SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022 | 21

day [at his suggestion], and it
was met with some laughs. I
wanted to do it more.
“I moved to Toronto and
tried to take it seriously
there, where there was a
lot more opportunity to go
on stage and figure it out.
I had a lot more success in
Toronto and wanted to try
a bigger stage so I moved to
New York, where it was all
about putting your nose to
the grindstone and working
hard.”
For a while, Eisenberg was
host of Ask Me Another on
National Public Radio, where
she interviewed celebrity
guests.
“I like interviewing peo-
ple,” she said. “I’m natu-
rally curious and believe
that someone else has the
answers. You’re talking to
someone who knows more
than you and can give you
something that can benefit
you and everyone else from
their knowledge and experi-
ence.
“It took me a while to get
over the fact that I looked up
to people. I would be a little
in awe of the celebrity and
afraid of looking dumb and
asking the wrong question.
Very quickly, I learned that
people want to connect and
talk about their journey.

“When you can find that
little doorway into what
lights them up, then you
have a great conversation. I
always tried to find that little
doorway.”
The 40ish Eisenberg lives
in Brooklyn with husband,
Jonathan Baylis, an Audible
audio-video producer, and
their 6-year-old son. They are
members of Congregation
Beth Elohim and spent a lot
of COVID isolation going for
daily walks and listening to
Zoom programming spon-
sored by their congregation.
“I think right now, with so
many questions and feelings
of instability, it is import-
ant to have these situations
where we can all come
together in safety and maybe
have some laughs,” Eisenberg
said. “It is so incredibly spe-
cial that I don’t want to take
that for granted.”

Ophira
Eisenberg

Details
The Judi Schram Annual
Meeting of Hadassah
will be held Tuesday,
Sept. 13, at Adat
Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills.
$125 with lunch; $80
speaker only; $54
virtual. (248) 683-5030.
Hadassahmidwest.org/
GDannualmeeting.

T

he first boot camp for
Metro Detroit retirees
looking to reevaluate,
reimagine and recreate them-
selves for the 21st-cen-
tury workplace is being
held at 11 a.m. on
Wednesday, Sept. 14, at
Gesher Human Services
(29699 Southfield
Road, Southfield).
Gesher Human
Services, formerly
named JVS + Kadima,
is one of the largest local human
service agencies. The free two-
hour program, which will then
be repeated on Wednesday,
Oct. 19, and Wednesday, Nov.
16, will provide insights into
options for both work and play
that may never have been con-
sidered by participants.
Education, information and
tools to craft an enjoyable future
will be offered. The workshops
are being started amid a nation-
wide shift of retirees wanting or
needing to go back at work.
Economic issues, along with
personal issues like feeling iso-
lated, have recently led to a large
rise in unretirements; in March
2022, more than 3 percent of
workers who were retired a year
earlier were employed again.
“We are seeing a shift in
demographics with a lot of peo-
ple who have stepped out of the
workforce in the last few years
starting to reengage. That 3 per-
cent number is about 1.7 million
retirees returning to work in
the last year,
” explained Gerard
Baltrusaitis, employment and
internship specialist at Gesher
Human Services.
Baltrusaitis said many reasons
are behind this move. “
A lot of
people thought they had their

retirement all figured out, but
then inflation, a downturn in
the stock market or health care
costs made them think again,
”
Baltrusaitis said. He also
added that some just
miss being in the work-
force and felt isolated at
home or wanted a sense
of purpose.
However, many
individuals considering
reentering the workforce
need help and direction.
“Our program is about offering
people options, exposing partic-
ipants to all of the opportunities
that are available — remote,
part-time, short-term contracts,
”
Baltrusaitis said. “People in their
20s, 30s and 40s have grown up
with these ideas. Now we want
to get the message across that
retirees are free agents, and they
can pick and choose so it can
be a fun experience. They can
design and create a work situa-
tion that is more than enjoyable
than they might have had.
”
The program will also address
how retirees can address ageism
during the job-search process.
Tips include: Creating a
functional resume, sharing
experiences that can transfer to
new roles and sharing technical
prowess you might have that
apply to current job situations.
Baltrusaitis said that all job
seekers, including retirees,
should know the three Ps: pur-
pose, passion and proficiency.
“People who are the most pro-
ductive and highest performers
are the people who enjoy the
work they do,
” he said.

To register, contact Gerard Baltrusaitis

at gbaltrusaitis@geshermi.org or (248)

233-4288.

Returning Retiree
Boot Camp Offered

Gerard
Baltrusaitis