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metro >> on the cover
Toward The Future
Jewish Senior Life focuses on helping seniors age in place with dignity.
Keri Guten Cohen I Story Development Editor
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Jewish Senior Life is the central address
for older adults in Detroit's Jewish
community. An agency of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, JSL
supports a main focus Federation has out-
lined as essential to the community.
In caring for seniors, JSL runs seven
residential buildings housing about 900
residents and provides services to 1,600
older adults in the community through
programs that give care to adults with
dementia-related disorders, work with
the needs of aging Holocaust survivors,
provide outreach to Jewish seniors in non-
Jewish facilities, deal with legal guardian-
ship for frail vulnerable adults and more.
And, with the second-largest percent-
age of Jewish seniors in the country
outside of South Florida, according to the
2010 update of Federation's 2005 Jewish
Community Population Study, Detroit has
a considerable group of older adults to
serve. In fact, out of about 67,000 Jews in
Metro Detroit, 24 percent or 17,194 people
in Jewish households are age 65 or older
— and that percentage will be growing
because people are living longer today.
"We are redefining aging;' Upfal said.
"It's a new journey, a different world.
There's a 'silver tsunami'
of Baby Boomers aging.
Sixty is not what it was
— just different.
"We are serving
retired profession-
als — doctors, lawyers,
professors — the greats
of our community. They
Rochelle Upfal
are using iPads, smart-
phones and Slcyping."
Along with keeping
up with technology, this plan to redefine
aging also means finding ways to allow
older adults to age in their homes and
communities with dignity as well as social
and spiritual programs and services.
At JSI:s annual meeting June 20 at
Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza
on the Applebaum Jewish Community
Campus in West Bloomfield, Upfal
unveiled a centerpiece of Jewish Senior
Life's three-year strategic plan — the
"Village."
"The village movement started 10 years
ago in Boston:' she explained. "It's a way
older adults can age in a community in
their own hthnes. It's neighbor to neighbor
— high touch and low tech."
Two JSL residents use computers accessible to all.
Jewish seniors in 1907 outside a Jewish home for the aged
on Edmund Place and Brush in Detroit.
Lazar Chervani, 71, shows his catch during a senior outing
at Butzel Conference Center in Ortonville.
The general concept involves identify-
ing a neighborhood with a fairly large
population of older adults (age 50+) and
getting grassroots buy-in to transform the
neighborhood into a "village" where inter-
ested neighbors pay annual dues that pay
for a concierge-type employee who vets
services (from plumbing and roofing, to
caregivers and meal preparation), handles
requests, facilitates social events and more.
Neighbors begin to watch out for each
other; they volunteer to help each other;
they form interest groups around shared
hobbies (gardening, books, cooking, etc.);
and they feel able to stay in homes where
they have felt comfortable for years and
they most likely own outright.
The local Jewish Fund awarded a start-
up grant of $185,000 to fund.the Village
over three years.
"The board is so committed that we are
starting the process now:' Upfal said. "We
will change the
model of care
and serve so
many in the way they want to be served:'
JSL is among the first Jewish agencies
dealing with older adults that will launch
a village. (There are 83 villages in the
nation now, concentrated mainly in urban
centers.) Extensive research has been
conducted, and JSL is finalizing a location,
according to Upfal.
Moving Forward
Other major JSL accomplishments this
year:
• Prentis Jewish Apartments I in Oak
Park, JSI:s oldest residence and a Housing
and Urban Development-subsidized
facility, was awarded tax credits from the
Michigan State Housing Development
Authority to convert 88 studio apartments
into one-bedroom apartments, bring-
ing the total of one-bedrooms there to
133. Currently, 41 studio apartments are
vacant. The entire Prentis community will
be renovated as well.
"This is a dream come true for JSL and
for stabilization of the Oak Park commu-
nity:' Upfal said. "We've talked about this
for 20 years; we really need this. We were
awarded credits the first time around,
and that's unusual. Its a long process; we
expect to be done in 2-21/2 years:'
She added that all residences are fully
occupied (except for the studio apart-
ments) and have waiting lists.
• JSL and other Federation agencies are
collaborating and coordinating services
and programs for older adults under a
central number: (248) 661-1836 (chai,
double chai).
• Transportation on both the Applebaum
and Taubman campuses has increased for
all residents with the purchase of three
new buses provided by three donors.
• Program professionals now are in
place at the seven residential buildings,
with a central coordinator as well. They
organize activities and promote social
interactions among residents.
Toward The Future on page 12
10 July 5 • 2012