Seniors return in person to center’s Adult Day Program

The unmistakable strains of the Village People’s “YMCA” thumped through the basement of Glen Cove Senior Center, enlivening the center’s Adult Day Program for seniors who were busy exercising. On the sidelines, staffers cheered. This was just one of many activities in the Adult Day Program, which focuses on the community’s frail elderly, that returned to in-person participation on Feb. 7. 

The program has had a difficult two years. Along with the rest of the senior center, it was forced to close as the coronavirus pandemic ramped up in the spring of 2020. Remote sessions were offered during the day, to help caregivers and to encourage social activities for seniors. Families who didn’t have computers were given iPads by the center, program coordinator Melanie Raymundo said. They were happy that someone was looking out for their loved ones.

“There were a lot of people willing to do it, and willing to jump into technology,” Raymundo said. “Everyone came up with amazing ways to engage through the Zoom medium.” 

Although the center reopened in April 2021, it had to close again last September, when Tropical Storm Ida flooded the basement. In October, the center reopened, but not the basement. Work began in January 2022 to renovate the lower floor. And the Adult Day Program continued online. 

“In the flood, we lost a lot of the furniture that had been here for years,” Amanda Freeman, the program’s director, said. “It still looks a little barren right now, but things are in the works to get everything completed.” 

Although the basement reopened this month, renovations continue. “We got so much work done in such a short amount of time,” Freeman said. “The Department of Public Works was just amazing.” 

The senior center bus for the Adult Day Program isn’t operating yet, but it will be running once again in the coming weeks, Christine Rice, the center’s executive director, said. 

“We didn’t have transportation all throughout the pandemic,” Rice added, “and then we had to hire a new bus driver.”

The Adult Day Program gives seniors 60 years and older who need individual care a full schedule of group activities, including trivia games, arts and crafts, exercise and visits by a therapy dog to create a stimulating environment that helps promote conversations. 

“One of the biggest things with our program is, even though they may not know each other by name, there is such a sense of community,” Freeman said. “They definitely view each other as friends and peers. They enjoy coming every day.”

“It’s really like designing a program where they can engage physically, emotionally, and mentally … to try and bring them out of their daily life, which is mostly at home, into a place where they can be involved and they can be independent to a certain extent,” Raymundo explained.

A study by the University of Texas, which included more than 300 adults over 65, concluded that social interactions encourage seniors to be more physically active, and help boost emotional health and cognitive abilities. A Pew Research study found that there is a higher life expectancy for older people who are active. 

Patricia Parmelee, 89, who has been a member of the Adult Day Program for about a year now, said she enjoys every part of it. “I always learn, and I always have fun,” Parmalee said. “The people here are very outgoing and easy to get to know. I love it. I love all the parts of it, the people that you’re here with [and] the kinds of things you get to do.” 

Parmelee, Raymundo said, is a wealth of knowledge, and is very popular. She enjoys brain challenges and has a skill for art. 

Families can enroll in the program by contacting Freeman at afreeman@glencoveny.gov, or (516) 759-2345.