ALTERNATIVES
r HOUSING
FOR JEWISH OLDER ADULTS

1 1

Afree communityforum sponsored by

1 JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE

A Heart That
Continues To Beat

to be held at

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE

24123 Greenfield Road • Southfield

Tuesday, April 4, 1995
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

JENNIFER FINER S AF WR ER

Miaowing issues will be discussed:

• Housing options available in the Jewish Community
• Medical and Psychological Assessments
• The Unknown: fears and concerns in the relocation process
• Question and Answer Period
PRESENTERS:
Sarah Gelberd, MD

said. "If Jason starts to sing,
I'll know for sure it's her heart."
The families made contact
through Gift of Life, an organ do-
nation organization in Ann Ar-
bor, and spent a weekend
together.
Because many of Dani's New
York friends were unable to at-
tend her funeral in Detroit, an
hour-and-a-half memorial ser-
vice was held at Professional
Children's School.
After Dani's family, friends
and instructors spoke, and a
video documenting Dani's life
was shown, the heart recipient
Jason, 15, was introduced to an
unsuspecting crowd.
"He is the most wonderful
young man," Ms. Brenner said.
"Dani must have picked him. He
is so sweet and so thankful and
his family is so supportive. Meet-
ing Jason helped bring a sense
of closure and although there
can never really be closure, this
helps."
Ms. Brenner described her
first phone conversation with Ja-
son's mother, Ethel Peakes, as
comfortable. "She was easy to
talk to. Sometimes when people
meet, they are easy to talk to be-
cause there is a chemistry."

Director, Sinai Senior Assessment and Clinic, Sinai Hospital

Joyce Bichler, MSW

Program Administrator, Jewish Federation Apartments

Jan Bayer, MSW

Program Manager, Group Apartment for the Elderly Program,
Jewish Family Service

Carol Rosenberg, MA

Administrator, Fleischman Residence, Jewish Home for Aged

Marcia Mittelman, MA

Administrator, Prentis Manor, Jewish Home for Aged

FACILITATOR:

Judy Kotzen, MSW

Supervisor, Senior Services Dept., Jewish Family Service

To RS.V.P. or for more information, please call
Judy Kotzen at 559-1500, ext. 246

Please R.S.V.P by April 3, 1995

IN YOUR

PUT THE

BAR/BAT MITZVAH!

ENJOY HOURS OF FUN FILLED EXCITEMENT!!
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ORBOTRON

GLAD(All

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Dani Brenner before her last public
singing performance in New York.

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ick and Judy Brenner
purposely picked a ceme-
tery plot beside an ever-
green tree for their
daughter, Dani.
Like the tree, which is always
green and alive, Dani's memory
will always be kept alive by
those who knew her.
Dani would have celebrated
her 17th birthday on March 9.
That day, her parents and
younger sister, Jamie, went to
the cemetery. Ms. Brenner could
picture her daughter, her jeans
cut at the knee, in a white
T-shirt and black belt "with her
big radiant smile and blond an-
gelic hair," standing by the ever-
green.
Ms. Brenner, of Farmington
Hills, finds comfort in know-
ing that while her daughter,
killed in a car accident last De-
cember, is buried, her memory

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is kept alive and her
heart continues to
beat.
Jason Peakes is a
North Carolina teen-
ager who lives with
his mother and sis-
ter. Born with a con-
genital heart defect,
Jason has undergone
several heart opera- Heart recipient Jason Peakes
tions and was hospi- with his sister Eisha and mother Ethel.
talized in September
to await a donor. On
Ms. Brenner said the families
Christmas Eve, he received
will stay in touch and hope to see
Dani's heart.
Two weeks ago, the Brenners each other again this summer.
During the New York memo-
felt Dani's heart beat again.
rial
service, Mr. Brenner re-
They invited Jason and his
family to New York for Dani's membered his daughter and
memorial service at Profession- discussed the impact her expe-
al Children's School, where their riences in New York had on the
young singer.
daughter studied.
"There's a phrase that came
"I couldn't wait to put my
from
the movie Dead Poet's
hand on his heart," Ms. Brenner

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