August 25, 2020

MALDEN — The care and safe environment provided each day at the Twin Oaks Day Center in Malden benefits not only the special-needs adults who attend, but also their families. Since opening three years ago, Twin Oaks has been an adult day care, but it also has its “day-habilitation certificate,” said owner John Welch...

The Twin Oaks Day Center at Malden crowned its king and queen during a prom held earlier this month. The facility provides day services for individuals with autism, Down Syndrome, Aspergers and related disabilities.
The Twin Oaks Day Center at Malden crowned its king and queen during a prom held earlier this month. The facility provides day services for individuals with autism, Down Syndrome, Aspergers and related disabilities.Photo provided

MALDEN — The care and safe environment provided each day at the Twin Oaks Day Center in Malden benefits not only the special-needs adults who attend, but also their families.

Since opening three years ago, Twin Oaks has been an adult day care, but it also has its “day-habilitation certificate,” said owner John Welch.

The facility, he said, is authorized through the U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services. It is a Medicaid program.

“We serve people with developmental disabilities, which is typically going to be autism, Down Syndrome and Aspergers,” Welch explained. “It benefits the family, as well as the individuals.

“The individuals get to go somewhere during the day where they are going to have a good time, and it’s a fun, safe place for them. … They create and develop friends, and they look forward to seeing their friends during the day.”

The benefit to the families, he said, is they don’t have to have someone stay home with their family member.

“The family can go to work or at least have a respite, knowing their loved one is taken care of in a safe place during the day,” Welch said.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Welch said, Twin Oaks has remained open.

“Some families have protected their loved ones and not allowed them out of the house, but our licensing agency has encouraged all adult day care to stay open to help families, so we’ve done that,” Welch said. “We’ve stayed open.”

Those served by Twin Oaks come from both the Malden and Poplar Bluff areas.

“We have a 15-person van that goes to Poplar Bluff twice a day,” Welch explained. “We pick people up at their door to start the day and then bring them home in the afternoon.”

Welch said about half of those served at Twin Oaks come from the Poplar Bluff area.

When Cambridge Adult Day Care of Poplar Bluff closed about a year ago, “those people didn’t have anywhere to go, so we were able to add those, and we’ve added a couple of others as a result of those contacts,” Welch said.

Twin Oaks, according to Welch, is unique in that it has added a veranda and is in the process of adding a courtyard.

“We’re trying to do whatever we can to upgrade the facility so that everybody has a good time every day,” Welch said.

The facility, he said, offers “a whole lot of activities day to day for the people that come to visit us.”

An outreach program, Welch said, has been started between the facility and nursing home residents.

“A lot of our individuals really enjoy arts and crafts, so what we’re doing is we’re taking those drawings and paintings and sending those to people in a nursing home,” Welch said. “We’ve created kind of a pen-pal thing.

“When the nursing home writes back, our people just love it. They loved the responses they get, and the comments about the art they did.”

The facility held a prom earlier this month, and everyone got dressed up, Welch said.

“It was so cool to watch the girls make their appointments to get their nails done and their hair done,” he said. “Just to see how they were dressed, it was a really cool thing to see.”

Plans for next year, Welch said, include adding a greenhouse.

“We hope to develop that into a farmer’s market,” he said.

As construction continues on the courtyard, “I’ve been surprised,” Welch said. “We’ve had construction going on for a couple of months.

“We have some individuals, they don’t miss a second. They love watching the construction. I think when the construction is done that interest will transfer to the greenhouse. I think they will really, really enjoy that.”

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