Victor Celso is the Catering Manager for Red Rock Bakery. He’s also a security guard, foodie, father, thrift store enthusiast, and Green Bay Packers fan.
Gina Mayo, 60, explores her artistic side. Art is just one of the activities offered to participants at LIFE Center Adult Day Services. LIFE Center photo.
Looking back, 2024 was a watershed year for LIFE Center Adult Day Services: a new executive director, new services, new enrollment drive and a positive balance at the end of the fiscal year.
What hasn’t changed is LIFE Center’s continuing mission to provide a safe environment for care and skills training to participants who navigate life with varied abilities.
“Adult day services allow participants to sharpen cognitive skills, enhance communication skills, increase life satisfaction, enhance quality of life, build family unity, promote community integration, and help expand interpersonal relationships,” according to information from the center.
A secondary benefit of LIFE Center is in allowing a much-needed respite for participants’ family caregivers.
“Oh my yes,” said Jean Sharp, mother and primary caregiver to her daughter, Gina Mayo. Gina, 60, is a LIFE Center participant. “I can now go to doctor appointments without having to worry about leaving Gina in the waiting area. I can go shopping without worrying that she’ll wander off.”
A tour of the facilities brought home one very clear concept: This is not a babysitting service for adults. There is an exercise room, day room, lunch room, and laundry area.
“There is a strong misconception about our services,” Executive Director Maribeth Outhier said. “We do not take independence away, we foster it through our programs.”
Outhier became executive director in January 2024 after almost a year as interim director. She has a staff of seven full-time employees, three part-time staffers and a host of volunteers. The center is licensed to serve 40 participants.
“Right now we serve 15 per day with 25 enrolled,” she said.
“The ratio of staff to participants ranges from 1 staffer to 8 participants depending on their needs.”
Because of those needs, some of which can be profound, Outhier said a ratio of 1 to 4 is more workable.
Since opening in the 1980s enrollment generally has been full with a waiting list. Still, LIFE Center currently has open enrollment underway.
“What we’ve found is people are waiting too long to get the help they need,” Outhier said. “They wait for a crisis situation to arise, then they look for help.”
LIFE Center helps fill the void when independent living and assisted living are no longer truly viable options.
“These are people; they are capable of many things,” Outhier said. “People need purpose to function, we help find that purpose.”
Executive Director Maribeth Outhier, leaning on bench, enjoys the solar eclipse with LIFE Center participants. Photo by LIFE Center Adult Day Services.
One thing Outhier has identified as a growing concern for families is dementia.
“We are seeing more dementia,” she said. Younger people, “people in their 40s,” are presenting with early onset dementia, and families need help. She suggested that people seek help when they notice significant changes in their loved ones and not wait for a crisis.
Outhier said her organization gets people at a crossroads in life between the ability to live independently and the need for full-on institutional care.
LIFE Center’s stated mission is to provide personalized care plans tailored to each participant’s unique needs, preferences, and goals, promoting their physical, emotional, and social well-being. To that end, LIFE Center has secured partnerships across the community.
“We do have students that complete their required internships with us,” Outhier said. “We also have students that volunteer with us. We have had students studying a variety of subjects: Speech, Human Development and Family Studies, Recreational Therapy, Psychology, Nursing.
“Recently, we started working with engineering students on our garden shade project,” she said. “We also have a partnership with the Speech Clinic. Their students provide supervised speech therapy to our participants two days a week when (Oklahoma State University) is in session.
“The last few years, we have had graduate students with the recreational therapy department coming in once a week offering a balance clinic and studying the progress participants make. I believe it’s part of their thesis, but I am not really sure.”
LIFE Center also has a partnership with Meridian Technology Center allowing its LPN students to spend some of their clinical hours at the center learning about the organization’s services.
These alliances help LIFE Center fulfill its stated goals.
“We help people remain in their homes as long as possible,” Outhier said.
LIFE Center history
For many, the exact history behind LIFE Center has been lost to time and memory, buried in a file somewhere. One persistent story is that a family’s search for help ultimately led to answered prayer for many with the establishment of the center which has made a home in First Christian Church, Disciples of Christ.
“That’s all before my time here,” said the Rev. Sondra Ladd, pastor of First Christian Church. “Others would remember better than I, but as I recall, a family was in need of care for a family member and couldn’t find anything in town. So the church offered a room in our education wing to start.
“We house the operation here at FCC and we provide a few supplies, but that’s about all,” Ladd said. “We are completely separate, only offering support and encouragement.”
LIFE Center started in that one room back in the ’80s and now occupies the entire education wing, Outhier said.
There also is support from the church’s denomination by way of the Disciples Foundation, Ladd said.
The pastor said any interaction between the church and the center is strictly at the center’s request. One such invitation was extended about a year ago to the church’s drum circle. The group came to the center and encouraged the center’s participants to play along on hand drums, tambourines, maracas or simply clapping along.
Ladd said she also provides counseling to the volunteers as they cope with the stresses of balancing their care for others with caring for their own families.
Even after 40-plus years, FCC’s compassion continues.
“As long as there is a need, this support will be ongoing,” Ladd said.
First Christian Church, Stillwater, represented by Kelly Arrington, left, has been raising money and collecting supplies to help turn the center’s dream of providing laundry services into a reality. With help from the FCC congregation and others, LIFE Center was able to secure a washer and dryer and have the plumbing installed to be able to provide laundry services for participants, LIFE Center Executive Director Maribeth Outhier, center, said. LIFE Center photo.
Fiscal support always needed
Whether it is help for participants or for the not-for-profit LIFE Center, money can be an issue.
“Cash flow can be tricky,” Outhier said, adding candidly that the center often runs in the red “until last year, Fiscal ’24, when we ended with $900.”
Outhier was frank about the finances of the center.
“Money for fees of service hardly cover staffing,” she said. “Anything else covers food and property insurance.”
But the center is not alone in facing these hurdles. LIFE Center partners with many groups and agencies, receives donations from the community and writes many grant applications with several of those approved.
Among the those answering their call: Veterans Administration, Oklahoma Human Services, United Way, Disciples Foundation and the Anderson Foundation.
Other partners include First Christian Church, Elite Repeat, T-Set Program and the TJM Foundation.
For participants, financial aid can be an option for help with the fees for service charges.
“Enrollment doesn’t have to be complete for families to apply for financial assistance,” Outhier said. “Some people like to know that funding is secured before starting. We can work with families that have financial need whenever the need arises.”
