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Building community is hard work—keeping it strong can be even more challenging, especially during a global pandemic, when health and safety limit person-to-person contact and relegate social interactions to virtual experiences such as Zoom and phone calls. Fortunately, the Los Angeles Jewish Home has a secret weapon: its warm, dedicated, dynamic clergy, who continue to engage, stimulate, comfort, and nurture Jewish Home residents and their families. The key to the job, says Rabbi Karen Bender, Skirball director of spiritual life at the Jewish Home, is always pushing for excellence. "These can be challenging times for everyone, but it's incumbent upon us to summon energy, creativity, and enthusiasm because our residents deserve the very best," she says. For Bender and her colleague Rabbi Ron Goldberg, rabbi of the Eisenberg Village campus, that means being creative and intentional about infusing daily life with meaning. "The question we've been asking ourselves is, 'Without physical gatherings, how can we still enrich and bring spiritual depth to our residents' lives?'" Rabbi Bender says. "The answer is by staying true to our north star: putting in every effort to make a difference where we can." Rabbi Bender's approach translates to seeking new opportunities for Jewish Home residents to increase their fulfillment and to maximize their enjoyment of each day. "We had a resident who needed a new mezuzah [a small scroll affixed to the doorpost of Jewish homes], so I got permission to go to her room. I stood outside of her door and hung the mezuzah, and as we said the blessing, our eyes made contact with one another through our PPE," she says. "I wasn't allowed to linger there, so I left, and we immediately got on the phone to chat. It was a beautiful experience because it acknowledged the importance of her Judaism and also showed her that the Jewish Home loves and cares for her." Stories like these, says Rabbi Bender, highlight a small silver lining amidst pandemic life: an emphasis on even more personalized care. "One-on-one is a big theme for us," she notes. "Since we can't get together in groups, Rabbi Ron and I need to be more dialed into what individual residents want and need." She offers another case in point. "During Chanukah, I passed by a resident's room and waved, and she called out to me, telling me how sad she was to have reached the seventh night of the holiday without touching a menorah with her own hands," she recalls. "I went home and found an extra one of mine, which I sanitized and gave to a nurse to deliver. I then called the resident on the phone and waited with her until she received my package, at which point we both lit our menorahs and said the blessings. In some ways, I think it meant more to her than if we had gotten together with a whole group of other residents because this was just about her. During our call, she was so moved, she started to cry." Rabbi Goldberg has been teaching residents over the phone, typically focused on topics like Shabbat and the Torah. Rabbi Bender recites the Kaddish memorial prayer and lights Yahrtzeit candles with residents by phone, as well. "Once we accepted our limitations in terms of what we can't do right now, it freed us up to focus on all the ways we can still connect with residents—and there are a lot of them," she says. The upcoming holiday of Tu B'shevat (on January 28), also known as "the New Year of the Trees," offers one example. "Rabbi Goldberg and I are creating a broadcast to go out over the Jewish Home's closed circuit television," she says. "We're going to do a fruit tasting with residents— they're going to get a delivery of seedless figs, mangos, tangerines, and grapes, as well as two different grape juices. So while we're eating the fruit on camera, they'll be able to do the same alongside us from the comfort of their rooms. We're also planting a tree on each campus. When it's safe for them to do so, residents can come out and help water and care for them. Our goal is for each resident to feel seen, heard, and loved." In addition to caring for residents, the rabbis also help minister to Jewish Home staff. "The work ethic at the Jewish Home is amazing. People here do more than just show up; they really give it their all, every day," Rabbi Bender says. "So taking care of the staff is a critical part of serving our whole community." Last fall, in coordination with the Human Resources Department, Rabbi Bender organized a healing service for Jewish Home staff, inviting a minister, a priest, and Muslim and Buddhist religious leaders to participate. "We're a diverse crew, honoring all denominations, so I wanted the service to reflect that," she says. "It gave us an opportunity to talk about healing from an interfaith perspective." More recently, the rabbis have been counseling staff who are fearful of taking the COVID-19 vaccine. "Some people say they don't need it because everything is in God's hands," Rabbi Bender says. "I try to help them see that faith in God and in the vaccine can be mutually compatible." Rabbi Goldberg has also been helping staff and residents fill out vaccine consent and authorization forms. "It's not something you'd typically think of as part of a rabbinic job, but it can be enormously comforting for our residents and staff to have us by their side as they prepare to do something new," he says. "Just being present is so important because we're able to tell them that what they're feeling is legitimate—and that we can face it together." With such an extensive list of things to do, the days are long for Rabbi Bender and Rabbi Goldberg— but they are keeping their heads up. "Our residents at the Jewish Home are just incredible," Rabbi Bender says, "and all of us staff are privileged to be doing our part to support them, especially during these challenging times."

