We are in the midst of a wonderful Sukkot celebration at Cedar Village and are happy that the weather has been cooperating with us, allowing folks to enjoy spending some time in either of the sukkahs which have been erected on our campus. We love seeing people having lunch in the sukkah or just sitting and visiting. Hope that you are having a wonderful holiday as well!  We will, of course, have services here next week and would be happy to have you join us for any and all of these events.

It was an exciting week on a government relations front for us.  This week, our national association, the Association of Jewish Aging Services (AJAS) held a special White House briefing on issues pertaining to older adults.  It was a private session, with members of AJAS from around the country represented.  We had tremendous participation from our government officials including Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging of the US Department of Health and Human Services; Estelle Richman, Assistant Secretary of HUD; Jonathan Blum, Deputy Administrator and Director of CMS (the Center for Medicare and Medicaid).  Each of the administration leaders gave keynote presentations about the current and future initiatives underway that will affect services to older adults.  This was followed by three panel discussions which included both members of the administration and AJAS members from around the country. The first panel focused on Home and Community Based Services, the second on Elder Abuse and the third on the Affordable Care Act.  I had the privilege of being on the Elder Abuse panel which was facilitated by Dan Reingold, the CEO of the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, and founder of the first elder abuse shelter in the country, the Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention. Also on the panel was Andrew Banoff, CEO of the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, Connecticut, the second shelter to be established nationally.  We were joined on the panel by Assistant Secretary Kathy Greenlee, who has great passion for the topic of elder abuse.

Our panel discussed the need for shelters for our vulnerable elderly, the efforts underway in our communities and the opportunity that all of us have, as organizations, to serve as safe havens for older adults who are at risk.  Ms. Greenlee told us that all of the efforts that are being made to improve care and services to the elderly and focus on health and quality of life are meaningless if we do not address the issue of elder abuse.  It was a powerful statement and one that many of us fully believe-that elder abuse must be addressed, that both our lay and professional communities must be educated and that we must find ways to ensure that our elders can live their lives in safety and with dignity. 

As a result of the Washington trip, I had the opportunity to also submit an opinion column to the Cincinnati Enquirer.  That column ran today and, if you did not see it, click here!  

All the best,  

carol@cedarvillage.org