History of Rosener House
In 1978, a group of Peninsula Volunteers and friends started a new program for older adults with special needs, people who were not able to independently make use of the Little House Activity Center. In those days, adult day programs were very few. Through the years, Rosener House has added services to meet the emerging needs of the community. Many of the services added have a health and wellness component, such as physical, occupational, and speech therapies, health monitoring by a registered nurse, music therapy, and the specialized dementia services program.
Rosener House’s first location was a small house on Amherst Avenue in Menlo Park. With the City of Menlo Park’s help, Rosener House moved into the former Fremont School in 1980. After twenty years and a major earthquake, the City decided the building was no longer viable, but gave the Peninsula Volunteers the go-ahead to plan for a new facility on the same site. The Peninsula Volunteers began a Capital Campaign to raise funds to build the new Rosener House.
Designed by the local firm Petersen Architects, Rosener House was planned specifically to meet the needs of older adults. It is completely ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible. There are spacious activity areas, a beautiful dining room, and a secure garden and patio, all planned to promote independence, dignity, and safety. After starting with a modest number of participants in 1978, through the years, more than 10,000 older adults have benefited from the Rosener House program. The new state-of-the-art facility, at 12,000 square feet, is twice the size of the former space, and accommodates up to 65 participants per day, ready to serve the community’s older citizens well into the 21st century.