Casa de Vida
Seated at round tables, groups of grey-haired men and women ask each other questions and laugh at one another’s responses. They are playing a board game called “Senior Moments,” encouraging each other and recalling the past. Questions like “Name 3 tools you might buy at a hardware store” and “Name a gift your husband (wife) gave you” provide therapy for participants of the one-a-week Casa de Vida program for people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
The program, held each Tuesday from 9:30 to 1:30 at NorthPark Presbyterian Church, is highly structured, with songs, exercises and games. Participants are matched one-on-one with “caring companions” (volunteers), who get to know them well after completing Casa’s training program.
“They enjoy the music and they enjoy the companionship,” says Lake Highlands resident Kathy Hall, who chooses weekly themes for the Memory Matters activities she coordinates. Maria Bellantoni, also a resident of LH, plays piano and leads the group in songs related to this week’s theme – apples.
Ann Anderson, who helped program founder Molly Stewart get the program started in January of 2007, says the structure is intentional.
“We work in 30-minute increments, keeping them social, keeping them moving and keeping their mind going. We try to engage all 5 senses. With the apple there’s touch, sight, smell, hearing and taste, and this may stimulate, say, memories of eating caramel apples.”
Anderson is known to many in LH from her days working in the office of orthodontist Dr. Greg Greenberg, now working in Frisco. Stewart is known to many as the mother of LH resident Robb Stewart. Their vision for creating the program involved helping, not just victims of dementia, but their caregivers and family members, as well.
“This is the only program in the area which matches volunteers one-on-one, and that’s key,” says NorthPark Presbyterian Pastor Brent Barry, also a resident of Lake Highlands. “It’s not just babysitting. There’s activity, and participants are engaged. You feel really good dropping your loved one off here.”
Lake Highlands resident Ellen Mata, Director of Casa de Vida, says family caregivers thank her often and describe the relief of having one day a week to complete their errands or simply have a day to rest and rejuvenate. Participants must be in early-to-mid-stages of their disease, living independently and able to feed and care for themselves.
The program requires large numbers of volunteers – one for each of the 15 participants – and they’ll need 15 more when the program expands to add Wednesdays. Half of the volunteers are church members and half come from the community. Only one or two participants come from the church.
If you are interested in volunteering or enrolling a family member in Casa de Vida, you may email Ellen Mata at emata@northparkpres.org. Participants pay $15 per session, though scholarships are available.
Casa de Vida “Senior Moments” game
Casa de Vida
