Easter Seals center to offer variety of services for seniors

Construction on $15 million downtown facility to begin in July

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

by Meredith Hooker

Staff Writer

Construction of the new Easter Seals intergenerational center in downtown Silver Spring will begin in July, and Easter Seals officials say the center will provide affordable senior care.

The center will be built at the corner of Second Avenue and Spring Street. In exchange for land from the county, Easter Seals will provide about $1.2 million of care to Montgomery County seniors, according to information from the nonprofit organization. The project will cost about $15 million, funded from both public and private dollars.

When Easter Seals was founded, it focused primarily on serving children with disabilities, said Lisa Reeves, president and CEO. However, she said, the organization eventually realized it also needed to serve the needs of the rapidly growing — and aging — senior residents who want to stay in their homes.

‘‘We have to get ready to support older adults,” Reeves said.

The center, to be called the Easter Seals⁄Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Inter-Generational Center, is expected to open in September 2007. It is anticipated to serve more than 15,000 children, adults and seniors with disabilities, and their families and caregivers over the next decade. The center will help those with disabilities live independently and be successful, Reeves said.

Statistics show there are about 2,300 people in the area who could benefit from the intergenerational center’s services, according to Easter Seals.

The Silver Spring center will have an adult day care program similar to Easter Seals programs in Hagerstown and Baltimore County, Reeves said. That program assists seniors and adults with a variety of health problems, including physical disabilities, depression and Alzheimer’s disease. The program provides social, medical, rehabilitative, educational and group activities.

The adult day program is expected to serve more than 100 seniors each week, according to Easter Seals.

But the center will also serve children with disabilities, providing child care, as well as early education and learning opportunities.

‘‘We believe that older adults and adults have a lot to gain from being with younger children,” Reeves said. ‘‘There are reciprocal benefits to both populations.”

Those benefits include enhanced communication skills and increased self-esteem, as well as learning opportunities across both generations, she said.

The center will be more than 41,000 square feet with two levels of underground parking. There will be an area for children and an area for seniors, Reeves said. Adults and children will share resources, like an assistive technology center that will help people of all ages be independent. Occupational, physical, social and speech therapy services will also be offered on-site to serve the broader community as well as those who use the center every day.

A caregiver resource center will also be available. ‘‘It’s very challenging day in and day out to ... take care of someone else,” Reeves said.