Once a month, members of St. Paul’s, Katy, host the “Gathering Place” at their Parish Hall from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This is a place where people with various forms of dementia come for a day of crafts, exercise, entertainment and lunch.
The clients have a chance to interact with other people, do activities to stimulate their minds and get out of the house. The most important benefit of this program may be that this gives their caregivers time for a day out. They may use it for errands, a haircut, or just some recreation. One of our clients caregivers said, “This is my alone time.”
The sponsoring group is CarePartners Texas and offers this program at various churches around the state of Texas. They provide a professional who assists our parish in planning, training and is there for each of our meetings. Our volunteers cook the lunch, provide the craft, arrange for the entertainment and spend time with the clients to assist them throughout the day. The entertainment may be a singer, puppeteer, or other entertainers.
