DECEMBER 30 • 2021 | 31

J

ewish Family Service 
(JFS) of Metro Detroit 
and Jewish Senior Life 
(JSL) are teaming up for a new 
four-part family caregiver series.
The name of the program 
is (Care)giving and Taking: 
Making Time for You, a four-
part series to educate, empower 
and connect family caregivers.
 Taking place over Zoom, 
the series will run the second 
Thursday of every month at 2 
p.m. Jan. 13, Feb. 10, March 10 
and April 14.
The kickoff event on Jan. 13 
is a panel with five speakers, 
Lynn Breuer and Becky Eizen 
from JFS, Barbara Giles from 
JSL, estate planning attorney 
Norman E. Richards and care-
giver resource specialist Robin 
Hamilton-Morris, touching on 
their areas of expertise includ-
ing caregiving, senior hous-
ing options, connecting with 
resources and estate planning. 
The guest on Feb. 10 is Rabbi 
Elimelech Goldberg from Kids 
Kicking Cancer, focusing on 
self-care tactics with a program 
called Breath Brake, leading the 
group through an exercise. 
On March 10, the guest is 
Rabbi Laura Geller, author of 
Getting Good at Getting Older, 
who will be focusing on the 
caregiving aspect. 
The guest on April 14 is Dr. 
Micky Golden Moore for “It’s 

Okay Not to Be Okay,
” focusing 
on the uniqueness of how we 
experience grief and loss. 
After those four months, pro-
gram organizers Missy Lewin 
of JFS and Tracey Proghovnick 
of JSL will conduct a follow-up 
survey to assess what else the 
population might need.
“
As sister agencies, we part-
ner regularly, and we thought 
working together we could 
really reach a large audience,
” 
Proghovnick says. “Having this 
support, knowing there are 
resources out there and having 
really great speakers lined up 
to encourage, support, validate 
and connect is something we’re 
thrilled to be able to do.
”
Even while being exacerbat-
ed by COVID, Lewin believes 
the need for support for fam-
ily caregivers has always been 
there.
“I think some of us become 
caregivers and have never been 
a caregiver before,
” Lewin says. 
“
And we don’t have those tools 
in our back pocket to be able 
to manage the caregiving piece 
and to be able to manage our-
selves as well and make sure we 
can balance both lives.
”
There will also be a focus on 
those who have experienced 
trauma, how to care for those 
who may have experienced it 
and for the family caregiver who 
may have experienced it.

“We know, during COVID, 
everyone’s experienced some 
type of trauma, so that’s not just 
specific populations anymore; 
it’s everyone,
” Lewin says. 
Those attending the series 
don’t have to be Jewish, every-
one is welcome, and it’s free.
Lewin and Proghovnick hope 
the series provides tools and 
resources to help people move 
forward in their family caregiv-
er roles, and to let them know 
they’re not alone.
“There’s something about 
when you know you’re not 

alone, there’s comfort in that,
” 
Lewin says. “So it’s about how 
we can make sure we’re bring-
ing that to people because being 
a family caregiver is one of the 
hardest places to be in, and 
sometimes we don’t sign up for 
that.
”
The program was made pos-
sible through grant funds from 
the Jewish Federations of North 
America Center on Aging and 
Trauma. 

To sign up and/or learn more, visit 

www.jfsdetroit.org/caregiver.

(Care)giving and Taking: Making time for you

A four-part series to educate, empower, and connect family caregivers

Taking care of a loved one can be difficult. So can ensuring that your own needs are being met during 
this challenging time. It’s easy to feel isolated but Jewish Family Service and Jewish Senior Life

are here to offer family caregivers support, comfort and a sense of community.

Join us for our four-part series held virtually on Thursdays at 2pm:

Questions? Contact 248.592.2313

Take a 
Breath Brake

with Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg 
February 10

It’s Okay Not 

to Be Okay

Dr. Micky Golden Moore
April 14

Moderated by Lynn Breuer, JFS
featuring Becky Eizen, JFS
 Barbra Giles, JSL 
Norman E. Richards, Esq.
Robin Hamilton-Morris, AAA 1-B
January 13

Taking Care of 

the Caregivers

Author Rabbi Laura Geller 
March 10

Caregiving Panel

To learn more or to register visit jfsdetroit.org/caregiver

(Care)giving and Taking: Making time for you

A four-part series to educate, empower, and connect family caregivers

Taking care of a loved one can be difficult. So can ensuring that your own needs are being met during 
this challenging time. It’s easy to feel isolated but Jewish Family Service and Jewish Senior Life

are here to offer family caregivers support, comfort and a sense of community.

Join us for our four-part series held virtually on Thursdays at 2pm:

Questions? Contact 248.592.2313

Moderated by Lynn Breuer, JFS
featuring Becky Eizen, JFS
 Barbra Giles, JSL 
Norman E. Richards, Esq.
Robin Hamilton-Morris, AAA 1-B
January 13

Caregiving Panel

JFS/JSL of
 ers joint caregiver 
series beginning in January.

Help for

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

