Adult day-care services fill niche with Latinos in Rio Grande Valley

“Strawberry Patch is part of the booming adult day-care industry in South Texas. Spurred by local culture and economy, a growing cluster of centers far outnumbers those in other regions, creating a new retirement experience for a generation of elderly Latinos.

“We Latinos love to have our family around,” said Strawberry Patch owner Romie Vigil, who opened the center 10 years ago to take care of her mother. “She would be unhappy by herself, and I am still being able to work and take her to the day care.”

While Hispanic tradition requires a family member, usually a woman, to care for elderly parents until they die, more and more adults are juggling that responsibility with their need to work, scrambling to find balance between tradition and reality.”

Comments are closed.