Every year on Rosh Hashanah, Jews around the globe recite these ancient words: Hayom harat olam—Today is the day of the world's creation. It is a prayer for positivity and hope that is particularly poignant during these trying times. As we grapple with a deadly pandemic that continues to wreak havoc on our daily lives, says Rabbi Karen Bender, Skirball director of spiritual life at the Jewish Home, this is precisely the message we need. Rabbi Bender shared her optimism during a unique series of High Holy Days services—welcoming Jewish Home residents, their families and friends, and the general public to take part in virtual celebrations of the New Year and the Day of Atonement. Shared on closed-circuit TVs in residents' rooms and on YouTube, the services enabled people from across Los Angeles and beyond to come together and embrace new possibilities for the year ahead. My goal was to make the services special so that participants would feel connected to one another, Rabbi Bender says. I also wanted to infuse joy. As Jews, we often forget that the High Holy Days are not a sad or somber time. In fact, Yom Kippur is known as 'Shabbat ha-Shabbatot,' the Shabbat of all Shabbats. These are not days for mourning; they're a time for renewal, healing and repair. Rabbi Bender notes that, even during a pandemic—perhaps especially during a pandemic—it is vital to seize every opportunity to uplift and engage people. Her High Holy Days services did just that, combining ritual prayer with soaring music, fun videos and other lighthearted moments. I inserted a clip of Barbra Streisand singing Aveinu Malkeinu, which was gorgeous. During the telling of the story of Jonah, I held up an action figure—narrating the story seriously, but using props to illustrate it, she says. I also included a YouTube video of a gentleman blowing a shofar that has over one million hits. As soon as I found it, I thought to myself, 'Our residents deserve to hear the best shofar blower in the world!' A central priority of Rabbi Bender's was involving Jewish Home residents in the services to help them feel included, inspired—and less isolated. Throughout this pandemic, seniors have really suffered because they're at greater risk from COVID-19, which means we have to take even greater precautions to keep them safe. Our message at the Home is that they might be quarantining in their rooms, but they are still vital members of a community that loves and cherishes them, she says. Rabbi Bender videoed four residents—two from each Jewish Home campus—holding the Torah during the Kol Nidre prayer. On both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur morning, while the services were being aired, she and her colleague, Eisenberg Village Rabbi Ronald Goldberg, went into as many residents' rooms as possible (outfitted in full PPE) so people could see the Torah in person and blow kisses to it if they wished. It was a 3-D surprise while they were watching on their TVs, in 2-D, she says. It was wonderful to do such a meaningful hakafa (circling around with the Torah). It usually lasts about 15 minutes, but I carried the Torah for over an hour. I think it may have been the longest hakafa in history! After the services were over, the reviews quickly poured in. I was spellbound, says Lenore Karish. I'm 98 years old, and these were the best services I've ever heard. I want to give the rabbis an Emmy for their hard work! Sally Wilk was similarly enthusiastic. Rabbi Bender and her cohorts did an incredible job, she says. It meant so much for us to be with them at such a difficult time in our lives. For her part, Rabbi Bender says the feeling was mutual. Putting these services together was such a gratifying experience, she says. It really took a village to make it happen. From the IT department's support, to the dietary department presenting holiday-appropriate food, to the nursing and activities departments preparing residents for the holidays, to the communications department getting the word out to families, everybody worked tremendously hard. It was our way of saying to our residents, who have been through so much, 'We love you, and we're here for you.'

The Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit (AGPU) at the Los Angeles Jewish Home is an innovative facility for short-term geriatric psychiatric care. This state-of-the-art inpatient facility incorporates the Jewish Home’s nationally acclaimed model of compassionate, high-quality care. Comprehensive treatment is provided by specialized staff using an interdisciplinary team approach. The team includes board certified geropsychiatrists, other medical doctors, experienced psychiatric registered nurses (RN), social workers (LCSW), and certified nurse assistants (CNA) with training in mental health. Activity therapists and physical therapists round out the team. AGPU admits individuals with a primary psychiatric diagnosis who are experiencing stressful mental or emotional challenges that require intensive, short-term care. The average length of stay is 10-14 days. Both voluntary and involuntary admissions are accepted. An involuntary admission occurs when a patient is gravely disabled or a danger to themselves or others. The California Mental Health Law (LPS Act) facilitates short-term admission for a 72-hour period of observation, evaluation, and treatment. Behavioral health diagnoses treated at AGPU include depression, anxiety/panic disorders, bipolar disorder, delirium, Alzheimer’s dementia with behavioral disturbance, schizophrenia/psychotic disorders, impulse control disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. While the most common admitting diagnosis at AGPU is dementia, depression is the most common mental health issue among seniors overall. When patients are admitted to the Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit, they are evaluated using psychosocial and medical assessments. A plan of treatment is determined and implemented by the interdisciplinary team, which meets weekly to review each patient’s progress and adjust treatment as necessary. At AGPU, the focus is on reducing symptoms and treating the underlying condition in a calm, nurturing environment. Each person has a private room, which includes a bathroom. Individual and group therapies are offered and patients are encouraged to participate. Spiritual counseling is available and kosher meals are provided. The Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit is located in the Joyce Eisenberg-Keefer Medical Center on the Home’s Grancell Village campus. It is Medicare certified and accredited by The Joint Commission. For more information regarding the Auerbach Geriatric Psychiatry Unit, please call 818-758-5041 or visit their web page by clicking here.

Jeanette Crane is a fighter. At age 100, she beat the odds and fully recovered from COVID-19. "She's tough," says her son Jeff. "Day-by-day she just keeps getting better!" Jeff Crane attributes Jeanette's recovery to her overall resilience and also to the doctors and nurses who care for her at the Jewish Home's Max Factor Family Foundation Nursing Building on the Eisenberg Village campus. "They all love my mother," Jeff says. "They were with her throughout her recovery." He specifically credits Dr. Hangnga Vu with getting his mother to "slowly come back" from the virus. "Dr. Vu is my mother's best friend," Jeff says. "That's true!" Dr. Vu says with a laugh. "But all of the nurses are her friends too. Everyone loves her." Vu, who is a geriatrician, says that she got to know Jeanette when Jeanette was living in residential care at Eisenberg Village. Jeanette moved to the Jewish Home at age 93, when son Jeff says his mother began to feel unsafe living on her own. "We became friends," Vu recalls. "We used to talk about her childhood. She always told me how much she loved life." "One day I learned that Jeanette had generalized weakness and lost her sense of taste," says Vu. "Then she tested positive for COVID-19." Jeanette was moved into a room where she was isolated from the other residents. "I wanted to cry when I saw her," Dr. Vu recalls. "We thought we were going to lose her. She wasn't eating. At age 100, to get COVID, can be a death sentence." But Dr. Vu and the nursing staff didn't give up on Jeanette. "My gut told me that she wanted to live," says Dr. Vu. Through their layers of PPE, Dr. Vu and her team sang to Jeanette to get her to eat and drink. "She recognized us despite all of the PPE! I visited her every day," Dr. Vu says. "We took turns offering her food and drink, even throughout the night. When we got her to take a teaspoon of food or a drop of juice, it felt like a triumph." Slowly, Dr. Vu and the nurses began to notice that Jeanette's eyes were open wider. Then, one day Jeanette had the strength to blow a kiss to Dr. Vu. "She beat the odds," says Dr. Vu. "After a month in isolation, we graduated her so she could receive physical and occupational therapy." "She was almost gone," says son Jeff. "But now she's able to call us via Zoom and talk to us." In fact, on a recent Zoom call with both of her sons and their spouses, Jeanette was asked if she had any good Jewish Home gossip to share. "There's always something!" she replied with a sly smile. "One day at a time, she's getting better," Jeff says. "We're so grateful she's doing so well." "Jeanette was our first victory!" says Dr. Vu. "We were so happy that Jeanette recovered, that we threw her a party!" To ensure that everyone on the team is recognized for helping Jeanette Crane recover, Dr. Vu requested that their names be listed: Luisa Lacson, Olivia Matusalem, Editha Andrada, Daisy Estrada, Johanna Duncan, Elsy Rivas, Lupita Cedillo, Marife Bautista, Ingrid Lemus, Kusum Kapoor, Sydelle Aquino.

