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

