November e-update

Featured Member

Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services
(Houston, TX)

We are very proud to announce that our Featured Member for the month of November is Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services.

To read the featured story, visit our website

Please visit the Seven Acres website: www.sevenacres.org

AJASshares...Innovation of Members for Members

Menorah Park's Bikur Cholim Program Awarded for
Excellence in Service (Cleveland, OH)

Menorah Park's Bikur Cholim service was recently chosen for Excellence in Service by LeadingAge Ohio, who stated it "represented an outstanding replicable practice". The Bikur Cholim Program at Menorah Park was developed to enhance the spiritual well-being of residents by encouraging increased visits by ensuring that religiously observant residents and family members have their own dedicated space and programming specifically designed to meet their needs. The mitzvah of Bikur Cholim or visiting the sick is a central tenet to Judaism. This innovative adaptation of a community service which was originally developed in hospitals enables this Mitzvah to continue no matter the circumstance.

2016 Annual Conference Dates to Remember:

November 16th: Award Nominations Due
Click here for Nomination form

December 1st: Registration Opens

December 4th: Presentation Proposals Due
Click here for Proposal form

Jewish Home Family
(Rockleigh, NJ)

For the last ten days I have had the blessing of traveling Israel with seven older adults, the youngest 75 years old and the oldest about to reach 90. It is not an easy thing to travel internationally with seniors. It takes a dedicated team of staff, assigned one to one, and a registered nurse to manage the many medications and health needs. We carry wheelchairs under the bus and we use them, overcoming the less-than-accessible country.

Jewish Senior Services
(Fairfield, CT)

We are, for the most part, mature, educated, responsible adults. We've held significant positions in diverse industries; we've raised children and provided them with tools to contribute to society; we put away savings for a rainy day; we pay our taxes; we maintain our home insurance, auto insurance and medical insurance, all of which have relatively small utilization rates. So why do so few people protect themselves against potentially overwhelming long term care costs when more than 50% of individuals will require that level of care? It's an interesting question.

Hebrew HealthCare
(West Hartford, CT)

Francesca Muñoz was a resident at Hebrew HealthCare for over five years; during the past year, she made special friendships with four youth volunteers who she endearingly called, "My Girls".

Through their involvement in the youth volunteer program, Liv, Abby, Sadie and Jessie met Francesca and they became fast friends. Wednesday afternoons became a time that they cherished. "Every Wednesday when the bell rang, I would be excited that I would get to go see Francesca," said Jessie Zweifler. All of the girls commented on Francesca's energetic and positive attitude, "Being with Francesca always made me happier as a person...she always told me funny things like to cut my hair because if I didn't I would be short forever," shared Liv Drazen.

"My Girls," (from left to right) Liv Drazen, Sadie Margolis, Abby Azia, Jessie Zweifler with the late Francesca Muñoz, Hebrew HealthCare resident

The Cedars
(Portland, ME)

Each Friday morning this fall, the residents at The Cedars Skilled Care Center are opening their minds through art. Thanks to a partnership between The Cedars and the Occupational Therapy (OT) Department at the University of Southern Maine, seniors and students are spending this semester learning, creating and growing together.

River Garden Senior Services
(Jacksonville, FL)

Due to a very generous donation from THE PLAYERS, each of the eleven students from the recent graduating class of River Garden's Albert Z. Fleet Geriatric Training Center was granted a full scholarship to attend the Florida licensed, not-for-profit post-secondary school and learn the skills necessary to become CNAs (Certified Nursing Assistants) in the State of Florida.