THROUGH THE EYES OF A PROVIDER

Melissa Kappauf, activities director at The Salvation Army’s Lakewood Adult Day Center in Maplewood, says the center offers a variety of arts programs “because we have lots of clients, and they are all different. When you’ve got 65 clients coming to the center throughout the week, ranging in age from 50 to 95, and with a wide range of physical and cognitive abilities, there is naturally going to be a wide range of likes and dislikes. So we plan several kinds of activities – like writing, art, and music groups – as well as active games and cognitive activities, to try to match each client’s needs.”

Currently, the Center offers five different arts-related programs on a regular basis; some are monthly, others are weekly. One of these is the Life Writing Group, in which participants write the stories of their lives. There is also Art Group, which started with just watercolors, but has now blossomed into pastels, acrylics, and occasionally clay sculpture.

Why Don’t We Be the Writers?
“There’s a brand new offering, called the Story Writing Group, which developed from our clients’ wanting to talk about books, which led in turn to the question of ‘why don’t we be the writers?’ So we set up a fictional story writing group,” Kappauf says.

“‘Music with Barbara’ is just that; Barbara is a volunteer musician who comes in to do sing-alongs, as well as perform. We also have a once-a-month musical event that involves various musicians, some of whom play the piano and sing; we also have guitar players and sometimes other instrumentalists.”

Creativity on a Budget
Kappauf notes that all of the art projects are funded by the Center: “We have a small budget for art activities, and we try to be as creative as we can under this limitation. Budget restrictions mean that, aside from the professional artists whom we pay to lead our groups, we look to volunteers for assistance, and to lead our art groups.”

The Center has a monthly calendar that it provides to all clients and to family members. The calendar has all scheduled activities listed, and also highlights the new and different art-related activities for the month. The Center also sends out postcards to remind clients and family members of important events coming up.

Most of the referrals to the center are through current clients and their families; word of mouth is the Center’s strongest form of publicity. The Center’s social services coordinator also goes to clinics and doctors’ offices in the area to publicize what the Center does, and provides them with flyers and brochures about the Center’s offerings.

Hitting the Highlights
“There are so many highlights to the arts programs,” says Kappauf. “One of my favorites is seeing clients after they have accomplished something that they didn’t know they were capable of. It’s also cool when clients try a new activity -- such as the painting group -- and they discover that they like it and are good at it; they just are amazed and so joyful. The pride in their eyes when they accomplish something like that is so gratifying, and is one of my favorite things about the program.”

A New Day, New Ideas
“Every day, clients have new ideas for us, so the Center’s art-related programs are always expanding and growing. One program that we would like to have is a dancing group. Especially for clients who may not be able to express themselves verbally, dance would provide a great opportunity for them to express what they are thinking and feeling.” Kappauf notes that the Center is also looking for a fabric artist who can help clients with a quilting project. She says clients actually have a quilt started, but that the Center is looking for someone who can foster creativity in quilting participants, and lead them in finishing the quilt.