Years ago, Peter Behr, founder of the Guardian Adult Day Care Center, became aware of a family friend who had just suffered a stroke. This friend was not expected to live a month. Peter made a promise to the friend’s family to play music for him every day until, one way or another, he was out of the nursing home. The friend lived another 4 1/2 years.
In keeping with his promise, playing guitar for his friend, every day, Peter witnessed how badly the people staying at the nursing home were treated. It was this observation that has driven Peter and his wife, Marie, first to open and then to operate the Guardian Adult Day Health Center for over 25 years. You may have seen Peter standing in front of the Center on busy San Pablo Dam Road, stopping traffic so that the buses that come to pick up or drop off people can safely pull out into traffic.
Just recently, after three years of operating as a joint venture with the Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI), Peter was asked and agreed to become a part of CEI. CEI has been operating in the Bay Area for 37 years and was able to bring to the table many benefits previously unavailable to Guardian and its clients. And with its goal to allow elders to live at home and not in a nursing home, the Guardian Adult Day Health Center fit right into CEI’s philosophy. Guardian is now a part of the Center for Elders’ Independence.
Participation of its clients is what CEI is all about. Users of the facility have played an active part in the centers’ remodeling process. The new facility now provides a new lounge for social activities, fresh lunches in a new dining area, and a new rehabilitation gym. They provide managed health care with nurses on staff, as well as physical and occupational therapists, and social workers are there too. Their PACE plan has full medical, dental and podiatry available.
The Center is having a Grand Re-Opening on March 7th from 3 to 6 PM. The public is invited.
Please stop by for a tour of the center, meet the staff and enjoy refreshments as they make room to welcome more seniors from Contra Costa County.
For more information about everything the Centers for Elders’ Independence have to offer, call, toll free: 844-320-1150.
