President's message

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary – March 8, 1998 – of the establishment of the first Day Care Center for Elderly in Cluj-Napoca, within the Foundation for Elderly Care, I begin by expressing my gratitude to the Cluj-Napoca City Hall, to the members of the Center, to my family, friends, and partners from several countries around the world, as well as to the employees and collaborators. Without them, the Day Care Center would not have existed.

The idea of founding the Center came to me after over several years, I had the opportunity to visit similar centers in the USA, Germany, England, and Belgium. These institutions offer services of socialization, psychology and psychotherapy, rehabilitation, home medical care, and rental of rehabilitation equipment. Here, the elderly read, socialize, act in plays, sing, dance, meditate, practice yoga and Pilates, cook and learn healthy eating, go on trips, do gardening, receive meals at home if they are ill, and are always in the company of their peers. They are permanently assisted by social workers, nurses, psychologists, doctors, physiotherapists, dentists, nutritionists, and fitness trainers. These institutions are located close to where elderly people live, with costs accessible to all.

Shortly after visiting several such centers, upon returning home, I told myself that Cluj also deserved such a center, and I began looking for a suitable space. After many attempts, I eventually arrived at the City Hall, where Mayor Funar told me without hesitation that I could receive the space located on the ground floor of Nursery No. 9 on Mehedinți Street. I jumped for joy, but the joy did not last long. As soon as I arrived at the address, I realized it consisted of a few rooms without windows or doors—an abandoned space used as a garbage storage area. Then I was very lucky to have Dr. Louis Kostner (today a doctor in Australia), who patted me on the shoulder and said: "Don't be sad, Dan, because I know many organizations in Belgium and the Netherlands that will help you." From that moment on, we began writing letters and making lists of everything we needed—and we needed many things: windows, doors, carpets, curtains, lighting fixtures, furniture, paint, gym equipment, toilets and sinks, office supplies, computers, a printer etc. We wrote and waited. After one month, we began receiving what we had requested. First came volunteers with their personal cars, then larger vehicles, and eventually trucks.

Slowly, the place changed and became more inviting. Simona, my wife, helped me choose the most beautiful drapes, select the furniture, and even bring some pieces from home. We furnished a room for socializing, a room with rehabilitation equipment for gymnastics, and two offices in the former bathrooms. We printed flyers, wrote articles for the local press, went to local TV stations, and spoke about the new Center for Elderly Care. It seemed like an institution unlike anything seen in our area, and the first seniors who stepped through the door came with a sense of shyness, fear, and suspicion. But more and more came. Slowly, the Center filled up. Romanians, Hungarians, highly educated people and simpler people, from different religions, began to feel like a family.

At first, together with Ana Tudoran, we had to do everything ourselves, because there was an attitude that said: "If we're given something, we'll take it, but we won't get involved because there are employees who have to do all the work." And then I told myself this project would be truly successful when the seniors, the Center's members, would organize themselves and manage everything independently. This dream came true a few years later.

Year after year, the number of organizations supporting us increased. This is how we began to regularly receive trucks loaded with furniture, beds, mattresses, clothes, food, and medicine. As the contact person, I often had to travel to Borș to accompany trucks entering Romania for the first time. Once in Cluj, I would then spend 3 to 5 days at the customs office on Soporului Street, waiting for the necessary documents for unloading. Then came the drive through the city, followed by the narrow alleys of Mănăștur, always blocking residents returning home who could not park their cars. And then came the hardest part: who would unload the truck? The question was rhetorical, because at that time people did not rush to help. Later, Lachie MacLeod from Scotland arrived with a truck full of concrete prefabricated elements, from which we built the storage facility for the rehabilitation equipment: dozens of hospital-type beds with waterproof mattresses, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches etc. Those were difficult but beautiful years, during which I always had by my side Dr. Tudor Simionescu, a specialist in healthcare management, who is now in France.

We later established the Community Center, added rehabilitation services with a specialist doctor and a balneology nurse, the Reminiscence Center with services for people with dementia, home medical and palliative care and rental of rehabilitation equipment.

We then launched the Memory Box Project, an initiative of the Age Exchange Organization in London and funded by European money. Elderly participants from seven countries took part in the project, and the exhibition opening—with 100 boxes—was held at Matei Corvin House, in the exhibition hall of the Cluj University of Arts.

Over time, our seniors became increasingly active, began traveling on trips in Romania and abroad, performing in theater shows and choir concerts and participating in volunteer activities. Our professional staff, employees and volunteers alike, took part in numerous training courses both in the country and abroad. We have collaborated, and still collaborate, with the "Babeș-Bolyai" University of Cluj, Faculty of Social Work and we have published training materials for professionals working with the elderly. What once seemed like a dream has become a reality.

Close to people's homes, with minimal costs for those enrolled, and with professional staff, the Day Center for Elderly can serve at any time as a model of good practice, contributing to the reform of Romania's health and social systems.

I conclude with a quote from Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning:
"Elderly people should not be viewed with pity. Instead, young people should envy them. It is true that the elderly no longer have many opportunities or chances for the future. But they have something far greater than that. Instead of future possibilities, they have past realities—the chances they have taken, the meaning they have fulfilled, the values they have realized—and nothing and no one can take these achievements away from them."

Dr. DAN OCTAVIAN BACIU

President – Foundation for Elderly Care