Jewish Culture & Community · April 19, 2021
Alan Weiner has lived on East Galbraith Road in Amberley Village for more than 25 years—just around the corner from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, the Mayerson JCC, Jewish Family Service (JFS), StarPoint Home Care, and AgeWell Cincinnati—a coalition of partners overseen by JFS that includes the JCC, JVS Career Services, and Cedar Village. When Alan was the ritual director at Adath Israel, one of his students was Liz Vogel—the current CEO of JFS. But in December of last year...
Older Adult Services · March 25, 2021
StarPoint Home Care Helps Turn Corner on Social Isolation:
For more than a year now, the coronavirus has functionally served as the world’s cruel overlord: it has restricted our movements; repressed our social lives; isolated our older adults; controlled our economies; and shuttered our schools, entertainment venues, and sports arenas. In response, we’ve had little recourse but to obey the disease. To improve our chances of survival, we’ve had to toe the line and accept that COVID-19 was boss.
Older Adult Services · March 15, 2021
Isolation is as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Lonely people are 50 percent more likely to die earlier than those with healthy social relationships. Data from the Health Resources & Services Administration shows more than 3.4 million people struggle with social isolation, loneliness, and living alone—and that was before the onset of COVID-19. More recent numbers show loneliness and social isolation have increased 20 to 30 percent, and emotional distress has tripled during COVID.
Health & Wellness · February 22, 2021
No part of our body talks to us in quite the same way as our heart does. While we may not always be listening, our hearts communicate with us regularly, methodically, and (one should dearly hope) constantly. It only makes sense, therefore, that we’d want to keep the conversation going.
February is American Heart Month and perennially that time of year when we are urged to be more disciplined, change our habits, and start treating our hearts with respect.
Holocaust Survivors · February 05, 2021
“Holocaust survivors are our teachers and our heroes,” said Mark Wilf, the chair of The Jewish Federations of North America’s (JFNA) board of trustees. “With inspiring strength and conviction, they teach us about the past. Now, they are teaching us how to better serve all older adults who have survived trauma.”
JFNA’s Center on Aging and Trauma, a project of the Holocaust Survivor Initiative, has just awarded Jewish Family Service a one-year, $66,666 grant.
Health & Wellness · January 25, 2021
"Our people are leading by example," said Jewish Family Service CEO Liz Vogel. "By stepping up and getting the COVID-19 vaccine, we are showing others in our community that it is a safe, proactive step toward stopping the pandemic."
The passage from 2020 to 2021 was a transition that many in our country experienced as a kind of symbolic catharsis: out with the dreaded old year; in with the promising new year.
Caregiver Support · January 08, 2021
“If you don’t take care of yourself, then you can’t take care of anyone else,” explained Leslie Brody, LISW-S, LICDC-CS, the Director of Care Management, Counseling & Crisis Intervention at Jewish Family Service. “A lot of people who are good at being helpers are not always comfortable being helped.” That’s why AgeWell Cincinnati is teaming up with Jewish Family Service to create two new virtual support programs: one for caregivers and another for people who are struggling with grief.
Older Adult Services · October 15, 2020
In May of 2017, Evelyn Seltzer was living in Boca Raton, Florida, and her daughter, Amy Perlman, was living in Cincinnati. Perlman was Seltzer’s only living child, and with a thousand miles separating them, she had become familiar with the strain of being a long-distance caregiver. The arrangement worked for a time, but then came May of 2017, and the day Perlman learned her mother was in a Boca Raton hospital with severe lung inflammation.
Older Adult Services · September 01, 2020
In 1985, Miriam Yenkin was nominated president of the Jewish Federation of Columbus (now JewishColumbus) and, upon her acceptance, became the first woman to serve in that role. Before, during, and after her time as president—for 60 years, in fact—Yenkin has been passionate about her community, and over the decades has developed strong and enduring connections with it. So it was an unusual and discomforting feeling for her when, earlier this year, she didn’t know where to turn for help.
Older Adult Services · August 24, 2020
Sherry was naturally devasted when her father died. But almost immediately, she was comforted knowing that her mother was surrounded by supportive and loving friends—friends who had known and appreciated her dad because he and Sherry’s mom had moved into a continuous care retirement community two years earlier.
Elizabeth Mefford, Director of Marketing and Admissions at Cedar Village, says she hears stories like Sherry’s (a pseudonym) all the time.