Take a Look Inside the Senior Center Where Residents Mingle With Daycare Kids

The Mount's intergenerational program benefits everyone.

BY Shaunacy Ferro

PHOTOGRAPHS BY Anna Simonak // Mental Floss

Sep 14, 2017

At Providence Mount St. Vincent, an assisted living center for 400 older adults in Seattle, visiting isn’t just for family. Five days a week, the Mount's Intergenerational Learning Center offers full- and part-time childcare for 125 kids from 6 weeks to 5 years old, in which “children, residents, and patients have the opportunity to interact in planned activities such as music, art and storytelling and to engage in conversation and spontaneous encounters throughout our campus,” according to the facility.

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Thanks to the program, the Mount’s residents (average age: 92) get the benefits of more social time, physical activity, and a greater sense of self-worth from playing with the children, and the kids get to develop a kind of extended family and learn about aging and living with disabilities. Mental Floss went to center to see what exactly that looked like, and yes, it was adorable. Here’s what photographer Anna Simonak saw inside this rare senior/daycare center. Be prepared for a lot of warm fuzzies.

All photos by Anna Simonak for Mental Floss