By Jake Luplow
On Wednesdays, when I get out of school, I go visit my grandma. On Sunday evenings, I visit her as well. It’s like clockwork. Every week. And every week I know what to expect—but not her. Each week it’s a new experience for her as I recount my weekly experiences. I tell her about school, my latest crush, and, sometimes, I show up with flowers. We have a good life, she and I, as we sit at the dinner table and reminisce.
Unfortunately, there are many senior citizens in our community who go without visitors. At the end of the day, their lives add up to a sort of blankness, like black—black is a blank color. They look into the bottom of their coffee cup and see an ever aging face staring back with the same amount of expression as the day before, and the day before that. They stand in front of the mirror and see a body much different than that of their youth, a body aging, decreasing. And everything for them seems to unravel to one cold state: blank and empty.
But what if you were to give them a smile, a flower, a visit? What if you were to teach them something—anything? Perhaps their blank, empty state would turn into one full of colors. Friends of Thurston County, Senior Services of South Sound works to “help seniors remain vital and independent in our community,” says Eileen McKenziesullivan, Executive Director.
Elsa Mclain started senior services 40 years ago. She was a stay at home mom and noticed that a lot of seniors in her church could benefit from getting together and socializing. After realizing the church included only a small number of those who needed help, she decided to start Senior Services to cater to the rest of the elderly people in the community.
As I’m sure you can imagine, there is a whole other world out there beyond our text messages and emails and TV screens. A whole other world outside of the digital space we so often find ourselves trapped in. Glenda Ross, Social Work Asst., told me a story of such a woman we often do not come in contact with:
We had one lady that came in who always wore long sleeves, even during the summer time. She was living with her daughter and son-in-law. I was talking to her once, and her sleeve slipped up a bit, and I could see marks on her arm. I asked, “What did you do to your arm?” She said, ‘Oh, nothing.’ So I left it. Later, when I saw her again, we began talking. I asked her some questions about her family: “Are you happy there, where you are living?” At that point, she began crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said, ‘Well, they don’t talk to me.’ I asked, “Why don’t they talk to you?” She said, ‘Because I live in the basement, and there are steps to go upstairs, and I can’t get up the steps. Anyway, they told me they have nothing to say to me.’ I said, “Well, what happened to your arms?” She said, ‘If I don’t hurry, they pull me.’
Senior Services got her into a group home and she is a completely different person now.
This organization offers an array of services and activities for the elderly. Eileen explained that some of their services include Stars Adult Day Care; Care Connection, offering in-home caregiver placement, consultations, etc.; and their Senior Nutrition Program, offering on-site meals and meals on wheels.
These services are offered at both senior center branches, Lacey and Olympia, and they offer many classes to keep their seniors active, including photography, fitness, yoga, knitting, Mah Jong, and other various and popular activities.
Senior Services requires a $30 per year membership fee, but they also have scholarships available for those who cannot afford the fee or to pay for the various services they offer.
Throughout the year, they have a variety of different fundraisers they conduct to fund their organization. This last Saturday, the 8th, they held a benefit concert, Wrinkles of Washington, at their Olympia branch. Let me tell you, it was amazing—it was worth going just to see the crazy costumes!
In addition to their fundraisers, they also have two consignment shops—one at the Olympia Center, called the Boutique, and one on Colombia called the Estate Store. Both of these stores play an essential role in raising funds for Senior Services. Both of these shops accept and encourage donations from the public.
I’m sure you have heard the expression: ‘stop and smell the roses.’ Sometimes, it’s refreshing to stop and witness what so many organizations are doing to make Thurston County the best it can be: Senior Services stops at nothing to show love to many elderly. Perhaps some of them are your mothers or fathers, aunts or uncles, or even your grandparents.
Glenda couldn’t have put it more profoundly:
“What do you do with your worst criminals? You put them in prison and you put them in isolation—in a cage. What happens to our seniors? Circumstances drive them into an apartment with four walls, a TV, a bathroom, and a table for the kitchen. They can’t drive. They can’t get out. Their family sends them a card at Christmas and a card on their birthday. They become isolated just like a criminal. Here, at Senior Services, we work to get them out of that isolation and involved with activities. That is what we do. Senior Services is a place where they can go to talk with their own generation. We try to keep them a member of the community and an active member. And we let them know they are loved.”
If you are interested in any of the service they offer or would like to help, you can contact Senior Services of South Sound at: www.southsoundseniors.org or, 360-586-6181(Olympia Branch), or at 360-407-3967 (Lacey Branch).
