Yaffa Housing

Segal valued Yaffa’s work

Joseph Segal plants a fruit tree with Yaffa Housing president Avie Estrin and Tracy Penner, back in 2010. Says Estrin: “Like a tree bears fruit only when properly nurtured and cared for, so too must we take responsibility and care for the most fragile and vulnerable amongst us, if we are to be healthy and fruitful as a community.” (photo by Susan J. Katz)

Until the final hours of his life, Joseph Segal was continuing a life of philanthropic engagement. On the weekend before his passing, the 97-year-old Segal had a meeting with Avie Estrin, president of Vancouver Yaffa Housing Society, of which the Segal family are leading supporters.

According to Estrin, in that meeting, Segal “reiterated his commitment towards helping bring Yaffa House the profile and community support he understood was so necessary and deserving.”

Vancouver Yaffa Housing Society group homes provide food, shelter, programming and on-premises support, within the context of Jewish traditions, culture and practice, for up to 18 Jewish adults struggling with mental illness. Segal’s backing of the organization goes back to the beginning.

“Joe was always a great supporter of Yaffa, right from the early days when my father Aaron Estrin (z’l) met with him in 1999 to discuss a capital campaign to raise the money to build the very first Yaffa House,” Avie Estrin said. “Even after his death, Joseph Segal was true to his word. Rabbi [Andrew] Rosenblatt’s eulogy reminded us of this in Joe Segal’s final wishes: that the Jewish community recognize Yaffa Housing Society’s work, and donate to our cause. While we have lost a great friend and supporter in the passing of Joseph Segal, he will always be remembered as the catalyst for our first house, and a champion for our mission.”

Segal’s support helped Yaffa through its entire history, not least in recent years, when the pandemic added hurdles to the delivery of service.

“Because kosher meal provision is so central to maintaining the Jewish aspect of our home, it was a terrible blow to our operations when we suddenly lost our arrangement with the Louis Brier Home and Hospital in January 2022, after 20 years’ cooperation,” Estrin said. “Fortunately, we were able to cobble together a new arrangement whereby JFS’s [Jewish Family Services’] Kitchen provides two wonderful meals per week. Café 41, along with L’Chaim Adult Day Centre, have been generously preparing subsidized meals the rest of the week. Our small band of volunteers pick up the meals from these different meal providers and bring them to Yaffa House every day. It goes without saying, we can always use more volunteers.”

The organization is also seeking new board members, including a treasurer.

Yaffa Housing has a permanent contract with Vancouver Coastal Health to provide funding to staff the facility part-time, said Estrin. “But we still depend on donations and community support to supplement this. Frankly, it’s not enough. Jewish Federation has been indirectly contributing to Yaffa House’s staffing the last several years but it’s very difficult to plan into the future without knowing for sure those funds are going to be there the year after next.”

Yaffa has no paid staff other than a 20-hour-a-week in-house mental health support worker.

“We have no budget for an operations manager, executive director, or weekend or evening staff,” said Estrin. “In the end, it comes down to our volunteer board to pick up the slack, but it’s wearing. As Yaffa has grown and matured over the last two decades, so too has our board. In fact, one of Yaffa’s original founding board members still actively serves on our executive – my mother, Tzvia Estrin, I am very proud to say. But the old guard can’t forever sustain Yaffa’s daily operations and a paid management is long overdue.”

Estrin said the organization is vital for the community.

“Yaffa is unique in so far as it represents the only dedicated Jewish mental health group home in Canada, west of Toronto. Over the course of more than 20 years developing our in-house supportive model, we’ve attracted interest and attention across the country as well as internationally…. Despite this, Jews in Vancouver remain largely unaware of the essential service the Vancouver Yaffa Housing Society provides our community. Despite the more recent public awareness, mental health has historically taken a backseat relative to other more mainstream community health concerns. The sad reality is that unless mental illness has somehow touched you personally, it’s simply not on people’s radar. This speaks to why, after so many years, Yaffa House remains virtually the only option for Jewish families struggling with this issue.”

