Ponell Locklear stands before The Holistic Adult Day Care and Health Agency, which opens this winter to the public. Locklear will serve as the day care’s program director.
Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
Locklear
Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
Ponell Locklear, the program director for Holistic Adult Day Care and Health Agency, takes a look at one of the sitting rooms inside the facility. The adult day care will hold an open house in December.
Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
Shown is one of the exam rooms at the Holistic Adult Day Care and Health Agency, which will be open this winter.
Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
Shown is an area where some of the activities will take place at the The Holistic Adult Day Care and Health Agency, which will offer daytime care to people diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
PEMBROKE — The Holistic Adult Day Care and Health Agency will soon accept clients after being placed on hold awaiting state certification.
The facility will mainly cater to caretakers of dementia or Alzheimer’s patients that need temporary relief during the daytime, and it will use holistic measures.
“We’ve been battling for this thing for over a year, ever since July of 2019,” said Ponell Locklear, the day care’s program director. “It’s just been one frustration after another one, but sometimes when you stand strong and believe in the thing you can’t just walk away from it.”
An open house has been scheduled for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 1-5 and Dec. 7-10, during which people can sign up to make use of the facility located at 30 Drakes Branch Drive in Pembroke, which is at COMtech Business Park. The facility will open Jan. 4.
The day care’s planned opening came to halt a year ago after state certifications were placed on hold because of COVID-19.
“We just had a lot of interference with COVID-19,” Locklear said. “We would have begun last December or in January, but this shut us down.”
The idea for the holistic day care originated with Locklear, who is no stranger to dementia. She grew up taking care of a grandmother who suffered with Alzheimer’s. She also worked in an adult day care years ago.
“After my grandmother’s death I went back to college,” Locklear said.
She obtained a degree in social work and human service technology, and most of her studies were geared toward geriatric care. She also spent 10 years working in mental health within the Public Schools of Robeson County as a director for the Pychosocial Rehabilitation Program.
“I’ve always been geared towards this population,” she said. “I love working with this population.”
It was in 2019 that Locklear, along with her daughter Gwen Locklear and son-in-law Michael Collins, decided to open up an adult day care center in Robeson County because of the need in the area.
“It’s just something I believed in,” Locklear said. “We do not have an adult day care is Robeson County and we need it.”
What will set the Holistic Adult Day Care and Health Agency apart from other facilities is the holistic approaches that will be used.
“Holistic represents the whole being,” Locklear said. “You’re dealing with the person physically, mentally and spiritually.
“That’s the holistic part of this, keeping that mind working, keeping them interested, keeping them moving and holding on to as much as they can as long as they can.”
Some of these approaches will consist of activities that cater to the senses and keeps the mind occupied during their time at the facility.
“Activities and socialization with those individuals are so important,” Locklear said. “The old saying is ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it.’”
The day care will contain a sensory garden, and will offer arts and crafts, activities that include song and dance, and devotionals.
“I find that a lot men who have Alzheimer’s love to dance. I don’t know what it is but they love music and love to dance,” Locklear said.
She also has found that women enjoy working with their hands.
“They love to do things they’re familiar with,” Locklear said. “When you’re more familiar and comfortable, your stress goes down. That’s with everybody.”
Locklear recalled one woman suffering from dementia who had quit baking for a period of time.
“Mom fixed potato bread and it triggered her,” she said. “She started saying words again.”
The facility will not be solely holistic. It will employ licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants and patient care assistants to focus on the health of each patient and to identify symptoms.
The facility will also adhere to COVID-19 guidelines by establishing a sanitizing station. Temperatures will be checked before clients enter the building and their temperatures will be recorded. Masks will be mandatory, and no visitors will be allowed.
“With Alzheimer’s that may not always be easy but we’re encouraging masks,” Locklear said. “There’s nothing worth anyone’s safety being put at risk.”
The main goal of the facility is to lighten the load of stressed caregivers, and the patients.
“We’re trying to meet the needs of the family as they’re working, as well as the individual who will be coming here’s caretaker,” she said.
Every three months the organization will bring someone in to sit with families and provide information pertaining to the illness their family member is going through.
“I find the better educated someone is the better you can deal,” Locklear said. “I also find that it’s hard for family members to deal with the world that person is in and sometimes struggle to try to keep them in our world.”
She has found that adult day care helps ease the dementia patient’s home life.
“They’ve been working all day,” Locklear said. “They’ve been busy, they haven’t been in a chair all day staring off. All of that is important for individuals.
“Individuals who are free to express themselves verses someone who holds stuff in are more apt to be more angry. It’s a matter of them finding that area that works for them and alleviating that anxiety.”
The daycare will accept no more than 18 clients because of COVID-19.
For more information about applying, call 910-668-1015 or email [email protected]
Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at [email protected] or 910-416-5865.
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