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00:00we're talking about the grace house and you probably will recognize the voice of one of
00:04the lovely ladies for sure because she has honestly been my entire childhood and probably
00:09yours too she's one of the legendary clark sisters we've got dr dorinda clark cold the
00:15president of the grace house and we've got nikki cold the program director of the grace house
00:20good morning ladies good morning thank you so much for having us thank you for being here girl what
00:25do you mean i wondered how long it was gonna take before the tears started no i'm being
00:30professional it wasn't gonna be long i just you've done it you've done better i'm doing really well
00:39no i'm doing fabulous are you i'm doing wonderful now that i'm talking to you i got that okay beautiful
00:47but importantly we are here to talk about the amazing organization and house that you have
00:54created the grace house can you tell me what the vision was when you were thinking of creating
00:59this adult learning center like where did this idea come from for both of you well actually it really
01:04started from my daughter uh my daughter nikki just has a heart for um for seniors and her she took
01:11care
01:11of her grandmother and her grandfather and it was really something to see how much of a love that she
01:18had for them you know caring that they were reclining um you know in an old age so she had
01:24to really hand
01:25do everything for them um they were in their 80s and 90s and so it was something that i knew
01:33that she had
01:33a heart for but in the same token me being um who i am as an evangelist in the church
01:39it was a ministry of
01:40minds that you know somebody has to care for the seniors you know we all are going to get old
01:46so
01:46you know we thought that we put back in to the seniors who have really given a lot to the
01:53society
01:53and to the family and so that's how it really really started so i told her i said nikki let's
01:59just try to
01:59open up this grace house it would be something that would help those that are reclining into um their
02:06um alzheimer's dementia and just a slow process of cognitive um stimulation so this was something that
02:14we wanted to do we specialize in um music which is something a lot of the african-american um ladies
02:22and and men who um really kind of actually recall back yeah when they're in services and things like
02:31that we'll sing songs to them and they'll go along it's more of a sing-along i love that especially
02:37because that also has a similar like familial tie for me my grandfather he was blind my entire life
02:44of growing up but one of the things that brought me into music was sitting on his lap while i
02:49was
02:49while he was playing the guitar playing like bb king and things like that so even as he was aging
02:54and
02:55like losing his fingering and like being not being able to really recall much he would always be able
03:00to recall those james brown songs so i love that you guys have created this place where people can
03:08relive themselves and like refine themselves through music and i think that's a beautiful way to do it
03:13because music is a universal language that we all understand it is the big connector um before we get
03:19into the the things that you do at the grace house how special is it to work together on something
03:26like this i mean to to see mother daughter work together it's got to be really special yeah it is
03:32a blessing um i look at it as my mom is my best friend so to be a business partner
03:38um i mean we bump
03:40heads let's just keep it real we bump a lot of heads but um it's just just the just to
03:46get that whole
03:47experience because she is an entrepreneur so just picking up that but then along with being a business
03:52partner so doing things together along with learning it is a big you know a big success
03:56thing for me so i'm very blessed to have my mom having my back and working with her when she
04:02comes
04:02to work though when she comes when she comes i do i do go i do go but sometimes i
04:09let her handle it
04:10because she does such a wonderful job with handling i mean she just she just has that that connection
04:16with them and they love her you know it's like where's nikki where is she at you know and and
04:22it's just gravitation that i see um you know so i kind of give her that space because she knows
04:29how
04:29to handle them even when they say i gotta go to the potty i gotta go to the restroom you
04:33know she just
04:34knows how to get them up and just it's it's it's like a magnetic thing that i seen how she
04:41really
04:42really pulls on those um seniors and they get them back to a place where they they're they like
04:49coming right you know and that's that's important that's the key thing because we finding that there
04:54are a lot of um of them sometimes they have their good days their bad days sometimes their bad days
04:59or if it's raining outside or i don't feel like going today so um you know it really it's something
05:05to see how they change but then if you keep talking to them and getting them back into it you
05:10know
05:11you get them up and moving right so that's i think that's a key thing so we've talked about
05:15the use of music therapy to kind of allow them to re-get back to themselves so what does the
05:23grace
05:23house offer because i know it's music therapy but what what can we explain to people who may actually
05:28be looking for this center well we incorporate a lot of techniques of course with the rep with the
05:34cognitive resonance um dealing with therapy we do a lot of games we do a lot of um a lot
05:40of uh
05:41different things to kind of test their memory we work on ipads to kind of give them that advanced