The holiday of Purim began at sundown on February 25th—but at the Los Angeles Jewish Home, the festivities had already started. "Purim comes midway through the Jewish month of Adar, and our tradition says it's a month for increasing joy," says Rabbi Karen Bender, Skirball director of spiritual life at the Jewish Home. "It's a mitzvah [good deed] to bring levity and happiness for the entire month, so I make it my goal to bring laughter to our residents throughout." Purim tells the story of Mordechai and Esther, who work together in ancient Persia to stop the evil Haman [a central advisor to the king] from murdering all of the country's Jews. Their successful campaign results in the Jews being saved—and in Haman dying on the very gallows he has constructed for their killing. "To celebrate the foiling of Haman's plan, we dress up in costume and engage in merrymaking," Rabbi Bender says. "Of course, with COVID, we've had to improvise our celebrations at the Jewish Home—like when I walked around the halls wearing an N-95 mask with a Groucho nose and glasses on top. It looked pretty silly; residents kept asking me if I needed a second mask for the second nose!" Getting Jewish Home residents ready for the holiday did more than just spread happiness, Rabbi Bender says. "We connected our seniors with the calendar by reminding them of upcoming festivities. It gives them a sense of rootedness, and it allows them to have something to look forward to." At the Jewish Home, Purim itself—which coincides with Adar's full moon—brought a flurry of activity. "On the eve of Purim, thanks to our amazing dietary staff, residents were treated to a delicious Persian meal, in honor of where the story takes place, along with a hamantaschen [a special cookie in the shape of Haman's hat] for dessert," Rabbi Bender says. "The next morning, we distributed dress-up masks and noisemakers to residents, which they used during our holiday broadcast on the Jewish Home's in-house TV station." The broadcast featured videos and songs, as well as a reading of the entire Megillah [the Book of Esther, which relates the Purim tale]. "Residents were able to participate and follow along, knowing our entire community is doing it together," Rabbi Bender says. "What's also great is that you don't have to be Jewish to join in. Who doesn't love an uplifting story told through food and song?" The fun continued throughout the day with programs like a Shushan-themed Nosh & Nibble—a biweekly event where staff dress up in costumes and liven up the hallways of the Jewish Home with snacks and music. In keeping with strict safety protocols mandated by the pandemic, residents stayed in their rooms to maintain social distance. Staff also planned a hallway serenade and a program called "Cookie, Kibbitz, and Joke-Telling," which invited residents to join a conference call to share their favorite jokes with friends. At Eisenberg Village, campus Rabbi Ronald Goldberg helped spread the cheer by walking around dressed as a baseball player. Behind all the frivolity, Rabbi Bender sees a deeper, more significant meaning. "With the arrival of the vaccine, there's a real sense of relief at the Jewish Home right now, and the Purim story also ends with relief: Haman is gone, and the Jews will be okay," she says. "Now that cases of coronavirus are dropping, and with 99 percent of our residents vaccinated, it almost feels like the ‘Haman' from this year is gone." Although holding the virus at bay still requires Jewish Home residents and staff to be extremely cautious, Rabbi Bender says Purim brings welcome winds of change. "We've all had so much sorrow," she notes. "This year, Adar came just in time."

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious or life-limiting illness. It is both a philosophy of care and a process for delivering care, and focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of illness and improved quality of life for the patient and their family. The primary objective is comfort for the individual or patient while they receive treatment consistent with their personal goals of care. Goals for care is the structure to which an individual’s palliative care plan is devised and thus very important. What exactly is palliative care, or palliative medicine? How did it come to be? Who can benefit from it? “Palliative” means to relieve or lessen without curing. Palliative medicine is often thought of as only a part of hospice care provided to someone who has been diagnosed with a fatal disease or illness. While palliative medicine is a crucial component and indeed grew out of hospice care, palliative medicine is a much broader specialty and can treat patients in various trajectories of their illness including alongside curative treatment. In 2006, palliative medicine became a board certified sub-specialty of internal medicine with specialized fellowships for physicians who are interested in the field. Today, palliative care may be provided in a hospital, cancer center, nursing home, outpatient clinic, hospices, or in the patient’s home. Focusing on the symptoms of both the disease and the treatment, palliative care helps with a wide range of issues. These may include pain, depression, anxiety, fatigue, shortness of breath, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite, and difficulty sleeping. It also helps an individual to gain the strength to carry on with daily life and can help improve the ability to tolerate medical treatments. Palliative care also gives an individual more control over their care by improving their understanding of treatment options. Palliative care is provided by a multi-disciplinary team made up of physicians, nurses, social workers, and other healthcare professionals who work together with an individual’s primary care physician and specialists. Treatment plans can include medication, massage therapy or relaxation techniques. Since palliative care treats the entire person, team members address social, psychological, emotional or spiritual needs the individual may have. Anyone who is experiencing uncontrolled symptoms related to surgery or illness may benefit from palliative care. These illnesses include multiple sclerosis, cancer, congestive heart failure, kidney illness, stroke, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), emphysema or COPD, and Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. If there is a sudden change in health due to heart attack, stroke, hip or spinal fracture, or a subtle onset, such as weight loss, pain, recurring infections, fatigue, avoiding food or medications, a palliative medicine consultation should be considered. The Jewish Home Center for Palliative Medicine strives to provide comfort care to benefit the individual and support for their family. The team is led by Medical Director David Wallenstein, MD, who is board certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and is the lead member of the Palliative Medicine Service at UCLA Medical Center. Dr. Wallenstein is also an Associate Professor at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Anne Moore, MSN, FNP-c, serves as the Center’s palliative service program manager. She is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner, ELNEC trained and has over 30 years of experience in geriatrics and palliative medicine. Palliative medicine services are covered under Medicare Part B, Medi-Cal, and most private insurance companies. For more information about palliative medicine and the Jewish Home Center for Palliative Medicine, please call (818) 578-7427 or visit us online at www.skirballhospice.org/services/palliative-care.