To donate, volunteer or learn more, visit yaffahouse.org.

Wonderful night of honours

Jewish Seniors Alliance’s first silent auction, which offered a selection of close to 30 items, from gift certificates from local businesses to paintings and prints. (photo by Susan Curtis)

How do you say thank you to individuals who strive to better the lives of people in the community? Jewish Seniors Alliance’s answer is an appreciation dinner, part of its annual general meeting, which comprises a tribute to three conscientious community personalities. As well, at this year’s AGM on Sept. 19, thanks were given to outgoing JSA president Ken Levitt and new co-presidents Gyda Chud and Larry Shapiro were welcomed.

Levitt’s leadership was praised by Shapiro, who noted the outgoing president’s “ever-present love of life, which inspires everyone and brings out the best in each person whom he meets.”

Chud read a poem, “Captain Ken,” written by JSA honourary life member Binny Goldman. It noted: “You listened with your ear and understood with your heart. Your experience, knowledge and judgment always saw us through successfully – you are a leader, a man above most men.”

Anne Kang, MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake, spoke about the ongoing efforts of the B.C. government on seniors’ issues, including improved long-term care assistance and training of care workers, and the overseeing of buildings and streets, to ensure that they are accessible and safer for seniors.

Emcee Jack Altman began the honouree ceremony with a tribute to Tzvia Estrin, who was nominated by Yaffa House.

Estrin’s son Avie, who is the current president of Yaffa House, recounted the efforts of his mother and late father Aaron, who worked for 10 years to establish Yaffa House. It opened in 2001 as Western Canada’s first home dedicated to housing community members with mental illness in the context of a Jewish living environment, including kosher food. He said his mother continues full-throttle, being at Yaffa House every day, usually at 6:30 a.m. And he emphasized that “nobody could have achieved what Tzvia has attained and continues to do for the most vulnerable segment of our own community.”

Yaffa House presently oversees four homes across the city, including a newly opened women’s facility. Its mandate is to provide permanent non-transitional housing and has in-house support. It takes people off the streets and tries to keep them off the streets.

Tzvia Estrin thanked everyone and read the poem “Don’t Turn Your Back,” which emphasizes the importance of taking the time to compassionately listen to others’ needs and to help them as lovingly as one is able.

Cindy Charkow, a director of Yaffa House, noted the outstanding, much-needed service that the facility provides and stressed that, “without Tzvia, there wouldn’t be a Yaffa House.”

The second honouree, Jack Wizenberg, was recognized for his work with Tikva Housing Society, which helps lower-income Jewish people find affordable housing. He said, “Seeing Jewish individuals and families who are alone, struggling and having to rely on social insurance and the food bank to survive, touches my heart.”

Wizenberg served on the Tikva board for six years, bringing to the position his 41 years’ experience in property management, as well as a lifelong involvement in a range of Jewish organizations and causes in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

He said he felt “extremely moved” when reading a Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver housing needs study indicating that, in 2015, 16% of the Jewish population in Greater Vancouver were living below the poverty line “and, in all likelihood, those numbers have increased over the last four years.” He emphasized that things beyond their control prevented these people from working and, in a blink of an eye, they found themselves in need and relying on social assistance to survive.

Wizenberg began his service at Tikva helping with maintenance and tenant issues at Dany Guincher House. Since the first 11-suite apartment building in Marpole was purchased in 2008, he said, Tikva has made available 18 units of mixed single and family housing in the Diamond Residences in Richmond and another 32 family townhouses will be available in the Ben and Esther Dayson Residences in Vancouver’s Fraserview area. Last year, 100 individuals were helped by the Esther Dayson Subsidy Program, which provided those in need with adequate funds to allow them to continue living in their current accommodations.

Tikva president Shelley Karrel said Wizenberg seemed to have a passion for property management and often joined the property management and/or fire-safety group when doing walkthroughs to evaluate building conditions and the need for repairs. His positions have included treasurer, building committee head and acquisitions committee head.

