About Skagit Adult Day Program
Skagit Adult Day Program (SADP) began in 1992 when a group of community members came together to create a place between home care and institutional care, a safe space for adults living with dementia. Dr. Winnie Bradford, Nancy Gentry, Kim Dooley, and Joyce Erickson noticed there was no place in between for those who needed more help at home but weren’t quite ready to make the move to a residential care facility. They began Skagit Adult Day Care (SADC), operating out of the basement of Burlington Lutheran Church. One or two days a week, people could come, visit, hang out for a bit, to give their caregivers a much-needed break to do their shopping, go to doctor visits, or even just take a nap without worrying about their loved ones getting into trouble.
In 1997 HomePlace Special Care opened and SADC was invited to lease part of their building. For 8 years, we welcomed families into the program there before building and opening our own building across the parking lot in 2005. We dedicated our new building as Bradford House, honoring Dr. Winnie Bradford for her hard work and devotion to the creation and operation of SADC.
In 2009, with the help of Christ Episcopal Church of Anacortes, many community volunteers, and donations from generous supporters, we expanded our program to the Fidalgo Island community and opened Gentry House, dedicated to founder and generous supporter Nancy Gentry. Gentry House celebrated their 11th anniversary right before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of businesses around the world. Unfortunately, Gentry House was one of the casualties.
With the expansion of our program and hope for more in the future, we changed our name to Skagit Adult Day Program. For more than 30 years SADP has been improving the lives of those living with dementia and we intend to do so for many more years to come.