Dear Family and Friends, Following the recent developments of COVID‐19 in the U.S., particularly in senior living communities, we are reaching out to inform you of how we are handling this situation at the Los Angeles Jewish Home. As of today, there are no known or suspected cases of COVID‐19 among residents, patients, staff, volunteers or visitors in any of our programs. However, we are taking extra precautions to keep each of our communities as safe as possible during such a critical time. Our policy for visitation is in compliance with guidance from the Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Their advice to limit the transmission of COVID‐19 includes the following measures which have been put into place effective immediately: At the following locations: Grancell Campus Village; Eisenberg Campus Village; Fountainview at Eisenberg Village; and Fountainview at Gonda Healthy Aging Westside Campus, we are limiting all visitors to our communities until further notice. We ask that all family and friends refrain from visiting until further notice. The only exception is if a resident is “actively dying” when known by us. An exception may be made if there is any change or significant decline in your loved ones condition. If you require special access for these reasons or others, please contact us.All Jewish Home staff, vendors, and visitors (determined to be essential) are being actively screened daily as they enter the campus. We follow strict procedures to limit possible exposure of this virus to those we serve. We understand it is incredibly important to stay in contact with your loved ones and staff and we are making every effort to minimize the impact of these guidelines. We encourage you to use standard communication methods to maintain contact with your loved ones for the time being. You may choose to contact them via telephone, email, text messaging or Skype. As always, the well-being of our residents, staff and visitors is our top priority and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time. Evaluations from prior viral epidemics that spread like COVID‐19 found that actions taken early in outbreaks can significantly reduce the spread of the virus ‐ waiting until the virus is spreading in the community is often too late. These measures will stay in place until we are advised or feel comfortable to lift them. We are grateful for your understanding and cooperation during this challenging time. As things evolve regarding the COVID‐19 situation, we will communicate proactively and transparently as soon as warranted. Thank you, Molly ForrestCEO and President Noah Marco, M.D.Chief Medical Officer

This year, Passover, which celebrates the liberation of the Jewish people from the cruel reign of Pharaoh, begins on the evening of Friday, March 30th. Over the first two nights of the holiday, families and friends will gather together to experience a Seder, a re-telling of the Passover story followed by a festive meal. "The Passover Seder creates an atmosphere which encourages us to put ourselves in the place of those who are oppressed, and then celebrate the Exodus to freedom," says Rabbi Karen Bender, the Jewish Home's Jack H. Skirball Director of Spiritual Life. "Many among us have our own personal Egypt, which in Hebrew means a ‘narrow space.' It could be a medical issue, personal loss, destructive relationship, drug or alcohol addiction…there are hundreds of situations which can afflict us spiritually, physically and emotionally. At Passover, we focus upon our collective story, preparing to take action to liberate others and to free ourselves from bondage." On the first night of Passover in 1912, five homeless men sought freedom to worship with their brethren, safe from the ethnic taunts they had to endure at the "poor house" where they lived. They were taken in by caring Angelenos who read the Haggadah with them and served them dinner. The occasion marked a turning point in the life of the Los Angeles Jewish community, and those five seniors were the first residents of what would become the Los Angeles Jewish Home. The Community Seder at the Home has been a continuous tradition since that historic night 106 years ago. Please take this opportunity to join residents and staff of the Jewish Home for a truly heartwarming experience as we celebrate Passover and the freedom it represents. This year's Community Seder begins at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 31st at the Jewish Home's Eisenberg Village campus. Tickets are $36 per adult and $18 per child under 12. Advance purchase of tickets is required by March 26th. Please call (818) 774-3386 or email [email protected] to reserve your place. On behalf of the Los Angeles Jewish Home, have a sweet Passover! Chag Sameach!

