26 | MARCH 14 • 2024 
J
N

M

etro Detroit 
caregivers who 
look after loved 
ones living with dementia 
can experience a special 
day devoted to their own 
enjoyment and well-being on 
Sunday, April 7. 
 The event is free and 
is being offered by the 
Dorothy and Peter Brown 
Jewish Community Adult 
Day Program, known as the 
Brown Program, with respite 
care being offered at its West 
Bloomfield location (6720 W. 
Maple Road, West Bloomfield) 
and the program for caregivers 
being held at the nearby Soul 
Café (5586 Drake Road, West 
Bloomfield). 
Before the day’s activities 
begin, caregivers will drop off 

their loved ones at the Brown 
Center at 10 a.m. where 
they will be taken care of by 
expert staff, given snacks and 
lunch, and experience special 
programming including 
music, games and more. 
Caregivers will then go 
to Soul Café to enjoy yoga, 
massage, music therapy, 
horticultural therapy 
and delicious food, plus 
educational activities designed 
to help them take care of their 
loved ones. The program will 
end at 3 p.m. with respite care 
provided until 3:30 p.m. 
The Brown Program is 
a joint initiative of Gesher 
Human Services and Jewish 
Senior Life and provides 
innovative and engaging 
activities and care for those 

living with dementia, along 
with support for their 
families at its centers in West 
Bloomfield and Southfield. 
For Beth Sadoff of Farming-
ton Hills, Caregivers Day Off 
is a welcome event where she 
knows her husband will be 
taken care of while she has 
a chance to decompress and 
enjoy the experiences offered. 
Ed Sadoff, 77, was 
diagnosed with dementia 
about eight years ago 
and currently attends the 
Brown Program five days a 
week, enabling his wife to 
continue working as a service 
coordinator for a senior 
community. 
“I joke with Ed that I’m 
going to work, and he is going 
to work, too, because he is 

going to the center, which is 
helping him do everything we 
can to prevent him declining,” 
Sadoff explained.
Sadoff, who has two grown 
sons and four grandchildren 
and belongs to Temple Israel, 
says it is often hard to find 
time for herself, though 
she knows it is important. 
Caregivers Day Off, however, 
gives her a unique opportunity 
to enjoy herself while she 
knows her husband is having 
the expert care he needs.
“It really is a fabulous day 
I look forward to. When you 
get there, you have coffee and 
donuts or a bagel and there are 
all kinds of activities to enjoy, 
like massage and art therapy, 
even planting flowers,” she 
says. “
And it’s a way to get 
together with other caregivers 
going through something 
similar. We can express our 
thoughts, our frustrations 
and even tell each other about 
things that might work to help 
us.”
Debi Banooni, the director 
of the Brown Program, 
says Sadoff’s experience at 

Caregivers Day Off

On April 7, the Brown Program 
will offer a day of respite and joy. 

ALISON SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS 

OUR COMMUNITY

Massage 
therapy 
Horticultural 
therapy

