CEO Alex Eydinov cuts the ribbon at the opening of the Chicopee Adult Day Health Center.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
CHICOPEE — A new Adult Day Health Care Center invited the community to a ribbon cutting event to announce the opening of the Chicopee Adult Day Health Center at 939 Chicopee St.
The Chicopee Adult Day Health Center is a community health center that also serves as a social and medical based facility. This center in Chicopee is the second adult day health center, with Nuestra Casa in West Springfield being the first.
CEO Alex Eydinov said they are open to all ages from 18 to “indefinitely.” He recently mentioned that at his other location, Nuestra Casa, they recently celebrated a 100th birthday there.
“Our age range is pretty vast,” Eydinov said, “We try to really cater to all ages, all cultures. We really try to make sure everybody is having fun when they’re here.”
The facility provides social activities, health management, free catered breakfast and lunch, transportation, educational programs and respite care for family caregivers.
The newly renovated facility includes pool tables, domino tables, ping pong, a plastic bowling alley, a barber shop for haircuts and nail treatment, a quiet/relaxation room, a gym with some equipment and main dining/activity room.
Eydinov also said there is a free space in the facility that may turn into an art space, but will be based on the guests’ interests.
He explained, “What generally happens in a health care facility like this is it develops with the individuals that attend. As this center grows and as people come and as people express their interest and as our staff members pick up on the interest of those individuals, we’ll kind of develop it based on the group that’s here.”
Eydinov said the main goal of the facility is to get people out of the home.
“We’re trying to get people out and doing normal, everyday, regular people stuff so like getting your haircut which can be difficult sometimes. It could be cost prohibitive; it could be prohibitive just based on accessibility,” he said.
The Chicopee Adult Day Health Center offers free transportation to the facility as well as transportation from the facility to a daily scheduled appointment. They have cars, vans and handicapped vans for individuals who may have mobility issues.
The center also has a service coordinator to help bridge the gap between the center’s members and services in the community that they may or may not be aware they could get.
Eydinov has been doing home health care in Springfield since 2013 and explained “one thing that we see a lot in home health when we do visits to the home is we see a lot of individuals that are getting that care in the home, but they’re often just in their home all the time and maybe they get out in their immediate area or in their front yard, but ultimately they’re just stuck where they’re at.”
Based on his home care experiences, that is why the goal of the center is to get people out of their homes, into the community, interacting with each other, meeting new people, having fun and try to avoid institutionalization.
The center also hosts fun and practical field trips including to grocery stores, Walmart, the dollar store, a butterfly museum, an apple orchard, pumpkin patch, the library, flea market, casinos, the park and local community pool.
A calendar with all the upcoming events can be found at chicopeecenter.com.
Eydinov said the best way to check out the center is to either “pop in” or call at 413-315-9036.
The center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and has plans to also be open on Saturdays within the next few months.
Although the facility is in Chicopee, Mayor John Vieau mentioned how this facility can benefit so many people across Western Massachusetts. Elected officials from Springfield and Chicopee were at the event as well as state representatives and state senators.
Vieau welcomed the new center to Chicopee and stated, “Since we have so many delegates from Western [Massachusetts] here and Springfield, I want to say this is Western [Massachusetts]. The other thing about that, when it comes to Western [Massachusetts] and I usually say this about Chicopee, if there’s a need, a cause or a reason, they come through every single time. They’ve never let me down, they’ve never let this community down and providing things like this, it gives people opportunity just to be happy and that’s what we pursue every single day.”
Eydinov said they chose Chicopee for its second location because they fell in love with the space and community but also noticed there was not a lot of social services in Willimansett specifically.
He stated, “We’re here for the area and the community over the space. We’re here for Willimansett, the Chicopee community and the surrounding areas and we’re happy to see everyone here.”
