Connections Senior Social Program, Friendship Center’s brain-training program, mid-December at All Saints-by-the-Sea Church. As the name suggests, Connections is about connecting, both socially and cognitively. Each three-hour session features socially engaging activities, music, group discussions and light exercise. Connections is geared specifically toward members in the early stages of a dementia diagnosis, with the two-fold goal of challenging the mind…
Prospective members and their families can now take a virtual tour of Friendship Center. Join Heidi Holly, executive director and Kim Larsen, family services manager as they walk through each of our Montecito facility’s recreational areas, while also providing an overview of our Covid-19 safety protocols. Click here to watch the video on YouTube. The video also features images of…
Friendship Center’s hybrid day program will consist of a morning (9-12:30 p.m.) and an afternoon (1:30-5 p.m.) session, Monday through Thursday. Your loved one will be assigned to one of these sessions in which they will be able to exercise (Yoga? Tai Chi? Cycling without Age anyone?), listen to music (The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys – oh…
Friendship Center is pleased to welcome David Selberg and Maggie Mixsell to its Board of Directors for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. “We are delighted that David and Maggie have joined our board of directors,” says Friendship Center Executive Director Heidi Holly. “Each joins Friendship Center at an exciting time as we continue to pivot and enhance our programs for seniors…
by BY STEVEN LIBOWITZ , Montecito Journal Friendship Center serves an often overlooked, but much-needed niche for the aging adult community — providing a daytime home away from home where the dependent seniors can take advantage of companionship and engaging activities. They also receive necessary supervision while their family caregivers receive respite and a much-needed break from the demands of…
Friendship Center is proud to announce it was awarded “Caregiver of the Year” for a facility by the Central Coast Commission for Senior Citizens Area Agency on Aging in honor of Older Americans Month. “Friendship Center has been very successful in providing live virtual classes five days a week,” writes Sue Larsen of Gulley and Larsen Insurance Services, who…
As the State of California inches toward a comprehensive reopening plan, Friendship Center members and caregivers will be heartened to know that our own reopening plan has been in the works for months. The new hybrid plan incorporates both onsite and Zoom activities as it transitions toward fully re-opening. “We’re pleased to announce that our plan has been approved…
It all started with a small thing in the early 1970s when Cynder Sinclair was helping in her son’s classroom. “I noticed some of the kids were not dressed warmly enough for the weather,” she says. Cynder was living with her husband and five children in the small farming community of Kingsburg, where it gets cold in the off season…
By Sophia Davis Advancement & Project Manager April’s Dine & Donate Event was a fantastic success with over 110 dinners sold, making it our most successful Dine & Donate event ever! Heidi Holly, Executive Director commented, “We want to extend our sincere gratitude to SBAOR, and the CORE Committee for working their hearts out to support Friendship Center. The event…
March 2021 marked the one-year anniversary of California’s shelter-in-place orders. While many, clearing the shelves of toilet paper, anticipated an inexplicable increase in bathroom visits, others assured themselves everything would go back to normal in six weeks. No one yet grasped that March 14, 2020 was to begin a full year of masks, social distancing, loneliness and all the…