A Spang Crest resident helps pre- schoolers (names withheld for pri- vacy) make dough- nuts, one of many intergenerational activities offered by Luthercare in Pennsylvania.
Better A
Lutheran senior facilities connect the oldest, youngest By Jo Ann Dollard
together
nthropologist Margaret Mead wrote: “We have to get the older people and grandparents back close to children if we are to restore a sense of com-
munity, knowledge of the past and a sense of future to today’s children.”
Along the same lines, a National Network for Child Care statement reads: “Our society has the tendency to separate people by age groups. …In an effort to reduce age segregation, many agencies and child-care programs are work- ing to bring children and senior citizens together.” You can count ELCA-affiliated social service agencies among them. Many that provide housing, health and long-term services, and other support to aging Americans also offer on-site children’s day-care centers. Others connect seniors to children and youth through activities, visitation, mentoring and vol- unteer programs.
Natural interactions
Josephine Sunset Home is named after the wife of John Hals, a sawmill mag- nate who founded the retirement community more than a century ago. An hour north of Seattle in Stanwood, Wash., Josephine serves people of all
Dollard is a freelance writer in Chicago. 38 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org COURTESY OF LUTHERCARE
ages, including 160 nursing home residents, 57 people in assisted living suites, and 249 children in day care and a Montessori classroom for 4- and 5-year-olds.
Children are “totally integrated into the nursing home,” said Linda Alumbaugh, director of child care services. She said Josephine’s approach is based on the facility’s layout—including windows in chil- dren’s classrooms to facilitate sponta- neous interactions with seniors. Residents pass the toddlers or “waddlers” classroom on the way to the dining room or to the social hour, she said, and often “there’s a waddler sticking his nose up against the win- dow.” Smiles and laughter ensue. Alumbaugh described pushing a snack cart down the hall with a 2-year-old girl in tow, handing out snacks to residents. Over time, the child formed a connection with a resident she called “Poppa,” per- haps because he reminded her of her grandfather. “She even knew his place in the dining room,” Alum- baugh said.
“Natural interactions are what make it work,” she added. “Kids can be themselves and residents can be themselves too. It’s a lot more meaningful.”
‘All people matter’ Not far from the Iowa and Wisconsin borders, Good Shepherd Lutheran
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