05:47technology feel because you know some some senior citizens they have their cell phones so we try to
05:51keep them acclimated on what's happening what they need to do and whatnot and then pretty much just
05:57socializing that's what it's all about we try to make it a home away from home um giving them that
06:02comfortable clean um environment uh just trying to just give that give the the out uh excuse me
06:11give them give the caregivers an outlet because uh as me being a caregiver at the time for my
06:16grandparents it was it was a struggle it was a challenge and then just to see the caregivers that
06:21that are a part of us it's a relief for them like we come across them crying just thanking us
06:27and just
06:28loving on us just being able to you know because it's hard to leave your loved ones with somebody
06:33and just like as if with kids with at daycare you know you worrying all day okay if my child
06:38is okay
06:39so they play along with that because the roles are reversing it's like the kids are taking care of the
06:44mother's parents now so we kind of try to juggle that to make it comfortable right at the same time
06:48you said something right there you said it's like a home away from home home away from home one of
06:52the big
06:53struggles i know is is taking someone and moving them full time into a facility i love the fact that
06:59this is a day program you don't have to feel like you're losing home it's almost like you're
07:04gaining another i mean was that intentional or is it just kind of like uh oh man this really works
07:09out
07:09it was intentional um because of course it was like we wanted to have something like with the living
07:15facility but then we also wanted to make a social model thing so of course with the nine to five
07:21but
07:21then we're looking into doing other things to kind of speak kind of like gear and implement other
07:27programs where we do respite and all of that but it's a need we've realized it's a need for nine
07:33to
07:33five like it's a lot of people even with the nursing homes a lot of people don't want to put
07:37their
07:37mother's parents yeah fathers in nursing home so this is a time for them or the place for them to
07:42get
07:42that time to go do what you need to do have a breather to yourself you know right mental yeah
07:49you know
07:49no that's that's really important because you don't necessarily realize how much the caregivers
07:54are taking on unless you are a caregiver yourself or have been in that situation so the fact that you
08:00are creating an external village for all parties involved is truly incredible because like clay
08:06mentioned being able to get outside of the house is probably one of the hardest parts for them and
08:11being able to have that routine essentially is probably also very good for their cognitive
08:17um thinking as well so what's other ways that you're helping them just you know have the
08:24caregivers get there because i know transportation is offered is that offered for everyone like how
08:28does that work yes alicia well we uh we offer transportation within a 20 mile radius um but it's
08:35just it's definitely um a light off of the off the caregivers because sometimes they'll get to a point
08:42where they don't feel like coming out but they want to still get their loved one out you know or
08:46they
08:46might not have transportation to get them there so we want to provide that we provide that to let
08:51them know like okay well no we don't have no excuse you're going to come on out we're going to
08:55come
08:55pick you up so that was really the whole thing as far as adding transportation to the program i love
09:01it
09:01it's so full circle like you're thinking of every idea and every aspect of everything you're welcome
09:07it's it's it's really amazing to see how this is and our model is aging um aging with dignity but
09:13living with purpose and i think that's really really important for them because um i see how
09:20they are declining you know we had a one one of the mothers that were there and she was like
09:2689 years
09:27old and i had a baby of a baby doll and so i brought the baby doll and i said
09:33mom i got you i got you
09:35your baby she says oh my baby it's on our website but it she she grabbed that baby like it
09:42was a real
09:42baby you know and every so every day she would come she said where's my baby so she said you
09:48gotta go get
09:48my baby some clothes so she went i went and got them some clothes she says we got to change
09:53the
09:53back i mean just like it was a real doll but she cried because she was it was like she
09:57was reliving life
09:58again right you know so those are the kind of things that we tried to zero in and find out
10:04what would
10:05make them live longer and unfortunately she passed away um but that that thing really touched me i mean
10:11we've had like two or three of them that have passed away but i mean that's the hardest part that
10:16nikki has to deal with that's the only part that i hate of yeah she just this field that i'm
10:21in now i would imagine
10:22you gain so much family through yes and not blood family it's a family family it's an attachment it's
10:29a real attachment and i almost got to the point where i was like okay i don't think i want
10:34to do
10:34this i just got so to that point yeah but but it's exciting to see um them come and then
10:41we had one time
10:42we had a service that we took them all to in the days in the daytime and they just got
10:48a kick out of
10:49that it was like they was reliving church again you know and to see them come back to the to
10:54the
10:55grace house and they said oh i've enjoyed myself i'm telling you we're going back again yeah that's
11:00so cool yeah we do the outings too we include field trips like whatever's going on taking place
11:05a senior uh day events or maybe the the outdoor events like depending on the season the weather but
