The Strong House, celebrating 25 years in Madison, is a “home away from home” for seniors along the shoreline, one that provides a type of experience that is hard to replicate, said Operations Manager Diane Gauthier.

Gauthier said The Strong House provides a particular kind of care for elderly folks that is not just purely practical or medical, but instead seeks to holistically elevate the quality of life for those who spend their time there.

The Strong House is an adult day center administered and funded through VNA Community Health Care, a Guilford-based home health care non-profit. The Strong House provides socialization and various recreational programs for seniors who might be suffering from chronic illnesses, or who have struggled with loneliness in whatever their current living situation is.

Despite the targeted service it has provided for a quarter century—The Strong House has people coming from as far away as Niantic—Gautheir said the program has remained a “hidden gem,” despite all the positive impact it has made.

Gauthier said that while The Strong House provides medical services, the real opportunity it gives its clients is dignity, relaxation, and intellectual and social stimulation that is often hard for them to find in other places.

“It keeps them more active,” Gauthier said. “When you’re home and you have more stimulation and...your whole world just becomes that loving room or bedroom you’re in...you don’t see anything else anymore. Here, it keeps you going.”

This sort of stimulation, sometimes as simple as conversation or puzzles but also including various group games and activities designed to be both fun and cognitively challenging, contribute greatly to the quality of life of The Strong House’s clients, allowing them to continue an active lifestyle through their golden years.

Many clients have dementia or alzheimer’s disease, Gauthier said, and the kind of environment The Strong House provides maximizes their cognitive and memory functions, delaying the diseases’ progression and keeping them from having to move on to more specialized or restrictive for as long as possible.

“We care for [clients’] family members like they were our family members,” said Gauthier. “You don’t get that, some places. You’re just a number and you’re a just a figure sitting there, and they talk over you. We don’t do that here.”

This is the real reason why Gauthier said people bring their family members to The Strong House, because the focus isn’t just on sustaining or keeping them busy, but goes far and above that to provide fun programs, personal care, and interaction, and a humanizing, home-like environment.

Gauthier said staff will often take pictures and provides accounts of the day’s activities for client’s family members, as the seniors can’t always remember what happened during the day.

“Pictures can say a thousand words to the family members,” Gauthier said.

Some of the more popular programs The Strong House provides include an annual riverboat cruise picnic and Gauthier’s personal favorite, weekly live music.

“A song can just bring back memories of something that happened years ago for them,” Gauthier said. “We’re getting to the point where they like rock n’ roll. And they like to get up and dance.”

For more information on The Strong House, visit www.stronghousect.org or call 203-245-0524.