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INDIANA: Renovation Under Way For New Adult Day Service Center Alzheimer's Services to open facility in February By DAVID RUMBACH - Tribune Staff Writer December 8, 2003 SOUTH BEND -- Thanks to a large gift from a local charitable trust, a former medical office at 922 E. Colfax Ave. is being remodeled for use as an adult day services center. Alzheimer's Services of Northern Indiana Inc. plans to open Milton Adult Day Services in February, serving adults who can't safely be left alone because of dementia or other conditions. The facility is named after the Robert and Clara Milton Charitable Trust Foundation, which made a large donation toward the project at a crucial time in the fund-raising campaign. Alzheimer's Services took on the project to fill the gap left by the closing of the Saint Joseph Adult Day Services, Alzheimer's Services director Bill Jack said. Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center Inc. closed that center last May as part of a cost-cutting program. "The donation from the Milton family is the cornerstone that gave us the confidence to go forward,'' Jack said. "This support is what got it off the ground.'' Alzheimer's Services, a nonprofit agency, plans to raise donations to cover the $300,000 needed to pay for renovation and other start-up costs, Jack said. That will help keep fees charged to clients as low as possible, he said. "In the state of Indiana, there are very few government dollars to help people pay for adult services,'' he said. "Most people pay out of pocket.'' The agency has raised about three-fourths of the money it needs for the startup, Jack said. Peggy Unwin, the director of Milton Adult Day Services, said she is accepting applications from prospective participants in the program, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. She can be reached at (574) 232- 4121. She emphasized that the service is not limited to people with dementia. "It's not just for people with Alzheimer's,'' Unwin said. Instead, it's for adults who need supervision for a wide variety of reasons, such as being at a high risk of falling, needing medical monitoring or just needing some good social activity to avoid depression. Nationally, about half of the participants in day service programs have no cognitive impairment at all, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Rather than dementia, they may have such conditions as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and mild mental illness or be in recovery from a stroke, Unwin said. Services to be offered at the center include hot noon meals and nutritious snacks; activities such as music, exercise and arts and crafts; outings; help with rehabilitation therapy; and medical and medication monitoring. The program is designed to handle a maximum of 40 participants at any one time but will start off with a smaller group of about 10 to 15 people, Unwin said. Fees will vary based on the level of care participants need and how long they're at the center, she said. The cost for the highest level of care will be about $33 per half-day unit of service. Hot lunch is included with either the morning or the afternoon period, she noted. The center plans to meet the requirements of the state CHOICE and Medicaid waiver programs, Unwin said, enabling participants who qualify to receive financial help from those sources. Unwin, a licensed practical nurse, said she directed the Riverview Adult Day Center at Trinity United Methodist Church, in Elkhart, for eight years before being named first director of the new Milton center. Memorial Hospital and Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center have both supported the new service, Jack said. Jack said Memorial is leasing the building to Alzheimer's Services under a favorable five-year lease that requires no rent during the first year. The medical center has donated the furniture and equipment from the adult day service it closed last May, he said. Staff writer David Rumbach: [log in to unmask] (574) 235-6358 SOURCE: The South Bend Tribune http://tinyurl.com/yd3h * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn