ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – After years of providing services in Escanaba, the Gary Abrahamson, Jr. Memory Care Center is being repurposed.
“This facility was built in memory of Gary Abrahamson, Jr., a young man who had a cardiac arrest while running and was left with a brain injury,” said Mary Whitmer, a member of the Memory Care Center Board. “He required custodial care, and his family wanted a place of beauty after going through several years of needing day assistance.”
Most recently, the center on 1st Avenue South was home to the Community Action Agency’s dementia care program, which has since moved to another location. Now, its next phase is in development—the Gary Abrahamson, Jr. Music & Arts Therapy Center.
“We’re going to focus on bridging the cognitive impaired, emotionally impaired, socially isolated, to use this kind of a facility to bring people together through music and the arts,” Whitmer explained. “Music is such a personal thing that some people will get stuck in the kind of music they like to the exclusion of music that may help modulate a mood. Some music ramps you up and makes you more agitated; some music has a very calming effect. It involves both sides of the brain and has some very positive effects on non-pharmacologic interventions of encouraging calm that helps you think better.”
The goal is to enlist the help of Delta County’s wealth of music and artistic talent to enrich the lives of their fellow community members.
“I feel like we’re mining for treasure, because there’s so much musical and art ability here,” said Whitmer. “I’ve also met with Pathways and folks from community support services. We would interface with the folks who are already working with some socially isolated people in the community and then bring them in here for different projects—groups where folks can come around the issue of music, talks on music appreciation, art workshops, small culinary classes.”
A retired physician, Whitmer says amid the continued popularity of social media and the rise of artificial intelligence, it is imperative that people not lose their humanity.
“You could put your earbuds in and be in a crowd and just be listening to music,” she said. “That’s different. It kind of stops your thinking and your relatedness to other people. This would be utilizing, perhaps, some of those mediums for teaching purposes and to enjoy them together. It’s kind of the difference between eating a meal by yourself versus coming to a banquet table and eating with other people.”
According to the board, music and arts therapies have been proven to benefit people living with Alzheimer’s disease, parkinsons disease, traumatic brain injuries, autism, PTSD, trauma, those in substance use recovery, and many others. Whitmer says rather than catering only to those with a specific diagnosis, the Music & Arts Therapy Center will allow people from various walks of life to connect in meaningful and beneficial ways.
“I think there’s a lot of people experiencing depression, anxiety that don’t need a diagnosis of it, right?” she said. “They just know in their own lives, they’re not feeling connected to other human beings. I would see this as—we’re having a workshop on this topic. If you see yourself wanting to come in for community for that particular workshop focus, then you would be welcome. It’s a little more inclusive than labeling people with a diagnosis to make them eligible to participate.”
As the new center is still in the developmental stages, it is expected to be fully operational sometime next year. However, the board is planning group activities—like a Christmas caroling event on December 28—to increase public awareness.
To learn more about the Gary Abrahamson, Jr. Music & Arts Therapy Center or how to get involved, contact Mary Whitmer at mema56whit@charter.net.
