THE PARK
LIVING
involved, size of the home and time
necessary to move the client.
Only insured and bonded movers
are hired to work with them.
Gentle Transitioning also can pro-
vide supplementary services rang-
ing from changing the client's phone
number, canceling the newspapers
and calling to set up cable TV to
helping a longtime homeowner find
rental insurance for a new apart-
ment.
They also have a resource file of
professional referrals, from those
who do home modifications to care-
givers, hospice care workers, physi-
cians, social workers and therapists.
The company plans to provide
additional services and possibly
expand into other areas of the cowl-
try. "As the number of baby boom-
ers whose parents are moving out
of larger homes grows, we want to
grow with the market," Kovan said.
The women are looking to benefit
clients through their own profes-
sional and personal experience,
beginning with moving Kovan's
MOM.
A lot of people wait until there is
a crisis to move Kovan said. "We try
to present an opportunity to do it in
a sane environment, before someone
comes to us with a family member
with a broken hip who needs to
move immediately. There's a fear ele-
ment that comes with moving out of
a longtime home"
A baby boomer herself, Kovan
said, "I believe the parents of many
people my age would have been out
of their houses years ago if they
didn't think getting out would be so
difficult"
Added Knatz: "We find many
people with boxes they are storing
in their basements and closets they
have not opened in many years. This
leaves a lot more work for the chil-
dren once the client needs to move
or has passed away.
"I told my parents to get rid of
everything they don't need. Now." ❑
"
Please share your thoughts online at
thejewishnews.com/community.
Go to Local News.
For information, call
(248) 593-8876, go to
www.GentleTransitioning.com
or access the Facebook page
at Facebook.com and type
"Gentle Transitioning" in the
search box.
Youngsters Face Challenge
"Pebbles and Stones," a program that
addresses death, dying, grieving and how
to comfort mourners, was developed
by Rabbinic Associate Keren Alpert of
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township to
help familiarize children and parents with
the Jewish rituals and basic beliefs.
She came up with the idea three years
ago, when several grandparents of fifth-
graders died within six weeks. It was
Alpert's hope that families could learn
about death and dying in a hypothetical
arena and not be confronted for the first
time with the elements of funeral prepa-
ration and shivah at the death of a loved
one. The teachers and parents agreed
that demystifying death and mourning
helps eliminate surprises for children and
makes the issue much more approachable,
even if still painful.
Students met with their teachers ear-
lier in the month to determine what the
students already knew about death and
dying and what they wanted to learn.
Families then joined together on a Sunday
morning in February to learn together,
reading a story and having one-on-one
discussions.
Parents and students then worked
separately, with parents joining Alpert to
hear about how to talk to your kids about
death, what appropriate participation is
for children when attending a funeral and
to elucidate the spectrum of Jewish beliefs
regarding the afterlife.
During this time, Principal Arlene
Keller and the teachers were helping
students create stones and pebbles to be
placed on graves at a future trip to the
cemetery. In addition, Keller discussed
with the students items on their list of
what they wished to learn.
The morning ended with the parents
rejoining their children and eating a
shivah meal together, reciting the "23rd
Psalm" and the Mourner's Kaddish.
Thoughts For Peace
Ameinu Detroit will host a program with
Israeli Dr. Sapir Handelman, who will
speak and show a short film about his
international Minds of Peace Experiment
(MOPE), 4-6 p.m. Sunday, March 14, at
the Jewish Community Center in Oak
Park. Admission is free.
Handelman, visiting professor at Wayne
State University's Center for Peace and
Conflict Studies in Detroit, moderates an
ongoing series of Israeli-Palestinian public
negotiating assemblies, whose goal is to
find a path toward Middle East peace.
Ameinu is the former Labor Zionist
Alliance. Director Esther Allweiss Ingber,
is at (248) 967-3170.
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March 4 . 2010
31