Assisted living residents get Earth Day in the sun

The sun shone down on residents at The W Assisted Living at Riverdale Home for Adults as they took to the streets to honor Earth Day on Monday, April 22, picking up litter and debris from the sidewalks and street.

The clean-up is in its second year, but The W has held Earth Day celebrations for the last four years, working up to bigger and better ideas. Tatiana Spence, director of recreation for The W, said the first year they added potted plants around the property and the second year they added raised bed planter gardens. In their third year, residents started the walk and clean-up and this year they invited community members to participate in the event.

This year, individuals from AHRC New York City and Daybreak Independent Services joined in the clean-up. AHRC focuses its work on advocating for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Daybreak is an organization dedicated to empowering adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Spence believes part of the walk’s goal is for the neighboring community to see The W is home to contributing members of society.

“The residents are happy because it gives them purpose at this age to be able to do something other than staying inside,” Spence said. “Other than going on community trips, this is another way they get to interact with each other.

Dr. Vernal Brown, senior administrator at The W, said the walk makes the residents feel like part of the bigger community outside of the assisted living facility.

Brown said at last year’s walk a resident thanked him for the opportunity to participate in the clean-up because, “it makes us feel like real people. It makes us feel like we’re part of the community.”

To Brown, the feeling residents get being able to give back to society is as important as it is good for them.

“We want to be part of the positives happening in the community,” Brown said.

Kiara Olivo has worked on the human resources staff at The W for the last two years and finds herself at home amongst staff and residents. Olivo said many of the residents don’t have much family or cannot live at home, so making a space where residents feel they have someone to turn to and make them feel included is important.

Recently, a new resident joined the facility and Olivo said he was having a hard time adjusting. Having come from a smaller assisted living, he was unused to the number of people and connecting felt at The W felt difficult.

Staff members learned the man enjoyed playing chess.

Although The W did not yet offer a chess club, staff created one and Olivo said it has taken off. Now, the new resident helps teach others in how to play chess and chess competitions have begun.

The walk ended with a produce garden planting, which the staff hopes can be maintained and used for food. This is the second year W residents and staff have built this garden for use throughout the warmer months. Brown said the garden beds are raised high to ensure residents don’t have to worry about bending over to help contribute to cultivating the plants.

Seedlings are distributed across the multiple planter boxes for residents to dig into. Small lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and other seedlings are planted in the soil, where they will be tended to by both staff and residents.

To the earth, from the earth, on Earth Day.