- I think of senior centers as very nourishing places.

They nourish our bodies, our minds, and our souls.

We provide dining programs so that people can eat together.

Sitting around a table, having a communal meal is so valuable and so important, and you don't realize you miss it until you don't have it.

(emotional music) The Cohoes Senior Center was part of a wonderful urban development design back in the 1970s.

Social day programs are a way for people to be big fish in a small pond.

We nourish them with cognitive stimulation through programs and activities like memoir writing, AARP defensive driving, language classes.

So we're really connecting on all levels, and I think our social day programs are so important for making people feel seen and valued.

- I take the bus here with Bart.

- [Interviewer] And why are you glad to come here?

- Well, there's stuff to like here.

Like to dance, like to eat, like to party all the time.

Like to do the watermelon dance for everybody.

- [Interviewer] I've seen you do the dance.

You are a good dancer.

- Oh, yeah.

- Some of the seniors that come to the day program have different challenges in life.

You know, some have dementia, some know that they have Alzheimer's and that they struggle to remember.

Some of them have intellectual disabilities.

To have socialization and structure for these seniors means everything to them.

It gives them a sense of belonging, and they have a purpose here.

- [Narrator] Live well, age well.

Never stop learning.

Albany Guardian Society, helping older adults in the Capital region age well through information and education.

Learn more about programs and classes.

albanyguardiansociety.org.