 MAY 21 • 2020 | 9

Jews in the D

Keeping Seniors 
Connected

JVS, Jewish Senior Life continue work 
with dementia patients over Zoom.
P

rior to the spread of 
COVID-19 and state-
wide stay–at–home 
order, seniors with dementia 
in Metro Detroit received 
in-person services through 
a partnership between JVS 
Human Services and Jewish 
Senior Life. Those programs 
focused on interacting with 
others and making face-to-face 
connections: crucial components 
for high quality of life. 
Now, Julie Verriest, manager 
of senior adult services at JVS 
Human Services and supervisor 
of the Dorothy and Peter Brown 
Jewish community adult day 
program at Jewish Senior Life, 
has moved programming online 
to continue to give seniors some 
stability and therapeutic services. 
“Socialization and connection 
with other people is really the 
most important thing for people 
with dementia,
” Verriest said. 
In-person services included 
hands-on activities like exercise, 
pet therapy and community 
outings. Online, these programs 
have been altered slightly. For 
music sessions, Verriest plays the 
guitar over Zoom as participants 
clap and sing along. Exercise 
sessions are also led by Verriest, 
with participants providing 
input. 
People living with dementia 
can have visual and auditory 
processing issues, which pose 
a potential challenge when it 
comes to holding sessions virtu-
ally. To help, Verriest makes sure 
to leave extra time when talking 
to participants, which she says 
helps them stay responsive. 
“The real magic is they inter-
act with each other much like 
they do on-site,
” Verriest said. 

 “They help each other out, 
like someone who is in the earli-
er stage of dementia might help 
someone who’
s a little later in the 
dementia journey to answer a 
question.
”
These online sessions provide 
important interactions for par-
ticipants but are also beneficial 
for caregiving partners, Verriest 
said. Some are working from 
home, teaching from home and 
now also providing full-time 
care for family members. Zoom 
sessions provide respite so care-
giving partners can complete 
other tasks. 
This online program also 
provides support services and 
sessions specifically for caregiv-
ing partners as the alternative 
to in-person support. The pro-
gram’
s social worker now spends 
all her time calling families and 
checking in to see how they are 
doing. 
Sam McKnight has been tak-
ing his wife, Jackie, to participate 
in services at the Brown Center 
for several years now, and the 
fact that there are services avail-
able online is helpful to both 
of them, McKnight said. Jackie 
particularly enjoys the music, 
poetry and bingo that have taken 
place virtually. 
Sam said he’
s been especially 
pleased with “the familiarity of 
it all and the ability to connect, 
even though it’
s a little more dif-
ficult.
” 

YAEL EICHHORN JN INTERN

JVS HUMAN SERVICES

Julie Verriest
holding a music session

Click. Call. Give Now. 
www.hfldetroit.org • 248.723.8184

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

6735 Telegraph Road, Suite 300 • Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48301

@HFLDetroit

 

STORY
Our
STORY
Our

Kevin Kellman and Marc Kellman spent 20
years in a family business that was doing well, but
wasn’t what they really wanted to do. With Kevin’s love
of cooking, and Marc’s practical, “numbers guy” outlook,
they jumped into Detroit’s burgeoning foodie culture
with Brother Truckers food truck, and found their calling.
Armed with their business experience and lots of
research, Kevin and Marc approached Hebrew
Free Loan’s Marvin I. Danto Small Business
Loan Program for help getting launched.
As their third season approached, Kevin and Marc
had a lot of their calendar for lunches and events
booked early, and looked forward to increasing
their business even more.
“We exceeded expectations in our first two seasons,
and we thought this would be the year it really took off,”
Kevin said. “Then the quarantine hit, and the outlook
went from bright to bleak.”
As the truck sat, people who knew the Kellmans asked if
Brother Truckers could come out like an ice cream truck
and do meals. From that, the Subdivision Tour was born.
“We don’t cruise, we park in one neighborhood, and
people come to us. We go to HOAs for permission and
to spread the word among the neighbors, and we feed
lots of families who are tired of cooking, or maybe
looking for a change from their carry-out options,” Kevin
said. “It also gives some of the neighbors a chance to
come out of their homes and socialize at a distance
while we cook. Everything is safe and minimal contact,
and the response has been tremendous. This might
actually become part of our business. We appreciate
our customers and the welcome we received in the
neighborhoods. We also appreciate HFL, because
without them, our story would look a whole lot different.”

