14 | DECEMBER 23 • 2021 

OUR COMMUNITY

pain and other symptoms, as well as spiritual needs. 
Patients include both those receiving palliative and 
hospice care. Palliative care patients may be severe-
ly ill with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, MS, 
cancer or heart disease. These patients may be in 
a pre-hospice situation and bringing them into the 
agency sooner through its LifeLinks program pro-
vides a more seamless transition when they become 
hospice patients, Krakoff explains. 
Rosenfield explains that the term hospice general-
ly refers to individuals whose life spans are expected 
to be six months or less. Some patients don’t meet 
the criteria for hospice or may not be emotionally 
ready for it, and some patients improve enough to 
move off of hospice care. 
Regardless of their diagnosis, patients receive 
individualized services, including spiritual guidance 
appropriate for their personal beliefs, and social 
work navigation to help with home health care, 
insurance or medical issues. 
“Our goal is to see patients every two weeks, but 
it can be every day depending on their needs. We 
are always asking what more we can do,” Krakoff 
says. JHCN also helps educate caregivers with 
an annual conference — the Caring Coalition 
Conference.
For several years, JHCN has provided enrichment 
programs — bringing music, art, salon services, pet 
visits, tai chi and the opportunity to create legacy 
books to patients. This program “changed the face 
of the organization. It made us an organization 
more about life and less about death,” Krakoff says.
With the exception of the COVID lockdown peri-
od, JHCN staff visit and help patients wherever they 
are — at home, in assisted living facilities, a nursing 
home or hospital. During the COVID lockdown, 
virtual visits and Zoom meetings were used to con-
nect patients, families, staff and volunteers to main-
tain vital support and connections. 
“We reached out more, including providing an 
opportunity for out-of-town family members to join 
in end-of-life prayers online,” Rosenfield says.

NO-FEE MODEL
From its inception, Freedman chose not to bill gov-
ernment agencies, insurance plans, other hospices 
or patients for JHCN services. “We had a wonderful 
staff, and if you create goodwill, it will come back to 
you,” he says. 
Freedman’s funding model of reliance on philan-
thropy has continued. Krakoff says that it relies on 
the “kindness and philanthropy of this Jewish com-
munity.” He says that about 30 percent of patients 

Rabbi Davey Rosen of Ann Arbor, Natalie Rosenfield of Walled Lake, 
Rabbi Joseph “Joey” Krakoff of West Bloomfield, Rabbi E.B. “Bunny” Freedman 
of Oak Park, Rabbi Rachel Lawson Shere of West Bloomfield and 
Rabbi Shalom Freedman of Oak Park. 

Gladys Sampson of West Bloomfield 
sits with Rabbi Joey Krakoff in her 
apartment and talks about their past 
and friends they have known. 

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