10 Thursday, September 26, 2024 BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com
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SHELLY KEHRLE-SULSER
Executive Editor
Among the many clients, board
members, staff and public present
Thursday when the Marian E. Burch
Adult Day Care cut the ribbon on
National Adult Day Services Week
was one with a very familiar name.
Board member Charmaine Burch
Bogan, 73, is the daughter of Marian
E. Burch, the first Black female to
chair the Calhoun County Board of
Commissioners, and Bogan remem-
bers when ground was broken for
the building that is a department of
the Calhoun County Medical Care
Facility (CCMCF).
“My Mother would always say
when she was county commission-
er,” said Bogan, “she would come
home and I would hear her in one of
her board meetings talking to some-
one else on the board, and they were
lively discussions, but I remember
that she would always fight tooth
and nail for people who were aging
Daughter of Marian E. Burch attends adult day ribbon cutting
The Battle Creek Area Chamber of Commerce joined the staff and
administrators of the Marian E. Burch Adult Day Care Center, a department
of the Calhoun County Medical Care Facility, in a grand reopening ribbon
cutting Thursday during National Adult Day Care Services Week. (Shopper News
photo by Shelly Kehrle-Sulser)Members of the Marian E. Burch Adult Day Care Advisory Board attended
the Thursday grand reopening ribbon cutting Thursday. (Shopper News photo by
Shelly Kehrle-Sulser)or people who had mental illness.
She loved the elderly and sometimes
I wonder now, if she could see me
now with this color hair, which is
like her picture out there (lobby) she
would be happy but she would also
say now I am part of that commu-
nity.”
Bogan said her mother was only 66
when she passed away.
“I think my Mother would be very
proud of this facility,” she said. “I
know she would. My Father, Buddy,
was on the other side (at CCMCF)
until he passed away. She would be
very proud that I am here, that I am
working and that her memory is still
alive, not just with us but with every-
one who walks through that front
door.”
The Marian E. Burch Adult Day
Care and Rehabilitation Center has
around 45 clients who range from
those with dementia and develop-
mental disabilities to those who just
need social interaction while their
family caregivers receive respite.The non-profit facility opened
in 1992, said Administrator Alicia
Davis.
“The center was closed temporar-
ily during the COVID pandemic but
reopened in December of 2022,”
Davis told those in attendance. “We
are growing again. Since 2022, we
have served 87 people total and
we’ve had 28 new folks just since
September of last year but we still
continue to keep in the mid 40s with
enrollment.”
Davis said the enrollment fluctu-ates because adult day care is a step-
ping stone to long term care.
“So we are here to provide those
supports to keep folks in their home
as long as they are able before they
get to the point where they need
to that 24/7, round the clock medi-
cal care,” said Davis. “Wd do have
four people pending to start services
in the month of October and since