Coastside Adult Community Center will hold open house Sept 16

To celebrate the midpoint of a community campaign to build the Coastside Adult Community Center, the public is invited to a free "Open" House event at the site of the planned center on Saturday, September 16, 2006 from 4:00 to 6:00pm at Main Street and Arnold Way in Half Moon Bay [Google map].

The event will feature a full-size outline of the actual building, imaginative building "tours," refreshments, entertainment, prizes, and information on local services for seniors and adults with disabilities. 

There will be a brief program to let the community know more about how the new building will serve the growing number of seniors and disabled adults on the Coastside.  The 15-minute program, scheduled for 4:45, will include brief remarks by California State Assembly Member Gene Mullins, Half Moon Bay Mayor Marina Fraser, and Coastside Adult Community Center staff and campaign representatives.

"This event will be different than other open houses because our new home has not been built yet.  Our house - and the event - are definitely ‘open.’  We’ve developed an innovative way to outline the ‘footprint’ of the building, and guests will have a lot of fun as we show them how this new building will allow us to provide new and needed services to seniors and disabled adults - the fastest growing segment of our community," said Cara Schmaljohn, executive director of Senior Coastsiders, which is developing the building with the Coastside Adult Day Health Center.  Both organizations have been forced to limit their services because of current space restrictions.

"Our community has always shown terrific support for our seniors and adults with disabilities," added Janie Bono, executive director of the Coastside Adult Day Health Center.  "Passing the halfway point of the fundraising campaign for our new center indicates that Coastsiders understand the great need for a new facility."

"People of all ages will have lots of fun at this festive, family-oriented event," said Mark Battey, chair of the Coastside Adult Community Center Capital Campaign.  "It gives us a chance to show our entire population how far we’ve come in the campaign to give seniors and adults with disabilities in our community one location for the programs and services they need to maintain their independence, in a building that reflects the beauty of the Coastside."

To date, more than $3.8 million of the $7 million needed to construct the 23,000-
square-foot center has been committed.  The Coastside Adult Community Center will feature a commercial kitchen and dining rooms to provide hot meals, as well as space for a library, a computer lab, dancing, billiards, arts & crafts and other activities for Senior Coastsiders clients.  A new building will expand the Coastside Adult Day Health Center’s specialized program for clients with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementia, while allowing the Center to continue a structured day program of therapeutic activities and substantial health services for frail adults and adults with disabilities. 

A committee of local volunteers, chaired by Half Moon Bay resident Susy Castoria, is planning the event.  Committee members include Michele Borovac, Sue Heckman, Kris Mason, and Susan Kealey, also of the Coastside.

For more information, please visit www.coastsidecenter.org, or call Senior Coastsiders at (650) 726-9056 or the Coastside Adult Day Health Center at (650) 726-5067.