The Arizona Jewish community walks the Fifth Commandment talk. By providing quality places to live, a variety of medical and social services at home and at local centers, and an ever expanding docket of activities, Jews in the Grand Canyon State are caring for their aging parents and relatives – as well as offering many of these opportunities to people of all backgrounds. Quality Living Kivel Campus of Care, operating for 54 years in Phoenix, fulfills its mission as a home for Jewish seniors, but today its resident population also includes non-Jewish residents. On two campuses, Kivel offers four options: 210 independent apartments; 30 assisted-living beds; 15 assisted-living memory care beds; and the 10-bedroom Retreat assisted-living community in north Scottsdale. The minimum age is 62; one resident is 105. “Our staff is specially trained to provide personal care while addressing the physical, medical and social needs of our residents,” says Ira Shulman, Kivel’s president and CEO. A kosher facility, Kivel schedules Friday night and Saturday services and celebrates the major Jewish holidays. The community is regularly visited by children from Jewish day schools and members of Valley synagogues. Purim and Hanukkah parties and other Jewish cultural activities are part of the mix. “What sets Kivel apart is our dedication to provide a loving and caring environment for our residents,” Shulman says. “We treat people as individuals and do our best to meet their unique needs. Our staff is committed to quality services and doing everything possible to provide a safe, enjoyable and responsive atmosphere for our residents.”
In Tucson, Handmaker – Jewish Services for the Aging is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Situated on a 10-acre garden campus, the 181-room kosher facility offers quality-care options for adults of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds. The campus
is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. Handmaker’s services include post-hospital rehab and skilled nursing care; independent and assisted living; long-term memory care; adult day care; and the “Adventure Bus” for high- functioning adults, which provides respite for caregivers one day a week.
“Compassionate, charitable care is central to our mission and legacy of caring,” says Arthur Martin, president/CEO of Handmaker. His executive team includes Christine McNamara, CFO; Gary Lochowitz, COO; and Howard Paley, CDO. Handmaker recently partnered with Tucson Medical Center to build a Geriatric-Psychiatric Center for the care of adults with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The two-story Paul & Lydia Kalmanovitz Elder Care Center will add 24,000 square feet to Handmaker’s facility: 20 skilled nursing beds for resident- focused dementia care and 16 hospital beds for interventional psychiatric care of otherwise debilitated geriatric patients. “It will fill a significant void in the continuum of care in southern Arizona,” Martin says.
Lifestyle Needs and Enhancements
Many Arizona organizations are serving Jewish seniors’ lifestyle needs. Rabbi Mendy Deitsch, for example, leads the recently opened Pollack Chabad Center of the East Valley in Chandler. The 13,000-square-foot facility provides the East Valley with religious services, education, social events and other functions. “We have a multitude of programs,” Rabbi Deitsch explains. “Several times a month our volunteers visit assisted-living homes in the East Valley to meet with elderly neighbors.
We also have senior classes, and this year we will be having Grandparents Day, in which seniors can come and visit with the children in the preschool, and Intergeneration Day. We are also planning a brunch for seniors.”
In Tucson, the Jewish Elder Access program is a clearinghouse of information about resources and programs available to seniors. In addition, JEA can fund qualified individuals requiring home repairs or modifications, yard clean-up and housekeeping. It’s funded by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, with additional support from Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona.
“Clients primarily are served over the phone and occasionally via email, but they may come to JFCS to meet with me in person,” notes Irene Lloyd, who manages the JEA program. Other JFCS services include Select Care managers for
older adults and people with disabilities; the OneStop Affordable Home Medical Equipment store with value-priced reconditioned and sanitized home medical equipment; The Holocaust Survivor Program, offering case management, in- home support, transportation, counseling, social opportunities and financial assistance; and other counseling services for older adults at home and in multiple office locations.
At the same time, Jewish Family & Children’s Service of metropolitan Phoenix offers a variety of in-home and community programs dedicated to seniors, explains Ellie Schwartzberg, vice president of Older Adults and Jewish Community Services.
