The staffers at Hope Alzheimer’s Center in Cranston are celebrating a milestone year this year.

The center, a specially designed facility located at 25 Brayton Ave. and dedicated to the care of Alzheimer’s patients, is marking its 20th anniversary. In celebrating the milestone, the staff can’t help but fondly look back at the past 20 years and think about what makes their center like no other.

“We have helped well over 1,074 people in the past 20 years, and that’s a whole lot of extended family,” said Ellen Grizzetti, Hope’s president and CEO. “Our center is small enough that we can really make a good connection with our families. We are activity focused, yet we provide medical and social support for our clients. That’s really important to their families.”

As a non-profit organization, the center looks for support for the many innovative programs and activities brought into the facility throughout the day. Gina Ceprano-Harwood has secured several grants that have helped bolster the variety of activities the center can offer their participants.

“We offer yoga, tai chi, chair tap dancing, art, music, and gardening activities, for example,” Grizzetti said. “We have many volunteers who come in from various schools and organizations. Students from Cranston West and Hendricken often volunteer, and the students at ICCR often pen pal with our patients and then come to meet and visit with them. We even have pets who come to visit. In the summertime we will invite organizations like Save The Bay or the Roger Williams Park Zoo’s Zoomobile to come.”

Grizzetti feels part of the secret to the center’s success is the fact that the activities are geared toward where participants are in their progression with Alzheimer’s, and the activities allow them to continue to learn and reminisce, something they still enjoy doing.

“We often will project a Kindle screen on the big screen for them so that they can participate. Staying actively engaged helps the participants to stay oriented to place and time. There’s structure in our schedule, which is helpful for people with memory problems,” she said.

Those clients who frequent the center often take place in community service projects as well, giving them a sense of pride in helping others.

“We have made caps for the babies at Women and Infants, we’ve rolled the paper logs that light the WaterFires, and we find that helping those in the wider community helps them to stay connected,” Grizzetti said. “And for those who struggle with too many choices, which is common for people with memory problems, we’ll limit the choices for them, but they’re still choosing what they want to do themselves. Our clients still have fun, still laugh and make friends. They may not remember their day’s activities but they feel positive, and they feel good about themselves. We know them and we praise them for who they are today. Self-esteem is very important.”

If it seems as if Grizzetti knows an awful lot about the center and its goings-on, it’s because she has seen the Hope Alzheimer’s Center evolve over the entire 20 years, and has seen each and every participant that’s come through their doors.

“I have been here since before the shovel first hit the ground,” she said. “I am so blessed, and even though it’s been 20 years, I still love to come to work every day. So much of our staff feels the same way, and we have several who have also been here the entire 20 years. We’re very family-oriented here, and our happy staff trickles down to our happy people who are here each day. We understand them all from their tone of voice to their body language, and we all pitch in to meet all of their needs, no matter what our title is here.”

Grizzetti feels it’s that love for the clients, that family-oriented feeling at the Hope Alzheimer’s Center, that makes the families feel reassured and comfortable sending their family members there.

“Our families are so grateful for our help, and we’re so inspired by them and all that they are taking on in caring for a loved one with memory issues, in addition to their jobs and their kids,” she said. “They are caregivers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and that would be without a break, if it weren’t for us. Through them and the examples they set, we see lessons of what real love is, all day long.”

Initially, Grizzetti worked as the director at the Cranston Adult Day Care facility, but it became increasingly clear that caring for those who were frail and aging still differed from those who had memory problems, and there needed to be a facility specifically for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.

“We had 13 participants and nine staff at the grand opening. We’ve had as high as 65 patients at any one time,” she said. “Right now, we are at 55. We provide a lot of TLC, we do a lot with small group activities, and we have a ratio of six participants to one staff member. Most of our staff are [certified nursing assistants] and their day revolves around our patients, whether it is in the garden, at a tea party, making pizza or giving them bathroom assistance, they participate in their day. Our staff is meeting the physical needs of our patients as well as the social stimulation and interaction.”

Grizzetti notes that the facility meets a wide range of needs, depending on each individual’s progression with the disease.

“Some may need reminders, some may need actual physical assistance. We offer families personal care help and showers while their family members are here, and the nurses who are here are fabulous about watching for signs of issues that families may not be aware of. We also offer the services of a hair dresser every Friday and a podiatrist comes in thanks to a Home Instead grant that we’ve received,” she said.

The Hope Alzheimer’s Center provides hours Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“The staff here is all invested in the goal of giving people everything they need. We have an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ philosophy and no one thinks anything of getting involved, whether they are a case manager, a nurse, or a CNA. Everyone has such a passion for this place,” she said.

It is the notes and praise from families of their clients that assure Grizzetti and her staff that they’re doing a great job, as well as the participation in special events such as the recent golf tournament and the upcoming Soiree on Oct. 16, in honor of the 20 year anniversary, which will take place at the Valley Country Club and feature a live auction and a silent auction to raise funds for the organization.

“Once someone has been touched by this place, they feel that they want to reach out and give back. Seventy percent of our clients come from word of mouth, from referrals. We get such moving letters from our families, they connect with us even after their family member has been a patient here,” she said. “The Hope Alzheimer’s Center is such a good option for people, and we have all grown attached to what happens here.”