BRIDGEWATER — Town Manager Michael Dutton and Elder Affairs Director Emily Williams are pleased to announce that the Bridgewater Council on Aging has received a grant from the Old Colony Planning Council, which will be used to help fund a memory cafe at the Cole-Yeaton Senior Center.
The grant, in the amount of $4,000, will help create the first memory cafe serving Bridgewater. It will serve as a safe gathering place for those with memory loss and a welcoming spot for patrons’ family and caregivers.
As part of the cafe, the Council on Aging will be sponsoring gatherings at the site on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 10 a.m. They will be free of charge. The gatherings will include conversations, games, movement exercises, music and more.
Bridgewater State University students will also be on hand to join others for company, and complimentary lunch will be delivered afterwards for local residents.
“We are overjoyed by this grant to be able to help those in need,” Director Williams said. “Because of the pandemic, many older people who have become isolated, lonely or who have developed mild cognitive impairments such as dementia and other memory-related diseases have not had a safe community gathering space to enjoy with their families. This cafe will help fix that.”
The cafe was inspired by Alice, a former participant of COA activities. Because of the severe isolation and loneliness, her dementia progressed and she had to be moved to a nursing home closer to her family. She was living alone and could not attend the senior center in town because of it being shut down during the pandemic.
Many COA volunteers have prior experience with patrons with dementia, and there is a program being offered for those with no experience to give training in dementia awareness.
“I am so proud to represent a community that is so selfless in its efforts to help those in need in town,” Town Manager Dutton said. “We thank the Old Colony Planning Council for their very generous grant that will make the creation of this memory cafe possible, and for the hard work and dedication of COA staff for making the dream of a cafe a reality.”
To stay on top of brain health, a major goal of the COA is to work with cafe participants to keep them both socially and mentally active.
Residents of Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Brockton, Plymouth, Rayhnam, Halifax, Middleborough and Taunton are able to participate in the memory cafe. A diagnosis of dementia or other memory loss-related diseases are not needed to join this program, however, signs and symptoms of mild to moderate cognitive impairment are required.
COA staff will be working to facilitate the monthly cafe and do outreach to secure participants. They will be contacting current senior center participants who already gather for other services at the center.
For more information on the Bridgewater Council on Aging, click here or call 508-697-0929.
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