Full Circle
Circle Center's E-Newsletter
"There are only four kinds of people in the world. Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver."
-Rosalyn Carter
As we wade through the end of winter and head into Spring (and hope that the Groundhog was wrong in his estimation), we certainly had no shortage of celebrations to keep us busy and festive!

February saw the celebration of National Caregiver Day and Recreational Therapy Month. Both allowed us an opportunity to highlight and honor fundamental components of our program and scope of service. Of course February also had us sharing the love on Valentine's Day!

We share these celebrations below, as well as an exciting opportunity to welcome all of you Inside the Circle. We continue to appreciate this monthly opportunity in Full Circle to share a little bit about what makes Circle Center so special, and if you missed it last time, please click here to share with us if you have specific ideas about things you would like to learn about in future editions.
Caregiver Appreciation Day
While we can never do enough to honor the importance and dedication of our caregivers and care partners, we were happy to take advantage of National Caregiver Appreciation Day, to do just that. We wanted to share just a small token of our appreciation to our caregivers and care-partners and acknowledge their resilience, support and partnership.

We had coffee and donuts for caregivers during a recent Monday morning drop-off and hoped to start their day with a small welcome and appreciation. Through the generous support of our board members, we also collected a variety of gift cards for local restaurants and services and special items to create a "Caregiver Appreciation Basket" and entered each of our caregivers into a chance to win.

While we continuously work to find ways to incorporate caregiver and care partner needs into our services and programs, understanding who our caregivers are is the first step in identifying resources and modifying our programs to meet their needs and challenges. Through our intake process, regular caregiver conferences, and our annual caregiver survey, we are able to create a broad picture of who are caregivers are and adjust our services to meet their needs.

A fundamental component of our work is to provide respite for our caregivers and we know that "respite" is defined differently for each of our caregivers. Our most recent caregiver survey results show us that 65% of our caregivers continue to be actively employed, indicating to us that respite care allows our caregivers to remain active members of the workforce. 60% of our caregivers share that a primary reason in selecting Circle Center's services are to allow them to attend to other commitments and life roles, such as parent or community volunteer; 57% report that selecting Circle Center provides a necessary break from caregiving and 90% report that they selected Circle Center to provide the socialization for their loved one's that is difficult or impossible to provide on their own.

These findings help to inform our programs and support services and resources as we continue to find ways to uplift our caregivers and care partners and incorporate their needs and challenges into our overall program.
Happy Recreatioanal Therapy Week!
Although it is a cornerstone of our program, many people are still unfamiliar with what Recreational Therapy actually means. It really is as it sounds, activities and programs that are recreational in nature yet offer a bounty of therapeutic benefits.

While at first glance a recreationally therapeutic arts and crafts project seems like a simple activity, arts and crafts is an incredible way to engage and offer socialization, develop sensory, fine and gross motor skills and provide opportunities for interaction and independence.

Recreational Therapy is known to have a positive impact on those living with cognitive or emotional challenges and reaches each participant on a personal level as we can incorporate their individual interests to make therapy fun, relaxing and meaningful.

Games, arts and crafts, puzzles, therapy and activities such as using resistance bands, increase social skills, assist with strength and coordination, impact confidence and independence, allow for positive interaction and engagement, and of course, create moments of joy and fun!

Our incredible Recreational Therapy team, led by Mary Branzelle and Elizabeth Perkins, along with Lauren Glaser, offer participants a variety of daily activities designed specifically to reach them individually and collectively. We see and hear the positive impact these curated programs have daily as participants engage with each other and staff and have fun.
You're Invited:

Inside the Circle
Thursday, March 3rd
12-1
Join us for our Inside the Circle virtual event.

Hear from Center leadership about navigating the seemingly endless pandemic and our plans for the future. Get the scoop on how we continue to serve the region's most vulnerable aging adults and their care partners and how our programs and services have evolved to meet the current challenges.

Slip on your slippers, grab some lunch and ZOOM with us!

Save your seat and provide your feedback below - submit questions and topics you would like to hear about!
Sharing the Love
To celebrate Valentine's Day, we all dressed in our best Valentine colors, as well as welcomed our friends from Genworth for a fun celebration. They helped us share the love with fun Valentine themed games and arts and crafts!
A Fond Farewell
Jennie has been a part of the Circle Center team for 4 years. You've likely been welcomed by her smile at reception or on the phone, but you've certainly felt the impact of her kind and giving nature as she has supported all manner of our needs! And all with that famous Southern drawl!

Join us as we wish her well in her well earned retirement! Thank you Jennie!
Thank you for your support!
Your support has allowed us to continue to serve our community, and support our participants and caregivers throughout the pandemic. Thank you.