We went to the Dollar Store,” she said. But she is unable to recall what she purchased. Instead, she said, “We enjoyed it. We always do. We go places and a lot of different things.”
On the days she stays at home, there’s not much to do.
“There’s not a lot I can do,” she said. “I don’t know too many people who have time to do something with me. That’s why I come here. I love it here. I fall right in with what they’re doing, or I just visit with them. I’ve made a lot of different things here. We had fun making bird houses a while back.
“They keep me from getting senile, I think. This has kept me from getting old. I mean, I’m out and around people. This is a wonderful organization.”