JANUARY 6 • 2022 | 15

independently, with workers 
visiting them at home as nec-
essary. During the pandemic, 
said Ohren, direct care work-
ers could continue to visit cli-
ents at home, but social work-
ers and volunteers switched to 
remote connections. 
 Because many seniors 
are less adept with technol-
ogy than younger adults, 
JFS offered them Uniper 
Care, a service developed 
by an Israeli company that 
enables televisions to func-
tion like computers. With a 
TV remote, users can access 
Zoom and other Internet pro-
grams on their televisions. “
A 
TV is not as scary for them 
as an iPad or a laptop,” Ohren 
said. 
 JFS’s transportation ser-
vices morphed to deal with 
pandemic changes, and 
none of its drivers had to 
be laid off. In the past, the 
drivers’ main duty was tak-
ing clients to appointments. 
They had fewer requests for 
rides during the pandemic, 
allowing redeployment to 
food deliveries for Yad Ezra, 
the kosher food pantry, and 
augmenting volunteer home 
delivery for Kosher Meals on 
Wheels. 

VOLUNTEERS 
WANTED, TOO
The agency’s need for vol-
unteers is also growing, 
said Melissa Pletcher, who 
joined JFS in October 2020 
as director of volunteers after 

losing her previous job to 
the pandemic. She is looking 
for volunteers to be social 
companions and technology 
advisers to older adults, pro-
vide pro bono legal services 
and deliver for Kosher Meals 
on Wheels.
 Pletcher said many support-
ers called JFS early on in the 
pandemic to ask how they 
could help. In two or three 
months, they added more 
than 60 volunteers for Kosher 
Meals on Wheels, she said.
 Although some of JFS’s 
increased funding was in 
the form of one-time grants, 
Ohren says the agency 
expects to be able to continue 
the programs. 
 He expects the need for 
JFS’s services to grow.
 “There was a mental health 
crisis before the pandemic, 
meaning that there weren’t 
enough helping professionals 
at that point for the hurts 
people were needing help 
with. The explosion of the 
mental health crisis amidst 
the pandemic, with so many 
more people needing mental 
health support, has full-on 
exacerbated the problems,” 
he said.
 “We’re waiting for the other 
shoe to drop. Years from 
now, we’ll still be feeling the 
impact” of COVID in terms 
of the numbers of people 
needing services, he said. 
 “This pandemic will have 
very, very, very long legs.” 

Perry Ohren
Wendi Uhrig
Marissa Preston

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 January 18-30, 2022 • Fisher Theatre

BROADWAY’S TONY AWARD®-WINNING BEST MUSICAL IS BACK 

BroadwayInDetroit.com | Ticketmaster.com | Box Office

BEGINS IN TWO WEEKS!

Groups (10+) BroadwayInDetroitGroups@theambassadors.com (subject: Hairspray) 

 OC open-caption performance Sunday, January 23 at 7:30pm
Photo: Norma Jean Roy

