I FOR SENIORS

A National Council of
Jewish Women•sponsored
program takes seniors out and
about in the community

RUTHAN BRODSKY

Special to The Jewish News

Magician Mike Jacobson gets assistance from a member of
the audience at the Up and Out "World of Magic" event.

Barbara Stone, right, is chairman of NCJW's Up and Out
program.

ip

icture the following
scenario: You're elderly
and pretty much tied to
your apartment or home
in Detroit. You see your
family on occasion, or participate
once in a while at a Jewish Communi-
ty Center senior adult program, but
you'd like to do more — like go to the
theater or symphony or Cranbrook.
The problem is you can't drive any
more.
For some senior adults in the com-
munity this is not fiction — it's their
daily routine. But it doesn't have to
be. A new program, Up and Out, spon-
sored by the National Council of
Jewish Women helps get homebound
elderly out into the world.
Max and Hanna Guyer were part
of a recent Up and Out program that
brought 200 senior citizens to a
matinee performance of Sweet Chari-
ty. Guyer in shirt, tie and jacket, had
recently celebrated his 80th birthday
the week before and was thoroughly
enjoying the event.
"My daughter told us about "Up
and Out" two years ago," explains

106

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1988

Mark Broody enjoys a recent program at Temple Beth El.

Guyer, "and we've been going to all
the programs since. A bus picks us up
with the other residents at our apart-
ment, Highland Thwers, and takes us
to the event for the day. Last year we
went on a ride to the old
neighborhood — Euclid, Pingree and
Hazelwood. I saw my old shul. That
was good."
Sponsored by the National Coun-
cil of Jewish Women, Up and Out
organized its first program in the fall
of 1985 and has enjoyed instant suc-
cess ever since.
"About four years ago National
Council decided they wanted to do
another program for 'the elderly,
beyond meals-on-wheels;' explains
Barbara Stone, chairman of Up and
Out. "We didn't have anything
specific in mind, but we knew that
there were probably gaps between
what the agencies, community center,
and synagogues could do for the elder-
ly and what else might be done!'
Stone, who has a master's degree
in guidance and counseling, wrote let-
ters to the Jewish agencies as well as
to local services and to Sinai Hospital