Wish Book: A place for seniors to make friends and stay active — with a little help from a robot

Sally Burns celebrated a birthday in the last few days She had a nice party ate several cake and opened birthday cards She s an expert at birthdays She s had of them The year she was born in was the first year women could vote Babe Ruth was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees America s top-selling car was the Model T Ford And Prohibition was just getting started Sally has kids A son and a daughter They are and years old Her first job was working as a receptionist in for Franklin Roosevelt s housing department She s traveled the world and seen a lot What s the secret to living to Client Sally Burns talks during an interview at Live Oak Adult Day Services in San Jose Calif on Nov Dai Sugano Bay Area News Group Related Articles Wish Book Heart of the Valley provides valuable assistance to seniors in need Students get hands-on lessons about Santa Clara Valley s past at History Park The Independence Networks gives adult students with disabilities the opportunity to become the instructor Wish Book At StreetCode Academy kids and underserved communities learn the language of innovation My days consisted of tears South Bay parents band together to provide help hope Eat oatmeal and drink white wine every day she declared grinning But they won t let me have wine here Here is Live Oak Adult Day Services in San Jose s Willow Glen neighborhood Despite the rules against white wine Sally noted she loves to visit at least twice a week The nonprofit center is a gathering place for senior citizens a great number of of whom are frail or have mild dementia Parkinson s Affection or other challenges to meet new friends and stay ongoing The center which serves roughly people ages to at four locations in Santa Clara County operates five days a week from a m to p m offering a wide range of exercises including dancing art projects breakfast and lunch current events updates games visits from schoolchildren and other pursuits It s a population They look out for each other stated Izumi Yaskawa Live Oak s executive director At home often their world is getting smaller This is like a second family The center which charges to a day based on a person s ability to pay also offers sons daughters spouses and other support workers the opportunity to take a break Client Consuelo Villicana center smiles as Assistant Effort Director Berenice Aguilar left entertains her with a joke at Live Oak Adult Day Services in San Jose Calif on Nov Dai Sugano Bay Area News Group Astrid Arretz knows the value firsthand The San Jose resident takes her father Al Arretz a -year-old retired nuclear engineer who was diagnosed with Alzheimer s to Live Oak two or three times a week He loves the food the companionship and the music she disclosed particularly when people come in and play the piano I love being with my dad she noted He s fun He s a happy-go-lucky guy But it s a lot of work to get him up in the morning every day to help him shower dress him pay the bills provide meals everything I m his main caretaker It s a lot You need time during the week to rest your mind and to go to the store and get other things done I ll say Do you want to go to the club in the modern day to have lunch He reliably says yes I know he s in a safe place and I can rest during those hours It s been a blessing Live Oak opened in Los Gatos in as a operation of the First United Methodist Church of Los Gatos At first there were only eight people going twice a week Over the years it grew became an independent nonprofit and branched out to Gilroy San Jose and Cupertino The Willow Glen facility is in a restored home designed by Frank Delos Wolfe an associate of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright Live Oak doesn t take drop-ins Families are sought to contact the organization first to make an appointment so there are enough meals and staff to accommodate everyone Yaskawa declared Multiple of the participants have mild to mid-level dementia They can be forgetful need help with daily exercises like cooking meals or choosing clothes and often move with canes or the help of wheelchairs But they also recognize family members and the center staff They talk to each other and enjoy the area On a contemporary visit staff members led stretching exercises with a dozen men and women seated in chairs OK put your right arm behind your back like this noted Shannel Rodriguez a undertaking specialist Do a nice stretch for and shake it off Now switch hands Good Now we re nice and loose to do art Seniors take part in a physical exercise session at Live Oak Adult Day Services in San Jose Calif on Nov Dai Sugano Bay Area News Group Out came big sheets of white paper We re going to make trees in the present day commented Berenice Aguilar assistant activity director Put your hand on the paper Trace around your fingers Those are going to be the branches Then we re going to glue leaves on by tearing up this red orange and brown paper She turned on a CD contestant and the Beach Boys Little Deuce Coupe filled the room Under the table half the people tapped their toes At one point one elderly man got up to dance A woman rose to join him as the rest grinned from ear to ear One new feature is a -foot robot The Stanford Robotics Center brings the yellow social robot named Miroki in for social visits It plays music speaks languages and leads games Live Oak is asking Wish Book readers to contribute to bring the robot around more frequently and expand its utility to help the seniors engage even more On this day trivia was the choice What movie had the line There s no place like home the robot solicited the group Wizard of Oz one man offered Great it disclosed How about Go ahead make my day ' There was a pause Clint Eastwood another man noted Very close the robot replied The actor is Clint Eastwood The movie is Dirty Harry ' One more How about I m going to make him an offer he can t refuse The Godfather multiple people explained Right the robot declared lighting up Marieta Chapman right talks to Miroki a social companion robot brought in to interact with clients at Live Oak Adult Day Services in San Jose Calif on Nov Dai Sugano Bay Area News Group Off to the side James Duran reported he worked for years at Mineta San Jose International Airport refueling airplanes But a brain aneurysm limited his speech and left him walking with a cane If I wasn t here I would be at home watching TV he reported But this is better I have friends here Duran noted he enjoys games at the center particularly bingo and noted the food is great His favorite is menudo Despite the challenges he s faced he s thankful I won t ever work again he mentioned But I m happy to be alive Families and staff members at Live Oak disclosed that when elderly people become frail or are diagnosed with dementia the length of time they are able to remain living at home often depends on how developing and involved they can be Even at Sally lives with her family in San Jose She goes to church and meets new people every week Live Oak is among the highlights of her week she declared It s very well-organized she noted Beautiful people help us all the time Everyone is so clever I put the pictures we paint on my refrigerator at home and I send them to my son to put on his refrigerator We have dancers come We have a musical day on Mondays The people who work here pay close attention to all of our demands She reported she intends to keep coming for a long time I hope I make it to Sally declared God put me here to be friendly and to help people ABOUT WISH BOOK Wish Book is a c nonprofit organization operated by The Mercury News Since Wish Book has been producing series of stories during the holiday season that highlight the wishes of those in need and invite readers to help fulfill them WISH Live Oak Adult Day Services is seeking donations to help pay for the use of the robot more frequently and to expand its utility providing up to seniors with mild to moderate dementia a unique social opportunity Goal HOW TO GIVE Donate at wishbook mercurynews com donate or mail in this form ONLINE EXTRA Read other Wish Book stories view photos and video at wishbook mercurynews com