Day sites offer care for elderly, disabled

Name of program: Holy Family Adult Day Centers.

What it does: Provides services to disabled and elderly people, said Linda Fairhurst, intake and marketing director.

Patients come to the center for activities or therapy to delay nursing-home placement.

The center also gives the patients’ caregivers a break, since many patients require 24-hour care.

The hours are 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The clinics offer social and recreational activities and hot lunches for patients.

Who runs it: The programs are administrated by Providence Ministries, a division of Providence Health Care. The program has been in Spokane for 30 years.

How to get help: No doctor’s referral is needed to enter the program; interested people can call the office at 428-2475. There are two locations, 6018 N. Astor St. and 4827 S. Palouse Highway.

“We rely on word of mouth,” said Fairhurst. “I think it’s one of the best-kept secrets.”

Open houses are planned at the Astor Street location on Wednesday and at the Palouse Highway location next Thursday from 7:30 to 9 a.m.

Typical client: Many patients who visit the centers are in their 80s and frail.

Many suffer from mental health problems, such as dementia, and almost all have diabetes.

There also are patients who visit the center who are in their 40s and have brain injuries or multiple sclerosis.

How to help: “We’re always in need of volunteers to help with the activities,” Fairhurst said.

Many of the volunteers read to patients with failing eyesight.