16 JULY 20, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
How this adult health center turned
one patient’s life around
BY ANTHONY GIUDICE
AGIUDICE@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@A_GIUDICEREPORT
Margarita Ferrer, a 53-year-old
woman from Bushwick, has
dealt with a range of ailments
since suff ering a pair of mini-strokes
and a series of accidents since 2014, but
she is not letting that stop her from
living her life to the fullest thanks to
the Bushwick Adult Day Health Center
(ADHC) in Ridgewood.
Back in 2014, Ferrer had a ministroke
that landed her in the hospital,
and two weeks aft er her release she fell
down a fl ight of stairs and suff ered a
major cut to her leg. Two months aft er
that, she had a second mini-stroke and
doctors found herniated disks in her
spine along with a back hernia with
pinched nerves in both of her wrists
and one of her shoulders. She also tore
a tendon in her right ankle.
Ferrer’s daughter then had to care for
her mother, doing everything for her
from helping her to eat, to bathing her
and assisting her to use the bathroom. For
an independent woman like Ferrer, who
worked for 14 years as a home health aide,
this was a bitter pill to swallow.
Lucky for her, the hospital she visited
coordinates with the ADHC, and the
center’s community liaison Gabriela
Maciel reached out to Ferrer to see if
she would like to visit the center to
help with her ailments.
For two years, Ferrer dodged
Maciel’s attempts to bring her in to
the center, avoiding phone calls and
making excuses for why she didn’t
want to come in.
“She was telling her care coordinator,
‘How can I go? Some days I cannot sit
on one side of my body, the next I can’t
sit on the other. How can I go to this
center and feel comfortable. I can’t,'”
Maciel said.
Eventually, Ferrer gave in to the care
coordinator and Maciel’s prodding to
visit the center for a day. Once she felt
the warmth and saw the professionalism
in the staff , she fell in love with
everything about ADHC, from the staff ,
to the other members, and the food and
trips the members get to take.
“There is a solidarity here,” Ferrer said
through Maciel’s interpretation. “It’s
like a mini community here, so you care
for everyone around you. I know what
I’m talking about because I’ve been to
other centers, so I know the diff erence.”
ADHC even helped Ferrer discover
her hidden talent for art. Since joining
ADHC, Ferrer has become quite
the artist, creating several paintings
and making sculptures out of old
newspapers.
“I am very happy. Now I don’t cry anymore
the way I used to. I feel motivated
to come here. Before I came here I would
spend all my time crying because I was
stuck staring at four walls. I felt useless,”
Ferrer said. “Coming to the center, I
found a new purpose in life.”
ADHC not only helped Ferrer join a
fun, spirited community, it also provides
physical and occupational therapy
to help her deal with her ailments.
Ferrer has now become one of the
center’s most vocal advocates, welcoming
visitors and new members to
the center and showing them around.
“I was very independent,” Ferrer
explained. “I lost that when I got hurt.
The center helped me get that back, and
this is my way of paying it forward.”
ADHC is located at 59-25 67th Ave.,
and will be getting a name change: The
group of centers will soon be known as
Centers Adult Day Care.
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Photos by Anthony Giudice/Ridgewood Times
Margarita Ferrer (left) with Bushwick Adult Day Healthcare Center community
liaison Gabriela Maciel.
