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Chautauqua Adult Day Services receives Community Service Award

Submitted Photo This year the awards was presented to Karen Lucks, associate director on behalf of the agency. From left are Diane Samuelson, Andy Parker, Karen Lucks and Kim Buffone.

Chautauqua Adult Day Services received an award recently at The Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day 31th annual award ceremony.

The COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD is awarded to a group working in the community that has gone the “extra mile” to help enrich the lives of people with developmental disabilities.

Chautauqua Adult Day Services in 1989 was one of the initial Third Age Programs to receive funding to integrate older adults with developmental disabilities with the elderly mainstream population in a community based setting. The goal of the funding was to enable older adults with developmental disabilities to be able to retire from their workshop or other programming and attend a social community based integrated day program with the general aging public. Everyone in the program participates together in activities on a daily basis. To this date, the agency continues to be successful in providing a truly integrated program.

At first, there were doubts whether or not this type of integration would work, but Chautauqua Adult Day Services has been extremely successful in providing an excellent and innovative program for older adults with a developmental disability. Many participants have benefited from attending over the years and the success is due to the dedication and will to succeed of the staff and agency. The agency provides everyone with a program that gives them choice, dignity, the ability to make friends, and have quality of life.

The agency has expanded to a total of four sites in Chautauqua County Jamestown, Dunkirk & Westfield that provide programming designed to integrate all the populations that attend. One of the sites, the Present Center, is a day program specifically for individuals with Alzheimer Disease and Memory Loss. It was the first dementia specific day program in Chautauqua County and it has also provided services for developmentally disabled older adults with dementia.

All in all, older adults with developmental disabilities participate in all activities with other individuals on an ongoing basis. This includes large and small group activities, intergenerational programming, community involvement trips, pet therapy, art, music, special events and much more. The sites provide an opportunity for socialization and offer case management services, nutrition and transportation as well.

Chautauqua Adult Day Services has been one of the forerunners in New York State to provide an innovative, truly integrative and therapeutic setting for older adults with developmental disabilities. It has been providing its integrated community based program for 30 years and continues to offer a valuable service helping older adults in the latter stages of their lives.

For information: visit www.seniordayprograms.com or call Westfield: 326-6842 Dunkirk: 366-8786 or Jamestown 665-4899.

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