The daycare spans across three buildings and provides adults with socialization, stimulation, and health services.
The bus pulls up to the daycare, and its occupants spill out onto the sidewalk at 11048 Rennard St. A full day of activities, including games, arts and crafts and exercise, is scheduled for them inside. They’ll spend the day here before being picked up or dropped off again.
No, they aren’t young children. Quite the opposite.
Northeast Adult Day Care prides itself on being the largest daycare facility for the elderly in the area. It’s a three-building business open 365 days a year.
“Here, people stay active, social and engaged,” said Vlada Rubarkh, one of the daycare’s directors.
Rubarkh and Anna Ufberg founded the daycare in 1999. Rubarkh said it is a good option for long-term care, as it allows adults to continue living at home rather than moving to a nursing home.
Every day, buses drive door to door to houses within a 30 minute drive at 7 a.m. Breakfast is served around 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., during which time any clients with health concerns can meet with on-site nurses.
The adults will then split up into different activities, which vary from bingo, computer classes, health lectures and current news — which means a lot of discussing President Donald Trump.
“It’s always Trump here,” Rubarkh said with a laugh.
Lunch is served after, followed by more activities.
The facility includes a small gym for physical therapy, and also an aquatic therapy rehabilitation center. The heated pool allows for relaxed muscles and increasing range of motion.
The daycare is proud to boast a multilingual staff that can speak a variety of languages, including Russian, Ukrainian, Malayalam, Hindi and Yiddish to serve its approximately 160 clients.
Rubarkh said the center has strong Russian, Indian and American populations that they cater to.
“We need to be united,” she said.
Rubarkh helps out in every possible way, from overseeing administrative work to getting down on her knees and scrubbing toilets. She said she loves working with the clients.
“The first day a client comes here, a lot of them are scared or maybe depressed,” Rubarkh said. “As they start coming and meeting friends and participating in all the things we offer here, it’s amazing to see how they just become happier.” ••
For more information, head to the daycare’s website at www.northeastadc.com or call 215–671–0200.
