MARCH 3 • 2022 | 13
Unger says, adding that peo-
ple could even meet up at
kid-friendly destinations.
“You have to have a form of
community to be able to do
all that.”
A Zoom baking event for
grandparents and grandkids
took place Feb. 27, where the
pairs made rugelach together
online. In addition to a grow-
ing roster of grandparent/
grandkid events, JGrand is
also gearing up to offer educa-
tional events for grandparents
on everything from commu-
nication strategies and becom-
ing first-time grandparents, to
nurturing and honoring one-
self as a modern grandparent
and more.
“We are plan-
ning some things
and trying to map
out the future,”
says Lori Fidler,
coordinator of the
JGrand program
and grandmother
of four. “We are bringing in
some experts in all different
fields, and are open to hearing
additional topics and events.
We want input from grand-
parents in the community.”
The program comes out
of an idea Judy
Loebl, the JCC’s
chief program
officer, brought
to Detroit after
hearing of a sim-
ilar program in
Denver, where her
daughter lived when Loebl’s
first granddaughter was born.
“I see the program as a way
for grandparents and grand-
children to connect in person
and online,” Loebl says. It
also promotes shalom bayit,
peace in the home, by helping
grandparents understand their
children’s perspectives and
recent shifts in child-rearing.
That’s especially relevant
knowledge in today’s fami-
ly landscape as, nationally,
about a third of grandparents
provide daytime childcare,
overnight childcare or trans-
portation for their grandkids,
according to a 2019 national
study of Jewish grandparents.
The same study found, despite
largely positive feelings about
grandparenting, “nearly a
third report that their ideas
about child-rearing conflict
with those of their adult
children, and one-in-10 find
grandparenting to be a gener-
ally stressful experience.”
GRANDPARENTS’ NEEDS
In preparation for offering
regular grandparent program-
ming, the JCC ran a number
of focus groups, where they
discovered grandparents
are increasingly interested
in resources that help them
explore and nav-
igate their roles
as grandparents,
says Mikki Frank,
JFamily senior
director. A JCC
survey of interest
in such a program
drew 75 responses in just 24
hours and led to connections
with more than 150 area
grandparents for coffee, phone
calls, grandkid play dates and
introductory “Grand Bag”
deliveries.
“The style of grandpar-
enting has radically changed
over the past 20 years,” Frank
explains. “Grandparents have
become significantly more
involved in their grandchil-
dren’s lives. Many grandpar-
ents are dealing with remote
grandparenting and many
grandparents are providing
childcare in various ways.
Grandparents are younger,
they’re active, they want to
be active — they want to be
engaged with their grandchil-
dren.”
To facilitate the JGrand
program, the JCC hired
grandparents who wanted to
build relationships with other
families in the community.
They also started a private
Facebook group, “Jewish
Grandparents by JFamily
Detroit” and started spreading
the word. JGrand held a soft
launch in November with a
grandparent/grandkid magic
show at the JCC, then brought
on Fidler, a seasoned early
childhood/community devel-
opment executive.
A GRANDPARENT
COHORT
Grandparents straddle the line
as they seek to both support
their children and enrich their
grandchildren, bringing their
own ideas while respecting the
way their grandchildren are
being raised, Fidler explains.
And this new program will
provide them with informa-
tion, activities and a cohort.
“If you need an idea
because you’re stuck inside,
someone else might have done
something that was fun,” she
explains. “Or get together —
same-age grandchildren can
start building relationships,
and the grandparents can
make relationships with other
grandparents.”
Susie and Norm Pappas
of Bloomfield Hills have
helped the program get off the
ground by providing financial
support. JGrand is also sup-
ported by the foundations that
support PJ Library Detroit:
the H.W. Kaufman Family
Support Foundation, the A.
Alfred Taubman Foundation
and the Max M. and Marjorie
S. Fisher Foundation.
“I feel very passionate
about the program,” says Susie
Pappas, a grandmother of six
who has been
in conversations
about JGrand
since early on.
“Grandparents are
always looking
for activities they
can do with their
Uniting Generations
Judy Loebl
Mikki Frank
Lori Fidler
Susie
Pappas
continued on page 14
Ken Korotkin and
grandson Davis
COURTESY EMILY KOROTKIN