One of these, Jewish Family Home Care, provides a multi-stage, in-home assistance program to Jews and non-Jews, beginning with an assessment of needs, followed by the development of an individualized care plan and finally the assignment of a matched caregiver to provide daily activities such as companionship, housekeeping, shopping/errands, medication reminders, transportation, meal-planning and preparation, and personal care such as grooming and dressing.
Another program, the Center for Senior Enrichment, operates from Chris Ridge Village Senior Living Community in Phoenix. The CSE is open to people living in the facility or outside and is nondenominational, although the majority of those attending are Jewish, Schwartzberg says. “At CSE, we have health and wellness programs, tai chi and zumba, yoga, book groups, music, arts and current events, a computer lab, cultural outings and entertainment,” she explains. Counseling is also available, Sabbath and holiday services are scheduled and the center will provide a kosher lunch if needed. In addition, JFCS offers counseling and a bereavement group in the Sun City area. Jewish clients throughout Maricopa County may also receive help through the Helping Hands Program, which provides financial assistance following catastrophic
events; a High Holidays program, arranging for tickets to local synagogues; a Thanksgiving dinner families program, which brings a holiday dinner into elders’ homes; Hanukkah gifts and Passover food baskets; Holocaust survivors counseling; in-home older adults counseling and case management; and a chaplaincy network with 22 Valley hospitals.
The Jewish Community Association of Greater Phoenix (the Association) also funds senior-focused services. “Currently, we fund organizations such as Jewish Family & Children’s Service that provide seniors with support through in-home services, counseling and case management, as well as the Center for Senior Enrichment, the only Jewish senior center in Greater Phoenix,” says Lisa Kaplan, director of planning and organization relations.
“JFCS also provides advocacy and resource referrals to help older adults strengthen their support systems, improve emotional health and develop community connections,” she adds. Recently, the association board commissioned a community- wide senior services research study. When the study is complete in late 2013, a task force will implement best policies for the community, says Jennifer Grossman, vice president of marketing and public relations.
Other programs funded by the association that include senior services are indigent burial-fund and hardship-loan programs administered by Jewish Free Loan; The Bureau of Jewish Education; and the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, which provides many senior services such as fitness, arts and culture, social engagements and outings.
Th
e activities at the Scottsdale JCC are mostly scheduled October through March and include mah jongg and bridge classes, art classes, a Mature Mavens dinner group, a monthly program with the Phoenix Art Museum and classes with rabbis and educators, explains Erin Searle, director of Adult Services & Cultural Arts at the JCC.
Send out the S.O.S.!
The association also supports Smile On Seniors, which provides Jewish programming and education to seniors living in Valley independent- and assisted-living facilities such as Kivel, Sierra Pointe Retirement community, the JFCS Jewish Senior Center in Chris Ridge, Pueblo Norte and Arte Resort Senior Living.
Begun in the Valley by Rabbi Levi Levertov, Chabad of Arizona, the national program was started by a friend of his in New Jersey. He credits the local vision, however, to his father, Rabbi Zalman Levertov, regional director of Chabad of Arizona. “The traditional Smile On Seniors program is a volunteer visiting a Jewish senior,” Rabbi Levi Levertov says. “In Phoenix we realized that many Jewish seniors were not getting quality Jewish programs, nor feeling the sense of Jewish community, so we evolved into what we are today.”
He and his wife, Chani, coordinate the many activities both in the Chabad Jewish Center on Lincoln Drive as well as throughout the community, such as the Chabad of Downtown, offering educational programs. These SOS programs include Shabbat dinners, Sukkah and Purim parties, luncheons and workshops for families and caregivers, and volunteer- appreciation programs. “I do not have my own congregation. I call myself a roaming rabbi,” he says with a laugh. “I know my ‘congregation’ is the Jewish seniors we cater to all over the Valley. We make sure we are there for them, wherever they may be.”
David Brown is a Valley-based freelancer.
