Senior Center in Calahorra: Project and Personal Story
Senior Center Project in Calahorra
The project that I am going to develop is the construction of a Senior Center, in other words, a type of community center where older adults can congregate to fulfill many of their social, physical, emotional, and intellectual needs. This center offers many benefits, above all, for the elderly but also for their families.
This Senior Center will not just offer card games. It will offer far more than that: from trips and special events to fine arts and crafts, music and dance, lifelong learning, and fitness and health programs. It will be a pleasant place where they will be able to carry out a great number of activities; furthermore, they will feel well looked after by our workers. It is a good choice for families who do not have enough time to take care of them.
The fact of sending them to a senior center or to a day center does not mean that families want to get rid of them. In fact, they would give them a much better care than perhaps, because of our lack of time, space, or ignorance of medical situations, we could give them at home. This center will be located in the center of Calahorra, a city of La Rioja, because its current Senior Center is in very poor condition.
The project will start next May and I estimate that it will take a year to be completely finished. The center will require a large number of employees: doctors, caregivers, cooks, cleaners, transporters, and staff in charge of carrying out the activities. More or less, 50 workers, as it will be a center with a large capacity.
A Memorable Event
This event took place two years ago. It was a very hot morning and, as usual, I was dressing quickly because I was late and I had to be in the office at nine o’clock. At that time, I used to feel very stressed and, to make matters worse, that day, I could not find my car keys, so I had to take my grandfather’s old car. That day, I had the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Finally, I arrived at the inner city, and cars lined up bumper to bumper on the street. As I had to wait for my turn to get into the bridge, I turned on the crappy radio to listen to music and try to calm myself down. Besides, I rolled down the window to breathe some fresh air, but that was not what happened. Suddenly, a burning smell sneaked into my nostrils. First, I didn’t give it much of my attention because I thought the smell would be from factories which were in the industrial areas around the town.
It was already my turn to get on the bridge, and I accelerated the car hurriedly. The burning smell increased, and smoke ran out of my steering wheel. I started to feel extremely frightened because I didn’t know how to face that situation. I screamed my lungs out inside my car and stood still without knowing what to do. To make it worse, all the lights started to tick, and it was impossible to turn them off. Fortunately, the man who was in the car next to me helped me to get out of the car and told me that it was not serious, and he called the tow truck. Of course, that day I arrived at the office late and had to explain to my boss what had happened to me. From that day, I learned to leave home much earlier and not be late anymore.