32 | JUNE 29 • 2023
OUR COMMUNITY
continued from page 31
the conversation started. You’re
also talking to a stranger about
very private things in many cases.
‘WE USUALLY FIND
A SOLUTION.’
I currently am director of res-
idential marketing and com-
munity relations, working with
all the communities at Jewish
Senior Life.
I still often am the first touch
when someone calls or inquires
about services. I talk through
their situation, and we narrow it
down. Are they interested in Oak
Park, West Bloomfield or both?
Affordable housing, independent
living, assisted living, memory
care, day program? We have so
many things to offer, and with
all those things, we usually find a
solution.
I just think of myself moving
— and I don’t have other chal-
lenges that people coming here
might have — and I remember
saying when I moved to my
home, “I’m never moving again.”
Once someone lives with
us, we’ve already assessed their
medical needs or their cogni-
tive challenges or their family
dynamics. What is going on
and what can we do to help that
person live with dignity, respect,
socialization, health, wellness
and nutrition? From day one,
we’re off and running,
‘WE’RE DOING REELS NOW’
We find that word of mouth is
still our most popular way of
people finding us. We’ll hear
someone say, “I think Grandma
lived here.
” And when you’re here
for 25 years, you can say, “I knew
your grandma.
” That connection
is very special.
It’s a lot of in-person market-
ing. Now that a lot of events are
back, I’m usually at a table so
people can come by and I can
talk about Jewish Senior Life.
Our social media has just
taken off — we’re on Facebook,
Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn,
and we’re doing Reels now. And
it’s great people are responding.
We’re able to look at our analytics
and see that people of all different
age groups are engaging. That
part is really fascinating.
‘DON’T WAIT UNTIL
THERE’S A CRISIS’
The trend we’re seeing in the
older population is that people
are waiting longer to consider
making a move. We’re seeing
people, especially in assisted
living, having a higher level of
care needs. Our average ages
are increasing, and with age
comes more things to address.
People are living longer and are
living healthier longer. They
sometimes wait to make decisions
like this until they feel it’s right
for them. Sometimes, if there’s a
medical emergency or a signifi-
cant change, their children help
them make that decision.
We try to say to people, ‘Don’t
wait until there’s a crisis.
’ You
want to have control over your
decisions about what you do.
TRYING TO MEET ‘THE NEXT
GENERATION OF WANTS’
There is a lot of competition in
the senior housing world, much
more than when I started. We’ve
been around since 1907, and we
feel that we provide the best ser-
vices. There are some beautiful
new builds that catch somebody’s
eye. We want to stay relevant.
We’re doing a lot of updating
— Hechtman just redid all their
apartments, and now their dining
room is being redone. Fleischman
just started redoing all the apart-
ments. We’re listening. We know
people want larger spaces. The
next generation of wants is what
we’re trying to meet.
‘WE HAVE TO CONTINUE’
We have a liaison from the
NEXTGen board on our board.
Because when you don’t know
it or you’ve never lived it or
seen it, or maybe your grand-
parents are only in their 60s,
it’s a whole new world to learn.
And so, one of our goals, as we
move forward, is to make sure
we’re educating and bringing in
the next generation of younger
adults. Because, as I was saying,
if you’re lucky, you’re going to
get old. Everyone’s going to do
it one way or another.
Our residents generally love
intergenerational programming.
We have the Frankel [Jewish
Academy] kids, we have the Hillel
kids. We work with the special
needs department at the JCC —
they have camps for kids up to
26 — and they actually have an
apartment here at Meer where
they teach life skills.
‘THIS IS MY COMMUNITY’
It’s definitely changing. But there’s
still a really nice, large communi-
ty. My mom is a volunteer here,
and she was chatting with some
ladies one day, and they realized
they all went to the same high
school. So, one of them went to
their apartment, got their year-
book and they found each other
— 70 years later.
This is my community. I’ve
grown up here. I’ve heard the
stories from my family. And then
I learned them from our residents
here. It’s really special to connect
with people. And we have a lot
of people who move out of town
during retirement, and then they
move back to Detroit because this
is where they have family. A lot
of them have been gone for 20 to
30 years, but they come back, and
it’s just like the old days — they
see their friend they used to go
roller skating with or to the deli
for a milkshake with. Many gen-
erations of Detroiters live with us,
and we get to learn the history of
our community through them.
‘THERE’S NOTHING IS TOO
SMALL TO CELEBRATE’
My husband is also a lifelong
Detroiter, and we have a 14-year-
old son. We love baseball and we
love dogs. We love being with
family. To me, there’s nothing too
small to celebrate. I love to have
people over to celebrate birthdays
and holidays and anything. I do
drive my husband a little crazy
with all the get-togethers, but
they’re not fancy. It’s about being
together, having a meal, sitting
and laughing — enjoying each
other’s company.
I think that does come from
my work because you hear people
say, “Oh, life is so short,
” but I see
it every day.
Participants attend one of the many activities at JSL.