Ë®¹ûÅÉAV

Choices for Change will move from 9 State St. downtown to 208 W. Main St. in Elbridge, headquarters of health care agency ElderChoice, which has been providing the program in Auburn since 2007. Program director Scott Hitchcock told Ë®¹ûÅÉAV the Auburn location will close in late June and participants will begin going to the Elbridge one July 7.

Hitchcock said the program will move closer to some of the people it serves, who have traumatic brain injuries and dementia. The Elbridge location is nearly double the size of the Auburn one, and he described its interior as more open, with less wasted space. There will be a theater room, a coffee station, a bathroom with showers and a dedicated eating area, among other amenities.

"This is big," Hitchcock said about the eating area, explaining that it was multipurpose space in Auburn. "We no longer have to say, 'OK, it's time to put away your cards. It's time to eat.'"

The outdoors will be more accessible for participants in the program as well, with a nearby creek among the scenery. 

Overall, the Elbridge location will help Choices for Change fulfill its mission of encouraging independence and socialization for participants while providing respite for their caregivers.

"I have family members that struggle to care for their loved ones, and it takes a toll," Hitchcock said. "This is someplace safe."

Fulfilling that mission has been particularly challenging since the COVID-19 pandemic, Hitchcock said, which caused a "horrific deterioration" in socialization.

"It conditioned our residents into a new routine that was more simplistic," he said. 

Saying "no" to break participants out of that routine isn't an option either, Hitchcock said. If they want to play bingo or cards instead of something more enriching, he continued, staff has to listen. 

Since the program will no longer pay rent in Elbridge, Hitchcock said, that money can be invested into programming and staffing. Programming will include activities like arts and crafts, cards, darts and planting a wheelchair-accessible garden. Participants will also take trips to Carpenter's Brook Fish Hatchery, Rosamond Gifford Zoo, the New York State Fair and more.

Choices for Change is hoping to use its new savings to buy a 15-person bus and install cameras as well.

Instead of calling or showing up to check in, caregivers would be able to use the cameras to see how their loved ones are doing.

"We're trying to shake things up," Hitchcock said.