Supplement to The Jewish News Life at the2lome: Concern,Companimhip, Community . Jean Epstein, director of social work, with student Gerri Sutton. . . ..,.•• Marilyn Rowens and Sophie Shifrin create poetry together. Home Gives Students Training and Insight Creative Expression Brings Out the Poets As a demonstration of its committment to progress and education in gerontology and geriatrics, the Jewish Home for Aged works with 11 institutions of higher education to provide authorized training programs in 19 disciplines. It is one of only a few homes in the country to offer such opportunities for students. Graduate and undergraduate students from Wayne State University, University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Madonna College and other schools come to the Home to gain experience in psychology, social work, occupational therapy, nursing, medicine and a dozen other fields. General dentistry and psychiatry residents from Sinai Hospital of Detroit visit the Honie regularly to serve the people who live there. "The student program brings in a new fresh stream of people with different viewpoints," says Charles S. Wolfe, executive vice president. "We like to have as many different people here as possible. The more people there are in the building, the greater the range of 'Stimulation and encouragement for the residents." Students gain practice in their chosen fields, but more importantly, they learn how to interact with old people. "You get a stereotyped image of old people as alone and not interested in what's happening," said one nursing student. "But when you work with them, you see they have a lot left to live for and to work with. Most of them are not even aware of the energy they have." When Marilyn Rowens comes into a room, everyone in it becomes a poet. A freelance writer and poet, Rowens has been leading creative expression workshops at the Jewish Home for Aged for four years. She started with a small group on the third floor of Borman Hall. "These were rather confused and disoriented people," Rowens recalls, "but I used creative drama techniques to reach into them and reflect their thoughts. It was like opening a treasure box of memories and recollections." Now Rowens works with two groups, the "Prentis Poets" at Prentis Manor and the "Fountain of Youth" at Borman Hall. Rowens writes down the poetry spoken by each participant, and two or three times a year, the collections are turned into scripts. The groups then perform for the other residents, using song and "creative movement" as well as the spoken word. One resident, Sophie Shifrin, 89, wrote so many wonderful poems that the Home's staff collected them in a little mimeographed booklet and hosted an autograph party for the author, who now refers to herself as "the Grandma Moses of poetry." "The workshop has become a way for the residents to interact with each other. It gives each one an opportunity to be listened to," says Rowens. "And I don't let anyone leave without taking the hand of the person next to him and saying, `I like you."' Flowers by Sophie Shifrin Sarah Klein enjoys a visit from her husband, granddaughter and great-grandchild. Flowers remind me of innocent beauty and pleasant fragrance. They remind me of an innocent child full of love and kindness. Workshop Provides Jobs — And Income The Home's Work Activities Center has been an important program since it was started by Ira Sonnenblick in the Petoskey days. Residents and day program participants earn an hourly wage doing simple assembling and packaging work for local hospitals and factories. The work itself makes the employees feel useful and productive, but they also appreciate the income. "I need the money," says Sam Jaffee, 94, a Borman Hall resident for 14 years. "I have three children, six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. With Chanukah, birthdays and so on, I'm a poor man!" 6 Heidi Baruch greets day program participants Morris Shaposnik and Minnie Ruchotsky. Day Program Provides Activity, Friendship Every weekday morning around 8 o'clock, a van pulls up in -front of Celia Lindner's Southfield home to lake her to Borman Hall, the Jewish Home for Aged's residence in northwest Detroit. At 6:30 p.m., the van takes her home again. Mrs. Lindner is enrolled in the Day Program at the Home. "It's nice to be here," she says. "It's better than to sit at home alone." Her comment capsnlizes the rationale behind the program. Socialization — interaction with other people — can be as important to the mental health of older people as proper nutrition is to their physical well-being. "Most of the participants in the Day Program live alone and many of them have limited social contacts," says Heidi Baruch, director of the Day Program. "It's hard for them to get out without help, so providing opportunities for them to be with other people is one of the most important aspects of the program." A similar program existed at the Home during its Petosky days, when the older people in the community could walk to the Home to join in its activities. At the time, day care was a revolutionary idea in services for the elderly. By the time Borman Hall opened, though, the Jewish community was already moving away from Detroit; the Day Program ended when the Petosky building closed and didn't pick up again until 1977. The donation, by the LeVine Foundation, of vans specially equipped to transport elderly persons, helped get the program going again. Now, van service is available over a wide area reaching from Detroit to West Bloomfield. Day Program participants can enroll for two, three, four or five days a week. When they arrive at Borman Hall, they are given a continental breakfast; they also have lunch, tea and dinner at the Home. Then they're on their own. They may join in any of the planned programs, work in the hobby shop or socialize in the lobby. Some, like Max Berezin, have a regular job in the Work - Activities Center. "That's what I enjoy the most," says Berezin, also of Southfield. "I come two days a week, and each day I work four hours in the workshop, packaging . medical supplies." Regularly scheduled activities include discussion groups, movies, a drama group and arts and crafts classes. Participants have also gone to Kensington Metropark, to Book Fair at the Jewish Community Center and to movies, concerts and synagogue functions. The program is geared to people who are too frail to participate in regular programming for the aged, such as that available at community centers, says Charles S. Wolfe, the Home's executive vice president. Still, they don't need 24-hour a day nursing care. The participants usually start out as strangers, but as they get to know each other, they form a cohesive group, says Heidi Baruch. "They're concerned about each other," she says. "If someone is out sick, the others will ask how she's doing." Celia Lindner, for one, has made a lot of friends through the program. "We're all friends here. We all like each other," she says. "I have my own home, but I come here every day to be with people. It's better than sitting by yourself. You shouldn't be alone."