Caring Days, a day care center for adults who have memory disorders, is looking for compassionate students to volunteer with their program.
The day care is designed to provide a level of assistance to clients between independent living and full-time care. The clients participate in a variety of fun activities that allow them to use cognitive, language, social and motor skills.
“The clients participate in music therapy, art therapy, exercise, storytelling, reminiscing, games, crafts, puzzles and more,” said Liz Marston, director of the Caring Days program.
Students can make a real positive impact on the lives of the clients by being able to work directly with them, she said.
“The clients love the interaction with the students,” Marston said.
However, it’s not just the clients who are positively affected. The students who volunteer also benefit.
“Working at Caring Days has been so exciting,” said Alexander Taylor, a UA student. “I absolutely love communicating with and helping the elderly.”
The program began in March of 1997 and has since been an exemplary program, winning the LOTUS award from the Women’s Committee of the Spain Rehabilitation center. It is awarded in recognition of making outstanding contributions to improving the lives of those with disabilities. The program won the award after only one year of operation.
Caring Days is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and is located in the Easter Seals building on Edward Hilliard Drive.
The Community Service Center currently has a program that helps Caring Days clients with crafts from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays. Interested students can contact Taylor at [email protected] for more information.
If students are unavailable at that time, they may contact Caring Days directly at 256-752-6840 to find out about other opportunities to volunteer.
The goal of Caring Days is to make sure that the clients laugh and smile every day. Students can be a part of bringing that joy both to themselves and to the clients.
“It’s important for students to remember to go out and volunteer in any area, because making someone smile is the greatest reward,” said Taylor.
