City of La Porte hosts third annual Senior and Caregivers Expo at La Porte Civic Auditorium

It’s always a great feeling when you can help out the people who have spent the most time supporting their friends and family members. On Wednesday, October 1, the City of La Porte hosted a Senior and Caregivers Expo in La Porte County at the La Porte Civic Auditorium from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., opening the door to an avalanche of essential resources.

This event helped raise funds for the La Porte Activity Center for Older Adults. Cindy Polito, supervisor at the La Porte Activity Center for Older Adults, is looking forward to seeing how this event will help support the facility.

“We are open Monday through Friday at the Senior Center,” Polito said. “Our membership is $18 a year, and we offer all kinds of activities from exercise cards, playing cards, and watercolors. We have almost 216 members right now.”

Emily Archambault, assistant director for City of La Porte Parks and Recreation, has seen this event get more popular gradually since its conception.

“It started out as an idea to make sure we can show the seniors and caregivers in La Porte what resources are available to them,” Archambault said. “It’s grown to La Porte County and beyond. We have people coming from all over Northwest Indiana to provide a great experience.”

The goal amount to annually fund the Senior Center in La Porte is $115,847. As of today, more than $75,000 has been funded. This expo helps optimize the ability to reach these goals with a plethora of vendors and sponsors who care about the La Porte County community.

“We have something for everybody at all of our vendor booths,” Archambault said. “Services are not grouped together, which allows people to check out a variety of different resources, no matter which way they go. Our headline sponsor, Center for Hospice Care, has an exclusive sponsor room to talk about the care they provide during the end of life while giving out little chocolates. We also have a station where people can receive flu shots if they’re interested. Some people might have come last year, but there is plenty of new information and new vendors to learn from.”

For some of the seniors in attendance, this event helped spark a feeling of reconciliation. Food and drinks were provided in the eating area, offering an opportunity for the seniors to relax and converse with one another.

“A lot of the seniors haven’t seen their friends in a while,” Archambault said. “They’re able to reconnect here and get the resources they need at the same time. It’s pretty cool to see them hugging and reconnecting. An event like this is vital because there aren’t many others quite like it. The seniors always tell us how important this event is to them.”

Archambault, who has grandparents of her own living in Northwest Indiana, enjoys being able to see them take advantage of these community events in the Region.

“I have grandparents, and all three of them are turning 87 years old,” Archambault said. “They’re all in La Porte County, so it’s beautiful to see them become more confident. Seeing my own friends and family get the resources they need is my favorite part about this event.”

This event serves a monumental purpose for both seniors and caregivers of La Porte County. With the number of attendees climbing every year, there is a lot of optimism about this event being here to stay long-term.

“It feels good to have so many people stop by,” Polito said. “This is our third year doing this event, and this has been our best turnout yet.”

Golf carts were on duty outside of the La Porte Civic Auditorium, transporting many of the seniors from their parking spots to the front door.

For more information about the City of La Porte, you can visit cityoflaporte.com.