Highs and Lows, Jewish Home Heroes, Joyous Moments and More

Dear friends,

It has been a week of some emotional “highs and lows” for those of us on the staff of the Jewish Home Family. I will begin with the “low,” which was the closing of the Gallen Day Center. As you know, the Governor ordered all adult day centers closed in March and we, of course, did so. Since that time, we have been able to keep the Gallen staff with us, both assisting in other areas and staying connected with the Gallen participants. The team has made daily calls to participants, conducted some socially distanced visits and created innovative Zoom program to help folks stay engaged. Unfortunately, with no re-opening date for adult day programs in any of the plans so far, we had to make the decision to close Gallen completely and to furlough the majority of the staff of that program. Some of the staff members have accepted other opportunities within the Jewish Home Family but others chose to take the 6-month furlough. It is our hope that this situation will change and that we will return to being the important lifeline that we are for many elders in our community.

On the emotional “high” end, we had the last of our wonderful Wednesdays this week. Wonderful Wednesdays were days of meals sponsored by board members to thank and celebrate our staff. For our final Wednesday we were able to provide “Jewish Home Hero” t-shirts for every member of our staff and they wore them proudly yesterday as you can see from the photos. We even served hero sandwiches!

It was a perfect way to be attired as we “clapped out” the last COVID patient from the Jewish Home at Rockleigh. She was with us for two months, coming for rehab after a month in the hospital and when she arrived she was too weak to even sit up on her own. Take a look at Wednesday’s video, truly heartwarming and a real testament to the work of our team:

While we happily celebrated this “graduation,” we do continue to admit individuals from both hospitals and the community. Every new admission is tested for COVID and each is required to be in quarantine for 14 days. Some of the individuals we admit from hospitals have had a positive COVID test and are recovering and we not only help them to heal, we also carefully monitor and re-test as appropriate. Our ongoing testing of staff also continues on a biweekly basis on both campuses.

Also wonderful this week have been the ongoing outdoor visits. What a joy to see families together again! It has been far too long and we are so glad to be able to facilitate these emotional reunions. For those who cannot participate in outdoor visits, we continue to do virtual visits as well, doing our very best to help our elders connect with their loved ones. In other events at Jewish Home Assisted Living this week, we had some wonderful music including the opera Tosca and a performance of The Sound of Music that was broadcast by the LaGuardia High for Music, Art and the Performing Arts. We had documentaries on Egypt’s Lost Queens, Our Oceans and Easter Island. We traveled to Budapest, Persia, Alaska and even toured the Tour of London. Exercise included yoga and Tai Chi and we enjoyed Happy Hour lemonade on Tuesday and afternoon root beer floats on Wednesday. Wrapping up the week on Friday was a visit from Professor Ian Drake of Montclair State University whose topic was “Is the 2020 election like 1968?”

Jewish Home at Rockleigh events this week began on Sunday with Wake Up exercise, trivia and friendly visits. On Monday we observed National Camera Day and took photos of the elders posing with different backgrounds—it was a big hit! Tuesday evening was highlighted by another patio performance by Cantor Singer and we also enjoyed word games, Name that Tune and music with Alexa. Wednesday was International Joke Day and so much fun for everyone. We also had crafts, July trivia and a program on Astrology and Numerology. LaughActive Yoga, storytelling and Famous People in History quiz were Thursday’s highlights and on Friday we enjoyed exercise, Karaoke Fun and Alphabet Soup. Celebrating the 4th of July on Saturday will include patriotic tunes, Independence Day reminiscence and, of course, our holiday movie “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

We wish you a safe and healthy holiday weekend. We are maintaining our strict vigilance at the Jewish Home Family and we are reminding our staff to do the same in their personal lives as well. We hope that you, too, are being cautious, wearing a facemask in public, practicing good infection control including frequent handwashing and being careful about social distancing. It matters to our elders and to the health of our community!

Be well,

Carol Silver Elliott
President/CEO
The Jewish Home Family