44 | MARCH 23 • 2023
S
hari Cohen of Bloomfield
Township is this week’s Volunteer
of the Week.
Since November 2021, Cohen has
run a creative writing group at Jewish
Senior Life’s Meer Apartments in West
Bloomfield. In that time, it’s become a spe-
cial, tight-knit group.
Cohen has engaged in volunteer work
for a long time and was a volunteer for
Detroit Public Schools since 2009. When
they were no longer permitting volunteers
because of COVID, Cohen began looking
for another opportunity.
She suggested the creative writing group
idea to Myriam Cohen, Meer’s activities
director, who inquired if the residents had
any interest. There was interest, indeed.
The number of residents attending on a
weekly basis varies, with 11 individuals
being the most attending a meeting and
about eight people being more typical.
There’s a core group that has continued
throughout, meeting weekly for an hour.
“We talk about writing and literature
and, every week, I suggest a couple of top-
ics they could write about,” Cohen said.
“
At the beginning, I talked about different
kinds of writing — first person, third per-
son, poetry, prose, etc.”
To Cohen’s delight, the participants have
been willing to try new things.
“They’ve tried limericks, haikus and
a few have written little short stories. A
lot of them write about things that have
happened in their childhood,” she said.
“So, there’s quite a range. Everyone reads
aloud what they’ve written, and almost all
are willing to let their work be used in the
newsletter.”
Cohen tries to have themes or suggest-
ed writing topics for the sessions each
week. For Valentine’s Day, Cohen brought
in some examples of how love is written
about in literature and the Bible, sug-
gesting participants write about different
forms of love. For Rosh Hashanah, the
group talked about repentance and for-
giveness.
The group has also experimented with
mini creativity exercises. Cohen has played
different types of music and asked the
group to write down any thoughts, words
and emotions the music evoked. Cohen
once brought in different kinds of herbs
and spices, told the group to close their
eyes and asked them to write about what
the aromas inspired in them.
Myriam Cohen has used quite a bit of
what the group has written in the monthly
Meer newsletter, which she publishes.
“Shari is unbelievable,” Myriam said.
“She goes above and beyond the duty of a
volunteer; she’s extremely dedicated and
puts her heart and soul into it. The resi-
dents have learned so much from her, she’s
like a university professor. I would call her
the volunteer of the year.”
Attendees often tell Cohen how much
they enjoy the group and how much they
appreciate what she does, with some of
them bringing home baked goods and
candy on occasion.
“What’s amazed me is their willingness
to try new things, to open up to others,
that they would sit there and read some-
thing they’ve written, sometimes very
personal things,” Cohen said. “Some of
the women knew each other before, some
were friends, but the other thing that’s
been wonderful is the group has helped
generate new friendships or strengthened
friendships. In some ways, it’s a bit of a
support group.”
Several in the group are age 95. Cohen
says the group is made up of intelligent
people whose knowledge base is quite
broad, who want to enjoy life and make
new friendships — all the while showing
that aging isn’t a barrier.
“They’re a wonderful group of ladies,”
Cohen said. “I feel like I receive as much
or more than I give. It’s a great opportunity
to be helpful.”
OUR COMMUNITY
Shari Cohen leads an engaging weekly
creative writing group at Meer Apartments.
Let the Creative
Juices Flow
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
VOLUNTEER OF THE WEEK
Creative writers Marcy Tanzman, Audrey Demek, Yetta
Pann, Anita Cywiak, Elizabeth Silver and Marlene Cassidy
Shari
Cohen