Remodeling Work to Start on Day-Care Center

The very young and the very old will both be cared for at a center launched Monday in Van Nuys.

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden took part in ceremonies that began the remodeling of the Mark Taper Intergenerational Center to be operated by the Organization for the Needs of the Elderly. Also taking part was Councilwoman Joy Picus, a key supporter of the center.

Work will begin next month to modify the organization’s two buildings to house the activities of the center, which is expected to open in January.

The Mark Taper J.O.Y. (Joining Older and Younger) Program will incorporate an existing program for the elderly with a separate West Valley Family YMCA child-care facility, which will move into one of the remodeled buildings. The programs, in adjacent buildings, will hold joint activities several hours a day.

Among other programs, the organization runs a day-care program for the elderly who need supervision because they suffer from diseases such as Alzheimer’s or are too frail to care for themselves, said Estelle Cooper, executive director of the organization.

During their time together, the elderly and the children will work on music activities, exercises, arts and crafts, cooking, gardening and preparing for cultural holidays.

“When they go home, they will be tired, but I can just see them laughing over what the kids do,” said Elizabeth Vasin, a Van Nuys resident whose husband is a member of the Alternative Care Experience, the program for frail or disabled senior citizens.

The center’s combination of day care for preschool children and dependent senior citizens will help ease the sometimes-overwhelming responsibility facing families taking care of both generations in one household, Bradley said in a speech.

Madeline Nielsen, a member of the organization’s Senior Service and Resource Center, opened the celebration singing “God Bless America.” A seven-member group of 4- and 5-year-old children from the Mid-Valley YMCA entertained the audience with an original rap version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

The organization received a $1-million grant from the Mark Taper Foundation for the $2.1-million project. It is hoping to raise the balance through more grants and donations, Cooper said.

“I feel there are many foundations and corporations that will want to be in on something like this because it’s innovative and meets the need of the community,” Cooper said. “We are handling a problem that everyone is going to have to deal with.”

The day-care center will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for the convenience of working family members, Cooper said. It will accommodate 35 adults and about 60 children, from infants through preschool age, five days a week, she said. The present adult day-care program accommodates 30 senior citizens twice a week from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.