Contact: Megan Thompson, Director of External Relations – 216-658-1881, mthompson@elizabryant.org
Cleveland, OH – Every day at Eliza Bryant Village we see the negative effects of COVID-19 on our senior community living in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood. We know, through our one-on-one conversations with our participants, that, outside of the people with whom they live, often we are their only source of face-to-face contact for many of the seniors who attend our Adult Day program. As soon as restrictions lifted, we began welcoming our senior community back to Eliza Bryant Village. What is the most difficult to put into words is the sadness, fear and anxiety our residents and staff have experienced during this time. Throughout the pandemic, many of our seniors have had a limited ability to go beyond the immediate neighborhood, except for necessary doctor visits. We are working to change that.
The Village has reinstituted visits to local arts and cultural institutions, including Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Goodtime III, Karamu House, Lolly the Trolley and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, and most recently on Friday, November 19th, the Greater Cleveland Aquarium, funded through the generosity of the Fox Charitable Foundation.
Two busloads of seniors explored the Aquarium, observing the exhibits while also enjoying each other’s company in a new and different location. Before the buses ever arrived, participants eagerly gathered in the lobby of the Village’s Inez Myers Senior Outreach & Adult Day Services Center to connect with friends and discuss the day ahead. Several adults expressed their excitement about going out, specifically since most haven’t visited the Greater Cleveland Aquarium in many years.
Upon arrival, participants were so eager to start exploring that they had to be asked to wait until everyone could be escorted into the building. Before long, the years seemed to slip away, replaced by wonder and awe. While the Aquarium’s shark exhibit is always a crowdpleaser, it was perhaps the eels darting in and out of their pipes that elicited the most excitement.
The Village’s Inez Myers Senior Outreach & Adult Day Services Center offers one of the most comprehensive adult day programs in Cuyahoga County, providing seniors a safe environment with structured activities to enhance and enrich their daily lives. Programs are specially tailored to assist our participants with a wide variety of activities that help maintain their independence, promote feelings of self-worth and stay in their home longer.
Adult Day Services at Eliza Bryant Village are offered Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., offering a daily routine to participants and respite for caregivers who may need time to work, relax or take care of other obligations. We also provide daily transportation to our facility for programming.
Our Adult Day Services Center is has a limited number of spaces available. To learn more about our Adult Day Services, to enroll a loved one, or to make a donation, visit www.elizabryant.org or call 216-361-6141.
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About Eliza Bryant Village
Eliza Bryant Village provides high-quality services for seniors along the continuum of care in a safe, dignified and compassionate environment. We offer skilled nursing with memory care and rehabilitation, on-site dialysis care, an adult day care and senior outreach program and affordable independent senior housing. Home Care is available to Eliza Bryant Village seniors as well as our aging neighbors. The Elder Justice Center at Eliza Bryant Village provides free, temporary housing and wrap-around services to older adults experiencing abuse, violence, trauma or criminal victimization. Eliza Bryant Village, located on 17 acres in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, has been an anchor institution in the community for more than 125 years. The oldest continually operating African American-founded long-term care facility in the United States, we serve nearly 1,000 seniors annually with more than 150 compassionate employees and nearly 300 volunteers.