By: Taylor Christensen | Royal Oak Review | Published February 19, 2026
ROYAL OAK — The Royal Oak Fire Department will be offering free wellness checks from 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 20, March 20 and April 17 at the Leo Mahany/Harold Meininger Royal Oak Senior Community Center, 3500 Marais Ave.
Michael Gladieux, assistant chief of the Royal Oak Fire Department, said that the department had offered this opportunity years ago, and the time seemed right to bring it back. No appointments are needed; people can just drop in.
“We were out in the community already, and we thought that it would be good to get out there and start talking to some of the people in the community about some of the other services that we have,” Gladieux said.
The services that the Fire Department will be offering include blood pressure checks, file of life information, home lockbox information, and Gladieux said that they also will be open to answering other questions that the public might have.
“What we are trying to do is the blood pressure checks, but we can also provide some insight to our senior community — like I said, the file of life, which is very helpful for us and for the patient,” he said. “And then one of the other things that we are going to do is lead them on how to get a lockbox for their house.”
The lockbox is a secure way to keep a key available for the Fire Department in case firefighters need to enter a person’s home for an emergency. Only the department would have access to the lockbox.
The file of life form will be provided to all who attend the wellness checks.
“The file of life is a piece of paper that people can have in their home to be easily accessed by EMS or fire in an emergency,” he said. “Then we will have all of the access to their medical history and medications when we are giving assistance.”
Yolanda Botello McClain, senior center coordinator, said that the services being provided can help older adults in the community continue to feel safe.
“It’s important to provide these services to our older adults in our community to promote healthy aging, promote independence, encourage preventative care and strengthen community connections,” McClain said. “Offering health and wellness information to seniors is not just about preventing illness; it’s about promoting dignity, independence, safety and overall well-being. When seniors are informed, the entire community benefits.”
Gladieux said that outside of the wellness checks, the Fire Department has an open door policy, but the wellness checks make it a more available and comfortable environment for people to come and ask questions.
“I think that some of the citizens are unable to come and ask questions if they want to. The wellness checks give people access to some of the things that we know, and we can help guide them,” he said. “So, if they need help with meals-on-wheels, we can get them a number, we can help them with blood pressure. While we are there, it’s kind of like we can just answer all questions. We can just chat. I’m hoping people come and get some information.”
McClain is hopeful that there will be a big turnout of seniors attending the wellness checks.
“We hope that these wellness visits will educate our Royal Oak older adults about health and wellness in our community and that they will take this information and share it with as many more older adults and create community awareness," she said. “We have an average of over 100 older adults in the senior center on Fridays, and we hope many more will come out for these special wellness visits.”
For more information on the wellness visits and the Royal Oak Fire Department, visit romi.gov.