Am I green with envy?

Not really, as this project is too big for us, but it shows that Intergenerational Centers are a solution. I love the basis for their programming at the end of the article.

DCS to break ground on Intergenerational Center

Special to Dorchester Banner/DCS Chesapeake Grove will have apartments and condos available for seniors and individuals with disabilities. Assisted-living apartments will also be part of the mix of facilities.

CAMBRIDGE — Delmarva Community Services, Inc. (DCS) leaders and supporters will break ground Nov. 9 on the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Intergenerational Center, the focal point of the Chesapeake Grove Continuing Care Community. The facility will offer state-of-the-art senior and intergenerational services to the region, and is the first of its kind on the Eastern Shore.

Among the dignitaries scheduled to attend the event is Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford.

The multi-million-dollar project on Chesapeake Drive beside the current DCS building will replace DCS’s existing senior center. The new building will give seniors more choices in programs, services, clubs and classes made available in small group settings, and including young children.

The site will then add three housing units for seniors and individuals with disabilities. Each building will contain approximately 29 one- and two-bedroom units featuring kitchens and laundry facilities, including some units with washers and dryers.

The apartments will provide residents immediate access to the services and facilities within the Intergenerational Center and will have easy access to the Delmarva Community Transit network.

The third stage will bring two senior assisted living buildings to the site. Each will have 15 units for residents who need a higher level of assistance but do not require nursing home care.

Special to Dorchester Banner/DCS Chesapeake Grove will offer extensive services for senior citizens, as well as recreational and social activities and easy access to transportation.

DCS anticipates providing a continuum of services including in-home assistance and support for couples in which one partner may live in the senior housing, while the other resides in an assisted living unit.

All areas of the site will be fully handicapped accessible. There will be access to medical care, with a nurse on staff, along with certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and Geriatric Nursing Assistants (GNAs).

The Chesapeake Grove Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Intergenerational Center will provide experiences designed to enhance the lives of adults and children through shared experiences within the 50,000-square-foot facility and among the wider community.

The center’s concept was inspired during a visit by CEO/President Santo Grande to St. Anne’s Center in Milwaukee, Wisc., where staff work to meet residents’ spiritual, psychological, social and physical needs, through an extensive array of services and facilities.

After a discussion with Sister Edna Lonergan, president of St. Anne’s Center, Mr. Grande decided to use the Wisconsin site as a model for Chesapeake Grove.

A prepared statement from DCS said, “The Chesapeake Grove Intergenerational Center will bring several services under one roof, but in a space designed specifically to address modern expectations for community services and facilities. The space has been designed to be welcoming, encourage spontaneous interactions, convey a community-like feeling, create new opportunities for senior activities and interests, and to encourage a family atmosphere among its staff and visitors.”

The space will also include new possibilities for gardening, outdoor recreation, exercise, meditation, and therapeutic treatments. Adult day services and day habilitation services will also be available.

“Most important will be the genuine interactions among seniors, individuals with disabilities and children,” the statement said. “The St. Anne’s Center has proven that this model works and how mutually therapeutic/beneficial this type of shared community space can be among the wider community when combined with programming.”

The center’s programming will be framed around four areas of experience:
• Being active together/Being healthy – Fellowship, meals, exercise, meditation
• Being engaged together/Being needed – Clubs, gardening and exercise, civic engagement, helping each other, cooking
• Being continual learners/Being understood – Classes, informative speakers, library and reading together, current events
• Being happy together/Being accepted – Making and listening to music, making and observing art, drama and performance, travel and learning.

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