Ribbon Cutting

Day Kimball Healthcare administrators and Day Kimball Healthcare at Home staff cut the ribbon on the new space for the Memory Lane Café. Courtesy photo.

 

PUTNAM —  Day Kimball Healthcare at Home officially opened a new space for Memory Lane Café, its memory care activity program.

The Putnam Economic Development department and the Putnam Business Association took part in the ribbon cutting Nov. 8.  The program provides stimulating activities for people affected by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, as well as respite time for their caregivers.

Charla Beattie coordinates the Café’s activities for Day Kimball Healthcare at Home and explained to the crowd about the purpose of the Café.  

“We provide a non-judgmental atmosphere routed in understanding; we foster social interactions and enhance memory health; we strive to bring our clients a sense of purpose, a better quality of life; we want our clients to feel engaged in the world and we encourage them to participate in life as much as possible,” Beattie said.

Beattie also shared a very personal story about what moved her to this line of work. “I grieved my dad’s absence long before Alzheimer’s took his life at the young age of 73. It is my dad that inspires me to come here every day. It is in honor of that fun and loving man that makes me want to make a difference in the lives of individuals and families struggling to cope with dementia and Alzheimer’s. I understand how difficult it is trying to manage this illness. I like to think my dad would have benefitted from the social connections here at Memory Lane Café, and I believe his wit and his humor would have contributed to the camaraderie that we have here,” she said.

The Memory Lane Café is next to the Day Kimball Healthcare Center on S. Main Street.