11:11we try to do outdoor things as well to get them out along with being at the facility i know
11:17it's hard
11:18work but just the joy that you bring to everyone is probably the best part of what you guys do
11:23like
11:23like you were explaining that lady probably left every day thinking wow they really love me yeah and
11:29even though at the end of the time like you know everyone unfortunately passes on but she left the
11:34world with so much joy because of what you guys have created and to top that i get a lot
11:39of my
11:40members they'll say i love you out the blue yeah so i'm not gonna get emotional but
11:45they would just tell me and that would just break me down because it would just be out the blue
11:50i'll
11:50help them from the bathroom back to their seat and they'll just sit down like oh thank you i love
11:55you
11:56i'm like oh i love you too i can take you home with me i do think that's one of
12:02the things that most
12:03people miss about getting old is as you get older you lose connections with yeah i mean not just family
12:10but friends everybody so to gain new connections i it's so important and if you're wondering what
12:16we're talking about uh the grace house uh right here in uh so just down the road um if people
12:23need
12:24information they want to get in contact with you what what are some good ways to do that well they
12:28can call us of that number is 248-996-9134 or they can go to the website website which is
12:35www.thegracehousecenter.com
12:40and then they can also um we're on facebook we're on instagram so they they can reach us that way
12:46and uh they go on instagram they can kind of see how everything works at the grace house um and
12:52i think
12:53that's why a lot of them get to know more about us you know so i think that that's how
12:57they can get
12:57in touch with us i just have one last thing i think that there's probably someone who's probably
13:03not ready you know everyone's especially for a caregiver who's like i know that my mom or my dad
13:08or my aunt or whoever it is really needs this but i'm not ready to let that you know go
13:14i'm not ready
13:15to let my you know control go what do you want to say to them so that they know that
13:21grace house is the
13:21place for them well that's a really good question because um a lot of times that's the resistance
13:27that we have but we have um they can make an appointment and they can come just tour bring
13:33your mother or your father with you and that way they can see what is really happening and then once
13:39they get there i promise you because we have fountains there and the fountains where the water drips
13:44it's like a calmness and it brings a serenity in that in that environment so everybody that comes
13:51through there they'll be like i love this it's like a home away from home you know so once they
13:56if they can just get them there we'll take care of the rest you know so that's that's one of
14:01the
14:01things that we try to assure the the caretaker just get them there let's do the tour um and of
14:08course
14:08um all of the employees are just just loving on them while they're there so that's one way to get
14:14them there and you can tell this is a project of love i mean you know nikki just hearing you
14:18talk
14:19about it hearing you get choked up it's a it's a love passion project the music end of it i
14:24mean
14:24it's been a part of your life yes forever and ever so to wrap this into it too i mean
14:29it just fits
14:30now we do know there's going to be a couple of days coming up where nikki you're working solo
14:43tell everyone about this the big announcement oh thank you so much for asking of course the
14:49clark sisters of course we've been around a long time for oh my goodness since 60 years we've been
14:56in it in the game and so in las vegas um we just got the announcement the announcement that we're
15:02making to you all that the clark sisters are doing a residency in las vegas in october october
15:09the 8th 9th and 11th and the continual dates and after that so we're really excited about that you
15:15know last year we had the yeah the marital war for the grammy so it's like we don't know what's
15:21happening next and then we got the hollywood star that we're gonna do in 2027
15:25yes it's about time this is coming too fast for me i'm getting older right yeah so these we're
15:35really excited about the residency we got that maybe like four or five days ago so we're really
15:41really excited about so thank everybody that's listening that have supported the clark sisters
15:46down through the years you want to be a part of that you can go to the clark sisters website
15:50and just
15:51get in on it i love it so just know i'll be off in october mickey you and i are
15:58the most serious
15:59beginning of october we're solo sorry right right right right uh we both want to say thank you so
16:06much for taking time thank you and not just for taking time to come in here but for taking time
16:11to help so many families um if you do have an aging parent grandparent yes um and need information
16:18one more time where where's the best place to go okay they can come they can go to the website
16:22the
16:22website is the grace house center um they can also um go to instagram or facebook we're the grace house
16:28center um those are those and then we can also call us at 248-996-9134 and that's all the
16:37information
16:38so go to the go to the instagram and facebook so you can see what it's like before you call
16:44no yes bring your loved ones to us yes and lisha you made it the whole way without crying one
16:49time
16:49i did guys thank you thank y'all so much thank you it's all new morning rollout with lisha b
16:58and clay
16:58105 on the bottom
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