The holidays can bring sadness to people of any age, especially if you’ve lost loved ones. They can be especially tough for our older family members. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind to support seniors during the holiday season.
Limited mobility: Many seniors cannot move around as they once did, especially with physical limitations. This can make the holiday season less exciting for seniors, with the inability to shop, visit, and celebrate like others limiting the joy of the season.
Loneliness and depression: Depression, anxiety, and isolation are common among seniors, but the holiday season can make these feelings more severe. Whether it’s a lack of social interaction, missing family and friends, or remembering what once was, the holidays can make some seniors feel more lonely than any other time of year.
Memories of the past: Many seniors have a hard time accepting that their current life is not like it was in the past.
Financial burden: The holidays can get expensive.
There are some things family members and friends can do to make the season brighter for their older loved ones:
Make holiday rituals intergenerational: Encourage your children, grandchildren and aging loved ones to bake treats, look at pictures, sing Christmas carols or partake in holiday crafts together.
Decorate together: Use your elders’ treasured holiday decorations. Talk about each piece as you pull it out of storage.
Take your loved one to a holiday Christmas show occurring in the local area: Music is a wonderful way to lift the spirits and reduce depression. Holiday arts and crafts shows expose your loved one to a happy festive environment centering around creators who express their art in a heartfelt way.
Assist with holiday greetings: Ask if they need help writing and sending Christmas cards or holiday letters. You’re also helping them stay connected with other family and friends, which becomes more challenging with age.
Be supportive: Be on the lookout for cards, phone calls and other correspondence they receive during the holidays. Often, the news they contain is not pleasant. For example, someone’s spouse has died or a friend is very ill. Keep an eye out for signs of depression and be sure to offer support if there’s anything weighing on their mind.
Reminisce: Encourage your elders to tell stories of the past. There is something about passing on memories during the holidays that really brings families together.
Year End Giving by “Adopting a Senior”
To round out our year-end fundraising efforts Archuleta Seniors, Inc. and the Pagosa Senior Center are announcing our “Adopt A Senior” campaign. As food costs continue to rise and cost of living grows in our beloved Pagosa Country, we are hoping the community will stand in solidarity with our Pagosa Seniors and help pay for wholesome and nutritious meals, medical monitoring and social activities for our community in need. We have a variety of price points that can fit anyone’s budget. $10 = 1 Senior Meal $50 = 5 Senior Meals. $250 = 25 Senior Meals $650 = Feeds a Senior for 3 Months $1300 = Feeds a Senior for 6 months and $2600 = Feeds a Senior for 1 year. You are welcome to make your donation via snail mail, online on our website at www.psseniors.org or feel free to walk in during our office hours and drop off your donation.
Text Us @ 970-264-2167
Don’t forget that we also offer a convenient texting service for you to communicate with us. When texting, please include your name, phone number and the days you want a meal. If you are calling to cancel a reservation, please include your name, phone number and the days you want to cancel. Texting services are available for dining-in meal reservations, Grab-n-Go meals, and Meals on Wheels recipients.
Community Cafe Menu
Thursday, December 8 – Pork kielbasa, German potato salad, sauteed cabbage, garden salad, fruit, milk, German chocolate cake.
Friday, December 9 – Chicken tortilla soup with diced avocados, crispy tortillas, garden salad, fruit and milk.
Monday, December 12 – Fish tacos with cabbage, baja sauce, lime, pinto beans, garden salad, fruit, milk and cookie.
Tuesday, December 13 – Chicken fettuccine with alfredo sauce, garlic bread, glazed carrots, garden salad, fruit and milk.
Wednesday, December 14 – Stuffed portabella mushroom with roasted veggies and feta cheese, baked sweet potato, garden salad, fruit and milk.
Thursday, December 15 – Beef Frito pie, cilantro lime rice, garden salad, fruit, milk, and vanilla pudding.
Friday, December 16 – Pork tenderloins with caramelized onions, apples, cranberries, couscous, asparagus, hollandaise, garden salad, fruit and milk.
Mobile Food Pantry Service Available for Seniors
The Pagosa Senior Center would like to remind the community about our mobile food pantry services we provide in partnership with Archuleta County MET to seniors age 60 and older throughout most areas of Archuleta County. In order to participate in this program, community members must visit with Barbara Noriega at the downtown Senior Center located in the Ross Aragon Community Center to fill out an application to qualify for hot meal delivery service and/or the mobile pantry service. The application, called the dining assessment form, is also available on our website at the bottom of the Community Cafe page http://www.psseniors.org/community-cafeacute.html. For more information contact us at 970-264-2167.
Zentangle
Zentangle is a form of relation and using easy to learn patterns, drawn by focusing on single lines one at a time. The method focuses on simple elemental strokes that anyone can draw, regardless of creative ability, and allows the mind and body to release stress while creating beautiful images. Instructor: Roberta Strickland, CZT. Call 970-946-4582 or text us at 970-264-2167. Classes are every Wednesday at 1:15 pm in the Pagosa Senior Center. This activity is open to all ages. Help us create an intergenerational community. For those under 18 and/or with disabilities you are welcome but please bring an adult with you.
Meals on Wheels
We deliver fresh Meals on Wheels five days a week (and provide frozen Meals on Wheels for weekends) to homebound Archuleta County residents. Call or text us at 970-264-2167.
ASI has an immediate monetary need to support ongoing operations and programming that provide critical services to some of the most vulnerable in Archuleta County. Please consider donating to Archuleta Seniors Inc. You may mail your donation to PO BOX 3444, Pagosa Springs CO 81147 or please visit our website: http://www.psseniors.org/ (donation button). Donation checks can be written to: Archuleta Seniors, Inc. We are located at 451 Hot Springs Blvd., in downtown Pagosa Springs.
ASI Board of Directors has multiple vacant positions open. Terms are 3 years with an option to renew for an additional term. Potential candidates should be at least 55 years of age or older and must have a passion for adult and aging services.
For more information about ASI, please visit http://www.psseniors.org/.
Rose Chavez is Executive Director for Archuleta Seniors, Inc. and Public Health Consultant at Archuleta Food System/Food Equity Coalition.