Senior Day Services gets new outdoor space to promote health and wellness, independence and active engagement

WMU Senior Day Services has been providing day care services for seniors in Kalamazoo County since 2001. We serve adults with various health conditions, neurocognitive impairments and memory loss, disabilities, and aging related needs. Throughout the years, we have had strong partnerships with the community. We have served participants in partnership with Area Agency on Aging, Grant opportunities through the Kalamazoo County Millage, Milestones Senior Services, Veterans Administration, private referral arrangements, hospital social workers and Integrated Services of Kalamazoo.

Each spring, once the weather is conducive for outdoor engagement, participants are eager to enjoy the fresh air. We continually observe benefits for our participants and their enjoyment of the outdoor spaces. Many of our seniors relish the sunshine, engage more readily in conversation, take short walks, play outdoor games like cornhole, and admire the foliage, birds, and sounds around them.

Thanks to the financial support of Kalamazoo County, our vision for an enriched outdoor space materialized. Plans for the outdoor space were finalized in April 2023 through collaboration with a team of WMU engineering students, who helped design the initial layout for an optimal space for Senior Day Services. Naylor Landscape Management has been contracted for the work and have included components that promote physical exercise, opportunities for socialization, interaction with nature, and visual components which can be enjoyed both outdoors and indoors through our large windows.

Excavation and construction for the enhanced space has begun and is slated to be completed by summer of 2024. Additional features will be added in the spring including a water feature, plants and seating.

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