Holidays and Celebrations at CenterLight Healthcare PACE
CenterLight Healthcare’s Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) offers activities and socialization for our participants 55 and over. Our Day Health Centers (DHCs) are always buzzing with activities. On any given day, you will hear music and laughter at our PACE sites across New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. Holidays and cultural celebrations our participants enjoy include:
- Cinco de Mayo
- Christmas
- Diwali
- Eid
- Hannukah
- Holi
- Kwanza
- Lunar New Year
- Mid-Autumn Festival
- Thanksgiving
- Valentine’s Day
- Hispanic Heritage Month
- African American History Month
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Month
- Jewish Heritage Month
We always find reasons to celebrate, like National Donut Day, Pasta Day, and Pancake Day, or simply having an Elvis impersonator at a party just because!
As Diverse and Unique as our Participants
CenterLight PACE participants come from many cultural backgrounds. Our diverse staff, who speak 25+ languages and dialects, are proud to foster an environment where the heritage of those we serve is celebrated, and their unique needs and preferences are valued.
The Therapeutic Recreation team works hard to ensure that our participants have an enjoyable time at our DHCs. They plan months in advance to ensure that our daily activities and events are representative of our participants’ cultures, passions, and traditions.
Beyond Holidays
In addition to cultural and religious holidays, celebrations at CenterLight PACE also include special occasions.
We host monthly birthday parties and celebrate wedding anniversaries with our participants and their families. During the summer, we hold a special carnival complete with games and prizes, and even a dunk tank! In the fall, participants and staff from our different sites get competitive with a pumpkin decorating contest. Visit our sites during Halloween to see their spooky and fun costumes. One of my personal favorites is the “Senior” Prom where we crown a Prom King and Queen!
Bringing Everyone Together
Our celebrations are fun for our participants and staff, but more importantly, they bring everyone closer together. Commemorating holidays with special cultural and personal significancecan sometimes bring homesickness to participants whose family may be hundreds of miles away. Being able to celebrate these occasions with our staff and their peers makes CenterLight PACE a home away from home, where they can share their traditions with their CenterLight PACE family.
Looking Ahead, and a Personal Note…
We are excited to see what fun and meaningful events we will come up with in 2025. I hope you will check back soon to see photos and stories of our participants and what our DHC activities mean to them. Personally, seeing their smiles at and after every celebration is the most fulfilling part of my job, and I hope you can visit us and witness these yourself one of these days.
Visit our Life at CenterLight page for recent happenings at our PACE Centers. You may also visit our Facebook page to view more pictures from our Therapeutic Recreation events and activities.
This blog post is written by Kristy Bermudez, Recreation Services Assistant Manager at CenterLight Healthcare PACE.
H3329 HolidaysBlog Approved 10242024
Updated October 14, 2024