Life Enrichment Center
Mamye Wilson, president
Route 1, Box 360AA
McKenzie, Ala. 36451
(205) 374-2285

A big, old gray-shingle farmhouse is home to the Life Enrichment Center, back at the dead end of a red-clay road a few miles from McKenzie, an Alabama agricultural town so small that the telephone directory is about the size of the Reader's Digest.

The Life Enrichment Center, basically, is a day center for elderly and handicapped people, most of whom are too poor to contribute any money toward its operation; it ekes out a bare financial existence through a combination of state DHR and mental-health money granted for the care of specific individuals and money donated by churches.

But to call it a "day center" is to underrate its special way of doing things. Founded by Wilson eight years ago as a way to keep her own mother out of a nursing home, the center assembles 30 to 50 people every weekday -- most of them are elderly but a number are mentally or physically handicapped -- and gives them a combination of love and care that seems to work magic in keeping the spirit of life and independence in their eyes.

The center provides a hearty, hot lunch and two snacks a day, and sends a lot more food home at the end of the day with folks who'd otherwise go hungry. It offers a wide variety of simple activities that keep the people laughing and, quite literally, dancing: Music and songs, movies, a library with plenty of large-print books and simple fare for poor readers; field trips and "market days" when donated clothing comes in from local churches.

But the biggest thrill for most of the people -- and a neat bootstraps arrangement for the center -- comes from what Wilson calls "animal therapy." The house and 20-acre grounds are filled with animals (cows from the Heifer Project; chickens, rabbits, and even a big green parrot named Angel and a "retired" racing greyhound named Caroline) that not only give the older people unquestioning love but also, in some cases, help feed them with milk, eggs and cheese.

In addition to the economic benefits of the center's animals and its gardens, though, Wilson said the mental-health advantages can't be understated. "We get them involved," Wilson said. "It's good to get their minds off themselves. There's going to be trying times, sometimes," Wilson said. "But you've just got to be stronger than the problems and stick with it."

All the feature stories on @GRASS-ROOTS.ORG's pages are reported and written by Robin Garr, a prize-winning journalist who has visited more than 500 innovative grassroots programs in all 50 states since 1990.

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