WASHINGTON -- These days, you don't have to retire to a rocking chair once you become a senior citizen. Some low-income D.C. seniors who need special assistance get more out of life by spending their days at the Downtown Cluster's Geriatric Day Care Center.

Seniors there shake and move for therapy.

"When they go home in the evenings, the families sometimes laugh and say, 'They can't wait to go to bed to come back the next day,'" said registered nurse Margaret Mitchell.

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Most go to the geriatric day care center every day to keep their bodies and minds active. They're all more than 60 years old and live at or below the poverty line, and most are functionally impaired.

“I need someone to be with me during the day, so I come here because it helps me to stimulate myself,” said Mary Williams.

"Through our services, we are able to keep them in the community, and a lot of them call this their home away from home," said executive director Tomye Cave.

The center's services are not only comprehensive, they are free. And there is even a special class for those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's.

The center was founded almost 30 years ago at a time when seniors were being abandoned in hospitals and on D.C. streets.

"You don't want to put them in a nursing home,” said founder Elois Jones. “We all want to keep our families together as long as we possibly can."

The Downtown Cluster's Geriatric Day Care Center is funded in part by the D.C. Office on Aging. But the center's major challenge is raising enough private funds to keep it running. To find out how you can help, click here.