Skip to content

Where different views on Israel and Judaism are welcome.

  • Home
  • Subscribe / donate
  • Events calendar
  • News
    • Local
    • National
    • Israel
    • World
    • עניין בחדשות
      A roundup of news in Canada and further afield, in Hebrew.
  • Opinion
    • From the JI
    • Op-Ed
  • Arts & Culture
    • Performing Arts
    • Music
    • Books
    • Visual Arts
    • TV & Film
  • Life
    • Celebrating the Holidays
    • Travel
    • The Daily Snooze
      Cartoons by Jacob Samuel
    • Mystery Photo
      Help the JI and JMABC fill in the gaps in our archives.
  • Community Links
    • Organizations, Etc.
    • Other News Sources & Blogs
    • Business Directory
  • FAQ
  • JI Chai Celebration
  • [email protected]! video
Weinberg Residence Spring 2023 box ad

Search

Archives

"The Basketball Game" is a graphic novel adaptation of the award-winning National Film Board of Canada animated short of the same name – intended for audiences aged 12 years and up. It's a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.

Recent Posts

  • Not your parents’ Netanyahu
  • Finding community in art
  • Standing by our family
  • Local heads new office
  • Hillel BC marks its 75th
  • Give to increase housing
  • Alegría a gratifying movie
  • Depictions of turbulent times
  • Moscovitch play about life in Canada pre-legalized birth control
  • Helping people stay at home
  • B’nai mitzvah tutoring
  • Avoid being scammed
  • Canadians Jews doing well
  • Join rally to support Israeli democracy
  • Rallying in Rishon Le-Tzion
  • Opposition to policies
  • Condemn Smotrich’s comments
  • Making room for compassion
  • Fashion with a long history
  • מספר הישראלים המעוניינים לעזוב למדינה אחרת אלה הולך וגדל
  • Israelis not that divided
  • Artfully exploring heritage
  • Calling out antisemitism
  • Richmond adopts IHRA
  • Jewish film fest coming soon
  • Vernon’s Jewish community
  • Erez’s new CD shows mastery
  • Building skills and confidence
  • Book Fest epilogue event
  • Series tries to inspire climate action
  • Concerns over inflation
  • Helping feed community
  • A unique bat mitzvah
  • Living amid rocket attacks
  • Antisemitism fight continues
  • Different ways to celebrate

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @JewishIndie
photo - Recent graduates of Jewish Seniors Alliance’s peer support counseling training program

New peer counselor grads at JSA

0 Flares 0 Flares ×

Recent graduates of Jewish Seniors Alliance’s peer support counseling training program. (photo from JSA)

On the evening of March 6, Jewish Seniors Alliance honoured the recent graduates of its peer support counseling training program with the presentation of certificates and a dinner.

Fourteen peer counselors completed the program, which consisted of 14 weeks of training for four hours on Sundays. The certificates were presented by Ken Levitt, president of JSA, and the program’s trainer, Grace Hann, and social worker, Charles Leibovitch. Hann and Leibovitch also serve as support workers for the counselors. They match them with clients and stay involved with their progress and offer help when needed.

Currently, JSA has 100 trained counselors volunteering to help isolated and/or homebound seniors. The counselors are usually seniors themselves and many have impressive education and experience in various fields.

The graduation evening began with Hann and Leibovitch welcoming everyone. This was followed by comments from Levitt and Serge Haber, founder and president emeritus. Three of the graduates – Nancy Bell, Lorraine Drossis and Tessie (Fatima) Rebello – spoke about how much they had learned during the classes. They all mentioned that learning empathy and active listening had contributed to their personal growth. They thanked Hann for her getting them involved and participating in the program and with one another.

Ruby Boychuk, senior peer counselor, offered remarks about seniors helping seniors and Nancy Bennett, another volunteer, was acknowledged for her contributions to the program.

Speakers from the community thanked JSA for the extensive help that its peer counseling offers. Dr. Beverly Pitman of United Way spoke of the significance of the program to the community and emphasized the importance of lobbying the provincial government for more funding. Shelley Rivkin of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver talked about the positive effects of the program and how it corresponded to the Jewish values of tikkun olam (repair of the world). Dorothy Leclair of Burnaby Seniors Outreach continued on the theme of the value of helping seniors and spoke about the Burnaby program.

The final speaker was Kathryn Patterson of Vancouver Coastal Health. She asked the audience to close their eyes and hold hands, then to give one another a hug. It had the effect of relaxing everyone and making them feel as if they knew one another better.

The ceremony and speakers were followed by a buffet dinner, and music and song by David and Julie Ivaz. Many of the graduates got up and danced. As they were leaving, some of the participants remarked that they had had a wonderful evening. 

Shanie Levin is an executive board member of Jewish Seniors Alliance and on the editorial board of Senior Line magazine.

Print/Email
0 Flares Twitter 0 Facebook 0 Google+ 0 0 Flares ×
Format ImagePosted on April 12, 2019April 10, 2019Author Shanie LevinCategories LocalTags graduations, JSA, peer counseling, seniors

Post navigation

Previous Previous post: Reflecting on my Jewish hero
Next Next post: Volunteering’s benefits
Proudly powered by WordPress