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Mosaic opens new Legacy Senior Services Center
Published 6/25/2011 in Local News
By ANGIE HAFLICH
ahaflich@gctelegram.com
On Friday afternoon, a vision that Mosaic's Executive Director Debbie Reynolds had in mind over 12 years ago officially became a reality in a ribbon cutting ceremony for Mosaic's newest addition, the Legacy Senior Services Center, 510 W. Kansas Ave.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Mark Singhisen, center right, answers questions Friday while giving a tour of Mosaic's Legacy Senior Services facility at 510 W. Kansas Ave., after a blessing and ribbon cutting ceremony. Singhisen is the local Mosaic program resources coordinator.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Activities, such as this one with bolts and nuts, are used to aid clients in agility and coordination at Mosaic's Legacy Senior Services, 510 W. Kansas Ave.
"I mentioned this idea and people said, 'Wow that would be a great grant opportunity.' So we wrote a grant a few years ago and by the help of Governor (Sam) Brownback and Senator (Jerry) Moran, and a number of other folks who carried water for us in Congress, we actually got a federal grant for this program," Reynolds said before the attendees gathered at the ceremony.
Her vision was to provide intellectually disabled adults, including the elderly suffering from Alzheimer's disease and dementia, a service care center where they could partake in activities and have meaningful, quality days. Additionally, she wanted to provide a service to the caregivers of the intellectually disabled.
"It's to give caregivers respite. It could be maybe they just need a nap, or maybe they want to go to the movies, maybe they want to go to the grocery store, or if they're working and have their mom and dad at home or a brother or sister, they can have them here during the day and know they're well taken care of and having a quality, meaningful day," Reynolds said.
Currently, the center is only able to accommodate people with intellectual disabilities. They are waiting for a license in order to begin serving the elderly.
"Right now we can serve a primary diagnosis of intellectual disability. We already have the license to do that and need an additional license to serve people with Alzheimer's and dementia. It's under the Kansas Department of Aging," Reynolds said.
Mark Singhisen, program resource coordinator for Mosaic, said, "Hopefully we'll be licensed in mid-July. I think we have one or two small things to do to get up there to Topeka."
The facility currently serves 17 intellectually disabled adults.
Several members of the community attended the ceremony, as well as Ben Davis of Moran's office and Dennis Mesa, who was representing Brownback. Mesa spoke briefly to the attendees on behalf of the governor.
"We found that this is a way to bring much needed, comfort and peace to families caring for their loved ones. Thank you for filling an urgent need to caregivers for a moment to re-energize, find a time of respite or free up precious time just to run errands," Mesa said. "My message delivered to all of you from Governor Brownback is a heartfelt congratulations to Debbie Reynolds, Mosaic and the Legacy Senior Services Program and the community we are all blessed to serve."
Shawna Whitehurst, vice president of the Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce, said, "Something like this with the federal grant money is absolutely amazing to have in our community. Because honestly, if it's not in Garden City, it's going to be somewhere. I'm glad Mosaic had the initiative to go out there and get those funds and bring them to our community. I applaud them. They do great things in our community and we're lucky to have them."
Singhisen said, "The grant was for $350,000 to cover salaries, benefits, renovations, equipment, supplies, you name it. It's just for one year and after that we're on our own.
Singhisen gave a tour of the facility, which includes an activities area, dining area, four restrooms, a kitchenette, outside recreational area and even a small bird aviary, filled with colorful, singing birds.
As for staffing, Singhisen said, "We have four full-time and two part-time. We're pretty heavily staffed and that's how we want to be to make sure that everybody gets a little extra special attention."
Mosaic was founded in Omaha, Neb., in 1913 and is a faith-based, nonprofit organization and affiliated social ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
The hours of operation at the new center are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information about Mosaic's services, contact Reynolds at 275-9180 or visit www.mosaicingardencity.org.
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