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12/23/2014 11:00 PMIn the nearly three years Guilford's Maureen Talarczyk has worked with seniors at the Strong House Adult Day Center in Madison, many of her elderly students have developed artistic talents and created pieces beyond what they thought they were capable of. Maureen's skills as an artist and a certified nursing assistant (CNA) fit right in with the non-profit's clients, who have memory or physical care needs.
Maureen says, "I always liked art and teaching art, and when my kids got older, I became a CNA and did home care and I noticed some of them were coming to the Strong House. They were getting report cards that said, like, if they did one-on-one watercolor or something, it would help their focus. And I thought, 'I want to get into the Strong House! I can help them and be their CNA, but also teach them art and do therapy.'"
She did the same for children several years ago by running a 90-minute after-school art program from her home called Young at Art. At the time, her son Joey, now 19, was in middle school and her son Brendan, now 15, was in elementary school. Maureen was then a stay-at-home-mom.
"Kids would get off the bus with my kids," she explains. "It was convenient because the bus driver would just drop them off, and their parents would come pick them up later. They'd get a healthy snack, and I taught them to see the perspective, shading, and shadowing."
Maureen has lived in Guilford for almost her entire life. She moved to North Branford briefly, but wanted her sons to attend the same Guilford schools she did. The Strong House Adult Day Center is located in Madison, but is affiliated with VNA Community Healthcare in Guilford. Maureen also works at the Guilford office as a triage secretary every other Sunday.
Teaching seniors with memory care needs makes use of many of the skills Maureen used with the 2nd- through 6th-graders in her Young at Art program.
"With the elderly dementia folks, I do the same thing," Maureen says. "I get them to do something step-by-step to make it simple for them. They'll be like, 'No, we can't do that,' and I'll say, 'Nope, we're going to have fun with this.'"
The Strong House seniors create a variety of projects, from individual drawings and paintings to group pieces. Often, Maureen draws a picture that the seniors can color in, or she'll create a background and the seniors will draw and color something like a fish or a kite as the central feature.
"They all worked together on a big sign when the Strong House celebrated its 20th anniversary in September," Maureen says. "We like it when they work together and support one another."
Maureen frames and displays these works of art whenever she can.
"I try to get them to look at blending the colors, mixing the colors, shadowing, shading, highlighting," Maureen says. "Their families love it. A lot of the stuff is hanging on their walls at home. "
She adds, "The sad part about it is, they'll do a beautiful picture, I'll frame it, I'll hang some up, and they'll say, 'Look at that-it's beautiful! Who did that?' I'll go, 'You did it!'"
The Strong House recently produced a 2015 calendar with a different senior's artwork for each month. Anyone can order one for $15, and the proceeds benefit the Strong House, which is a non-profit.
"This is our first year making a calendar," Maureen says. "We had them at our 20th anniversary [celebration]. We had a lot of spokespeople here. We had Ted Kennedy, Jr., supporting us because his main thing is to keep the elderly at home as long as possible with home care."
Maureen comments, "I love working with these clients. We're all like family. We have a lot of clients where you would be amazed at the story of their lives."
To nominate someone for Person of the Week, email Melissa at m.babcock@shorepublishing.com.
To learn more about Strong House and to order a 2015 calendar with art by Strong House clients, visit www.stronghousect.org.