The mothers of Denali Center won’t be spending Mother’s Day with their families. After weeks of isolation, over 25 Denali Center residents and their care partners gather spaced six feet apart on 19^th Avenue for a unique Mother’s Day celebration- a parade. Family, friends and community volunteers drove by expressing warm greetings from a safe distance.

“This was an out of the box solution to help our moms celebrate with families while meeting social distancing and CDC mandates that prohibit visitation,” said Denali Center RN Manager Tina Rein.

Vehicles decorated with balloons and messages of love cruised passed on-lookers. Two Alaska State Trooper cars flashed their lights and MAC Federal Credit Union employees blew hundreds of bubbles while passing by.

While the event was light hearted, staff did not take safety lightly. Activities Director Ruth Pomeroy explains that the event was rather spontaneous but the planning was very thorough.

“This has been a huge team effort involving infection control, and our administrations working with incident command and communicating with the CDC to understand what precautions we need to take to ensure the safety of everyone involved,” Pomeroy said. “We prepped the spaces that our elders and care partners will be in, marking social distancing, and ensuring that all participants are wearing masks.”

With all of the precautions in place at Denali Center since early March, including no visitors, there can be a sense of boredom for residents. Denali Center is a registry member of the Eden Alternative, using this philosophy of care to battle the three plagues of helplessness, hopelessness and boredom that account for the bulk of suffering among Elders. The parade was an excellent way to break that up for residents.

“We have a new, ever-changing normal requiring that we are creative and thoughtful about keeping our elders safe and following the CDC guidelines,” said Patient Services Manager Lorraine Russell. “Depression is an ever present issue with our elders and Mother's Day can be a lonely time for some. So this parade is a great example of ensuring that our elders have meaning and purpose.”

Even with distance between mothers and their families, the space between was filled with love. Over 20 cars passed through, some passing by more than once. With masks on their faces, you still couldn’t hide the tears in some of their eyes.

“It is these little moments filled with lots of love that make life worth living,” Pomeroy said.