Full Circle
Circle Center's E-Newsletter
"A single sunbeam is enough to drive
away many shadows."
-St. Francis of Assisi
Summer is upon us, and as we look forward to sunny days and summer nights, we reflect on a Spring full of celebrations. Chief among them being the celebration of Circle Center's Anniversary! While this year we celebrated on a smaller scale, it certainly wasn't without joy! We ushered in our 46th year in service with a Spirit Week full of cheer and fun and we invite you to enjoy the pictures below!

Our Anniversary always provides us with an opportunity to honor our history and our legacy, and especially during these challenging years, to celebrate everyone who continues to support our mission! We thank our friends, care partners, participants, volunteers, staff, families, and all of you who have shared your generosity with us. We couldn't serve our participants and families without your help!

Our goal of providing our person centered care to participants and care-givers, such as Mike and Judy in the story we share below, has never wavered. Thank you to everyone who continues to make possible the essential work that we do.
Caregiver Story
The third story that we shared during our inaugural Inside the Circle virtual event was that of Mike and his mother-in-law, Judy.

Mike who himself is a neuropsychologist who specializes in rehabilitative medicine, has a deep understanding of the science and thought behind our work and of the powerful connection between rehabilitative and recreational therapy and dementia care.

In his professional capacity, Mike has studied dementia extensively and considers it his passion project. He has created programs and protocols that are widely used in dementia care. So when his mother-in-law, Judy, began to show early indications of dementia, he recognized the signs and began to search into the best options for her care.

Judy moved in with Mike and Kim, and after a fall precipitated her continued decline, they found themselves needed as 24 hour a day caregivers.
Desiring the best outcome for Judy, and the right kind of support for himself and his wife as caregivers, Mike and Kim sought out to find somewhere Judy would feel a sense of belonging.

This connection to feeling a sense of belonging somewhere is vital to well-being, something Mike understands so well through his own careful research and work. This is the core understanding of validation therapy, a key research tool studied and used by Mike in his own work. Upon enrolling his mother in law at Circle Center, Mike and Kim noticed an immediate change. This feeling of belonging was giving Judy her sense of self back and the acceptance she needed to feel comfortable and join a community. "This is what Circle Center does," Mike shared, and what they give to their participants and families.

Mike continued to share from his unique perspective as someone with a background in this field, just how important research into the best interventions for dementia care is and how Circle Center employs them in our day to day - through psychosocial and cognitive stimulation, and activities based in memory and recall, and through the use of exercise and movement.

Mike and Kim set about researching the available options in our community with the same zeal and purpose employed in their own careers, and recognized that Circle Center was the best place offering the exact kind of specialized care Judy needed. The effect on her was notable almost immediately and both Mike and Kim recognized something else, the return of Judy's smile.
Happy Anniversary Circle Center!
May is the month we recognize and celebrate Circle Center's Anniversary! While we still feel as if the celebrations of our 45th last May have carried us through another challenging year of pandemic life, we appreciated another opportunity to honor Circle Center and what makes us so special.

We celebrated with a special themed Spirit Week and invited participants and staff to participate in dress-up days, and as usual...they did not disappoint!

We celebrated with Wacky Tacky Day, Circle Center Colors Day (teal and orange), Spring Attire Day, Favorite Hat Day, and finally Neon Colors Day!
Help us Celebrate our Anniversary!
To celebrate our legacy and history, we also invite you to make a gift in honor of our Anniversary!

Thank you to everyone who supports us with their generosity and helps to ensure we can continue to serve those who need us for another 46 years...and beyond!
And we introduce our New Brochure!
We are still enjoying our updated logo and look courtesy of our 45th Anniversary Celebrations and we are working on some new marketing materials to go along with them!

Thank you to Michael Snell with Dominion Vistas, graphic designer Rachel Cifarelli, and consultant, Ellen Thornhill, for working to give us a new brochure that shows off what makes Circle Center so special!
We are printing an initial small run of brochures to share around the community.

*If you know anywhere we should distribute these please let us know!
Circle Center Updates!
Welcome New Board Member!
Welcome to our newest board member, Colleen Warner Davis!

Colleen Warner Davis, LMSW, MSG, CDP, CMC, is a licensed social worker with extensive experience with older adults and dementia care. Colleen was introduced to Circle Center through volunteer work with Genworth, where she has served in a variety of clinical roles since 2013 and currently leads their care management initiatives. She is also in training to be a Mayo Clinic Wellness Coach and volunteers for Virginia Voice and Meals on Wheels as well as with her church and her three children's schools. We are so excited to welcome Colleen and her vast experience, knowledge and skills to our board!
Summer Interns & Students
Another welcome sign of summer are the summer students and interns who are joining us! We happily welcome students and interns who will learn and work alongside Team Circle Center in a variety of fields and specialties, support our projects and offer staff and participants support and energy!

We are excited to welcome 13 nursing students from James Madison University. They will be joining us for the next few weeks and will be working one on one in helping monitor participant health. 
Welcome to MJ Benson, a public policy major and rising senior at William and Mary, who will be working with our CEO and Admin team on a variety of projects that support the daily “running” of the Center behind the scenes. She’ll also be the lead on coordinating a legislative visit with elected officials this summer. It’s important to communicate the value of adult day and in particular our Center, as we seek to increase Medicaid reimbursement for adult day services.  
Our nursing and recreational therapy team also happily welcomes two students. McKayla Fox, a Health Science Major from VCU and Shaniece Green, a Recreational Therapy major from ODU.
Community Resources -
"The Need for a More Nuanced Understanding of Age"
For those of us in the aging adult services field, or for anyone with an aging adult in their lives, this article is a helpful reminder to all of us to view aging adults through multiple lenses. This is a quick read that was a good challenge for all of us to keep in mind our biases during daily interactions. Click below to read.