MILWAUKEE — When you walk into the United Community Center's Adult Day Center for seniors on Milwaukee's south side, it doesn't take long to realize seniors here are happy.
That includes 91-year-old Maria Guajardo.
She's carefully creating her guitar masterpiece like her other friends during arts and crafts.
"Mi experiencia es que estoy muy contenta," said Guajardo.
She speaks a little English so for our interview, her granddaughter, Marcia Walton helped translate.
"I'm very happy because this has helped me a lot," Walton translated for her grandmother.
UCC's Adult Day Center provides services for those with cognitive impairments like Alzheimer's and other dementia. For most of the pandemic, it was closed.
"She said it was really hard for her not to come in person because at home she would just lay in bed all day and she didn't have a lot of energy to do things," said Walton.
Back in June of 2020, TMJ4 News interviewed Guajardo and her daughter. Guajardo still received fresh meals and phone calls from UCC staff when the center was closed.
During the interview, Guajardo talked about how she was anxious to return in person.
Before COVID-19 came into the picture the Adult Day Center welcomed about eighty clients. Now they limited their capacity to twenty-one. Seniors need to be fully vaccinated and wear masks to come to the center located on the second floor of the UCC building at 1028 South 9th Street in Milwaukee.
"Me gusta hablar con la gente," said Guajardo.
"She's been talking to other people at the center," said Walton.
It's something for her to look forward to every day.
"As her granddaughter, I can definitely see the change too," continued Walton.