Senior Moments Offers a Day Center for Tolland Senior Citizens

For Tolland seniors and their families there’s a new option in town: the Senior Moments day center, opened by geriatric APRN and Elder Care Consulting, LLC owner Lori O’Connor.

For O’Connor, the new business is a dream come true.

“I always wanted to develop a day center, but I had to find the right building and place,” she said on Monday afternoon’s open house. 

O’Connor has certainly put a lot of thought and work into making her dream a beautiful reality. She said that she purchased the Rockville Moose Lodge on Kingsbury Avenue in January. She spent the following months completely refurbishing the lower level of the lodge, converting a beer fridge into a working kitchen, as well as creating a handicap-accessible bathroom with a shower, a small room equipped for hairstyling and an open café, perfect for dining and socializing for her clients.

In fact, O’Connor said that the open floor plan and décor is meant to welcome seniors and make them feel like Senior Moments is their own.

“I felt that the room had to be really welcoming,” she said.

Rideshare account manager Kris Tower, who stopped by Monday’s open house, agreed that the décor will help Senior Moments clients feel at home at the center.

“The different areas look so inviting,” she said. “It looks like somebody’s living room.”

Clients will get much more than just a great atmosphere at Senior Moments. According to O’Connor, seniors will be offered a light breakfast and full lunch, catered by Manchester’s October Kitchen, assistance from a nurse for health issues and medication, as well as access to a hair stylist and the business’ beauty shop.

Residents will be able to play games like bocce or darts, as well as complete crafts like yarn work. O'Connor added that staff will be able to provide transportation to and from the center within a certain mile radius.

Another perk will also be the interchange between Senior Moments and O’Connor’s other business, Elder Care Consulting, LLC, which assists families in assessing senior care. 

O’Connor thinks that the two businesses will be able to serve a vital demand in the community for quality senior care for an affordable price.

“Our population is growing older and people want to save money,” she said. “They save money with the day center.”

According to the brochure, the Senior Moments day program costs $86 a day, as opposed to O’Connor’s estimate of $144 a day for eight hours of hiring a home health aide.

According to the Senior Moments Web site, the business will be opening on September 26. For information about the program or enrollment, call 860-643-9500 or visit the Senior Moments Web site.