A local man utilizes the Music and Memory program.
Lisa Martinez, Program Coordinator and Fiscal Officer for Active Re-Entry, oversees many of the different activities and programs that are hosted through the organization.
Alongside the Utah Department of Health and with the assistance and utilization of the Wadoryu Karate School and Sensei Larry S. Martinez, Active Re-Entry now hosts Tai Chi for arthritis classes. They are contracted to host two eight-week sessions per year. However, due to participants being excited and wanting the classes to continue, additional classes are expected to be added.
“It has been such a great program for our community and has been so well received,” Martinez stated.
She commented that they have nearly outgrown the space for the Tai Chi classes due to high attendance. Also hosted by Martinez and Active Re-Entry is the Music and Memory program. This program is geared toward those that have dementia. However, the organization is willing to assist those that are home bound regardless of their ailment. They are one of only two programs in the state of Utah that feature the program for individuals that are home bound.
Kathryn Kilbourne happily brings the program to those at home while Tracy Manchester focuses on taking the program to the local care centers, with the understanding that the materials are provided by the centers.
The program is intended to bring personalized music into lives through technology, improving their quality of life and assisting with their memories. Currently, the program has over 10,500 songs. Through iTunes gift cards that are donated, more songs are able to be added at almost any time.
“If the song is out there and can be found, we will find it,” Martinez assured.
Also utilized by the community through Active Re-Entry is the PERKIE (People Encouraging Recovery Kindred in Escort) Travels program. This program is intended to assist those that are in need of radiation treatments with provided transportation. The PERKIE system travels to the Central Utah Clinic or Utah Valley Hospital in Provo. This program is completely free of charge and runs from Monday to Friday. With radiation treatments generally taking around 15 minutes, the trip is relatively quick.
Although the majority of the program was funded for about 15 years by the Salt Lake Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen foundation, the service is still continuing though the funding has ended. Martinez believes that the PERKIE Travels program is the most under-utilized service at Active Re-Entry at the moment and wishes to remind all that it is still available to provide daily transportation for radiation.
Finally, those that find themselves lacking support can attend a grief support group that is hosted the second Wednesday of the month, at Active Re-Entry, at 1:30 p.m. There is also a caregivers support group that is hosted on the last Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m.
For more information on these programs, contact Martinez at (435) 637-4950 or lisa@arecil.org.