By Brandon Chin
Contributing Writer
Senior education major Katelin Brooks and sophomore marketing major Colleen Corey will lead the Bona pack to a new frontier.
In collaboration with the Eden Heights Assisted Living Center, the two cofounders of the Silver Wolves will bring a new service to senior citizens in Olean.
Originally planned for last year, the Silver Wolves came into formation this fall and hosted their first informational meeting on Sept. 29. The cofounders of the club, Brooks and Corey, worked in collaboration with the Activities Director at Eden Heights, Julian Martinez, to create the Adopt-A-Grandparent program. Encouraging personal involvement, creative intuition and compassion, the Silver Wolves strive to establish a social relationship that will span the difference of decades, members said.
“The Silver Wolves hope to establish a relationship with the elderly community,” said Brooks. “It is not just to give [students] experiences in the healthcare field or any community service activities but to give them a meaningful relationship.”
Adopt-A-Grandparent’s goal of gaining insight from the older generation stems from the history of its three cofounders.
Brooks’ parents own an assisted living center in Ohio, a building built by her father and operating under the family name “Brooks’ House,” according to Brooks.
Corey said she was inspired by the experiences of her grandfather, a survivor of the global and economic turmoil of D-Day and the Great Depression.
Martinez, the developer of this year’s program, said he did not have intensive experience with the elderly and instead found his passion to improve their lifestyle in recent years.
“One thing that I’ve noticed between a nursing home and an assisted living facility is that they’re completely different,” Martinez said. “My stepmom’s grandmother was put in a nursing home, and it was horrendous. I went and I visited her, and I felt awful about it. It just doesn’t seem like there is a lot of compassion there. There was this dingy lighting. You don’t see a lot of movement.”
According to Martinez, there is a situation that exists beyond the walls of the facilities.
“People are scared,” Corey said. “One thing I know about [the elderly] is how much they know and how much they have to teach, but I’ve heard some people go, ‘Why would you want to work with old people?’”
Brooks and Martinez agree that there is a reputation surrounding the elderly that is ambiguous in its truthfulness.
“You might think you are going to deal with the old nasty man, and you probably are,” Martinez said. “They don’t know you. They don’t have to have a reason to want to know you. It takes time, but the stereotypes float away.”
The founders, however, agreed that there is knowledge to be learned as well as knowledge that must be earned. However, the value of simple companionship is an aspect that must be considered as well.
“I’m hoping that the students will build a relationship.” Martinez said. “They can do that through any means they desire. Music, dance, watching TV— we’ll come up with suggestions, but it’s about you coming up with activities. You will get to know them, and they will become like your grandparents.”
chinbl15@bonaventure.edu
