{"id":18185,"date":"2016-04-08T00:20:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T07:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=18185"},"modified":"2016-04-06T21:25:14","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T04:25:14","slug":"bringing-our-seniors-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/04\/08\/bringing-our-seniors-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing our seniors home"},"content":{"rendered":"

The author and her youngest son, Joel, enjoy Purim at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital. Her eldest son, Benjamin, was the photographer. (all photos by Benjamin Harrington)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When the Hebrew Men\u2019s Cultural Club met in 1945 to talk about starting a home for the elderly, their project began with 14 men, with $5 each. The first home opened in 1946 with 13 residents. Now home to more than 200 seniors, the Dr. Irving and Phyliss Snider Campus for Jewish Seniors includes the Louis Brier Home and Hospital, and the Weinberg Residence. With many new programs and services, the campus has formed powerful bonds with the surrounding community.<\/p>\n

This spring sees the launch of a new fundraising campaign by the Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation, which provides financial support to the campus. To interview members of the foundation board and staff about the campaign, I made my visit to the Louis Brier Home with both of my children during their spring break. Benjamin, 8, and Joel, 5, are used to volunteering in a seniors home, and are quite comfortable coming to work with me. Without grandparents in the area, it was a blessing for us all to be able to visit the home.<\/p>\n

\"photo
Music therapist Megan Goudreau provides holiday entertainment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before even shaking any hands, the first thing we noticed was the art. There is art everywhere, and not mass-produced art but carefully curated, vibrant images, full of life, movement and different textures. According to foundation president Harry Lipetz, this is thanks to the organization\u2019s art committee. Every piece is a donation.<\/p>\n

We met first with Dr. Judith Globerman, interim chief executive officer of the Snider Campus. Asked to point to some of the home\u2019s distinguishing features, she described an atmosphere that is \u201cmore personal than institutional. Our staff feels it\u2019s their home, too, and they tend to stay with us a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Residents also have a sense of agency, so, for example, if the seniors want to suggest changes \u2013 even to the art hanging outside their room \u2013 these changes can be made quickly.<\/p>\n

Describing her place of work, Globerman spoke about energy, love and understanding. \u201cThe energy is warm, celebrating life; people\u2019s faces here light up, there\u2019s always life going on around you, even if you\u2019re not moving yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lipetz joined the Brier Foundation for this very reason. \u201cIt is a happy place,\u201d he said. \u201cI saw the level of caring, from custodial staff right through to top management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernard Pinsky, chair of the current fundraising campaign, can attest to the heimish<\/em> (comfortable, homey) quality of the Louis Brier Home.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth of my parents lived there, as well as my uncles and aunt,\u201d he said. \u201cFor a period of 21 years, at least one of my relatives lived there. My mom was at Louis Brier for 13 years. I was there a lot and saw for myself the warmth, the quality of the care. The program director goes into residents\u2019 rooms personally to check in, to encourage seniors to join activities. It makes such a difference to be invited personally, to keep you connected to community life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Louis Brier is the only Jewish home for seniors in the province. As such, it carries a certain responsibility, said Pinsky. He speaks of the community\u2019s pride in being able to offer a life with dignity in a warm and stimulating environment to our seniors.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonors\u2019 contributions make it a Jewish home,\u201d he said. \u201cThey allow us to offer the special things that help people to live more fulfilling lives: kosher food, a weekly minyan, festivities for every Jewish holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, nothing prepared us for our visit at Purim, where we were greeted by staff wearing rainbow tutus, feather boas, glittery glasses and spotted mouse ears. As we stood in the entrance hall among the balloons, an elderly resident wearing googly-eye glasses strolled through with some friends waving groggers. Needless to say, this was a little different from my sons\u2019 previous experiences of seniors facilities.<\/p>\n

\"photo
Residents get into the spirit of Purim.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I spoke with Pinsky, he talked at length about the Louis Brier\u2019s music therapy program. Offered by a team of professionals, it is based on research that shows how music calls on a different part of the brain than speech. Pinsky observed, \u201cPeople can sing songs they knew 60 or 70 years ago, when they can\u2019t even speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cWe have the best seniors music therapy in the province. There\u2019s music every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The March calendar includes weekly Shabbat music, ukelele sing-alongs and jam sessions, as well as a concert of Russian music and a piano recital. We caught a flavor of this during our visit when music therapist Megan Goudreau played her guitar and sang one of the residents\u2019 favorite songs, \u201cKol Ha\u2019olam Kulo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo
Even a friendly dog joins in the festivities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The home was a hive of activity when we visited, with youngsters volunteering, residents \u2013 and a couple of friendly dogs! \u2013 milling about. Costumed kids came by with their families and sang on both floors of the home. Nothing beats the sight of a mini race-car driver delivering a \u201cChag Purim!\u201d message with a huge smile to delighted seniors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three things that concern residents the most \u2013 beyond housing \u2013 are food, music and companionship. The foundation provides that. It\u2019s beyond public funding,\u201d said Lipetz.<\/p>\n

The seniors \u201care not coming here to be housed,\u201d he added, \u201cthey are coming here to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinsky agreed. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing what we\u2019re able to do. Loneliness is one of the biggest problems for seniors, so seniors with families who live out of town can be visited by special companions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Louis Brier residents have access to their own rabbi, Hillel Brody, spiritual leader of the Chava and Abrasha Wosk Synagogue. Located within the home, the synagogue is funded solely by the foundation. In other words, like the music, the companions and occupational therapy, it is a gift from the community.<\/p>\n

The new campaign is a quest to raise $1 million. Pledges are for two years, so a $5,000 donation would be given in two portions of $2,500 each.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese funds are essential to maintain continuity in the programming,\u201d said Pinsky. \u201cThe home needs to budget 12 months ahead, for the next fiscal year. If we fall into deficit, these life-improving programs need to be cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Lipetz, \u201cFor many residents, this is their last home. We want to make it their best home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shula Klinger<\/strong> is an author, illustrator and journalist living in North Vancouver.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The author and her youngest son, Joel, enjoy Purim at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital. Her eldest son, Benjamin, was the photographer. (all photos by Benjamin Harrington) When the Hebrew Men\u2019s Cultural Club met in 1945 to talk about starting a home for the elderly, their project began with 14 men, with $5 each. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3128,5620,5619,5617,3036,5618,982,3714,2430],"class_list":["post-18185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-fundraising","tag-globerman","tag-lipetz","tag-louis-brier","tag-music","tag-pinsky","tag-purim","tag-seniors","tag-weinberg-residence"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}