As any gardener knows, seeds can take root and thrive even under the most challenging conditions. Although the coronavirus pandemic has made socializing extremely difficult for Jewish Home residents, many have nurtured robust new friendships thanks to an innovative partnership between the Home and Builders of Jewish Education (BJE), an L.A.-based nonprofit that facilitates Jewish educational experiences from early childhood through high school. Earlier this summer, BJE Experiential Educator Michal Kress reached out to the Home about a potential month-long partnership focused on connecting Jewish teens and Jewish Home residents. The idea was simple: teens and seniors, both stuck at home with few outlets for socializing, could meet over Zoom and get to know one another. The result would be strong intergenerational relationships that fostered Jewish continuity and enriched all the participants' lives. Stacy Orbach, director of volunteer services at the Jewish Home, was enthusiastic about the program from the get-go. "Our residents have been lonely during the pandemic, and this presented such a wonderful opportunity for them to bond with people in the community," she says. "It also enabled residents to share their knowledge with teens – to pass on the wisdom they've accumulated throughout the course of their lives." The program paired eight Jewish Home residents with 15 teens from high schools across the city including De Toledo, Milken, Shalhevet, Cleveland and Notre Dame. During weekly Zoom chats lasting between 30 minutes and an hour, the residents and teens learned about each other, swapped stories, and even studied together. "One of the residents who participated was a Spanish teacher, and he started teaching the kids Spanish on his Zoom!" Orbach says. In addition to the Zoom calls, the teens also attended workshops to talk about what their time with the residents had taught them. The goal, says BJE's Kress, was to focus on the Jewish value of "lizkor" (to remember). "We asked the teens to think about what the Jewish Home residents want their legacy to be for future generations." At the end of the program, the teens wrote reflections about their experiences. "Over the past few weeks, I have learned not to take any moment for granted and to be thankful for the opportunities that come my way," wrote one student. "My partner showed me that, even through this very difficult time for all of us, we must be grateful because we are fortunate to be healthy and safe." Residents who participated used iPads donated by Jewish Home supporters, who purchased the equipment precisely so seniors at the Home could stay linked to the outside world. "The past months have been hard on our residents, and things like having ‘face-to-face' conversations can make such a difference," says Corey Slavin, the Home's vice president of community engagement. "With the iPads, our donors are helping residents stay happy, healthy, and optimistic about the future." Although summer has come to a close and the new academic year has begun, a number of the students plan to stay in touch with their new Jewish Home friends even as they balance schoolwork and other activities. "We had to say our official ‘goodbyes' before the kids returned to their classes," Orbach says, "but I've heard from a number of participants in the program that these friendships were built to last!" For more information about exploring partnerships like this with the Jewish Home, contact Stacy Orbach at (818) 774-3219 or [email protected].

What better way to bring joy and comfort to a senior's life than to write them a Note of Love? While recent months have required the Jewish Home to curtail visitation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, every effort is being made to keep the residents not only safe and healthy, but also engaged, active and entertained. One great way we can all take part is by sending Notes of Love to the residents. Notes of Love is a creative and simple way to say you care while making a tremendous difference in the day of a Senior. Whether or not you have a loved one or a friend at the Jewish Home, or have been looking to make a difference during this difficult time, sending a Note of Love is a way to say you care. There is no minimum age requirement to send in your "note" and you don't need to be an artist—adults and kids alike are encouraged to write a note, draw/paint a picture, or make a photo collage. Your Notes of Love will demonstrate to our Seniors that they are being thought of with love during this time. Once your "note" is received by the Jewish Home, we will distribute and post them throughout our campuses providing our residents with a virtual hug from the community. There is no need to put a specific date or name on the communication as we will share them broadly at our various sites over the coming weeks. To participate, simply send your creation to Stacy Orbach C/O Los Angeles Jewish Home, 7150 Tampa Avenue, Reseda, CA 91335 or send via email to [email protected]. And remember to share your act of kindness by tagging us @lajewishhome.