“He was always seeking to ensure the best for Tikva, the buildings and its tenants,” said Karrel. “He is a person who respects others, is very organized and is a great team player. We are blessed to have Jack as a board member and friend.”

Evening honouree , whose tenor singing voice has brought joy to countless individuals and organizations throughout the Jewish and general communities for more than six decades, was introduced by JSA president emeritus Serge Haber.

“We’re honouring people who love community,” said Haber. “Maurice has helped seniors so very much by enthusiastically and nobly giving his special talents, his outstanding voice to the community, and particularly to seniors. Your father, George Moses, a celebrated rabbi/cantor in Bangalore, India, would have been most proud of you. Without question, you are most deserving of this honour.”

Moses spoke of the pleasure he receives by entertaining, and especially in doing so for senior citizens, emphasizing that “our precious seniors should not be ignored and they should be entertained and respected for their countless contributions to life in the community. The only way that I can thank seniors for all they have done is through my singing. It gives me great satisfaction to see their smiling faces, their faces lighting up when I see them react to a song familiar to them.”

Moses shared some of his many religious/concert participations for seniors, including singing for 17 years at Shabbat services at Louis Brier Home and Hospital. He has sung with the Jewish Community Centre Choir, the Shiron Singers, with Elizabeth Wolak and Muriel Morris, and the Rinat Ensemble, all of which performed for seniors. He also has produced a Vision TV show, Let’s Sing Again, which featured a popular tunes sing-along aiming to revive seniors’ nostalgic memories.

He has sung and danced for the past 10 years with the seniors’ concert group Showtime, which is produced by Beryl Israel, as well as with the Vancouver Jewish Men’s Choir (VJMC), the Kol Simcha Choir (composed of members from all synagogues), at Temple Sholom services with Cantor Emeritus Arthur Guttman, at Beth Hamidrash, at Beth Tikvah Synagogue and at Chabad Richmond with Cantor Steve Levin. He is an active participant with the Choir of the Performing Arts Lodge (PAL), which stages a variety of special shows for community seniors.

Moses said his enduring love for seniors was developed by his interactions with the late Beth Israel Cantor Murray Nixon, who constantly stressed the importance of treating older people with respect.

“I am so pleased,” said Moses, “that this evening is taking place at Beth Israel, truly ‘my home away from home,’ where I served in the synagogue’s choir for 66 years under seven different cantors and six different rabbis – and with Pucky Pelman, my mentor for 45 years.”

Moses expressed appreciation to his “guest of honour,” his daughter Melissa, “who has been by my side through three bouts of cancer, making me drink lots of water, eat healthy foods, and go on long walks at the Southlands.”

He gave “a most sincere thank you” to a number of people: Arnold Selwyn, his “35-year wonderful partner in song”; Morris, a pianist with whom he has performed for 55 years; Miriam Breitman, with the Rinat Ensemble and now the PAL chorus, and PAL co-founder Bill Harvey; Binny Goldman, for her help at Louis Brier services; Stan Shear, VJMC musical director; Cantor Yaacov Orzech with the Kol Simcha Choir; and Jonathan Berkowitz of BI’s Purim Shpiel.”

He ended by singing “Let’s Sing Again” and, with Selwyn, Adon Olam.

A video on JSA’s outreach and peer support activities, produced by Cory Bretz of Heirloom Films, was screened, followed by the JSA’s first silent auction, which offered a selection of close to 30 items, from gift certificates from local businesses to paintings and prints.

The event was co-chaired by Tammi Belfer and Larry Shapiro, with committee members Tamara Frankel, Helene Rosen, Marshall and Marilyn Berger, and JSA staff Elizabeth Azeroual and Rita Propp. Catering was provided by Nava Creative Cuisine; the photographer was Susan Curtis.

Bob Markin is a longtime Jewish Seniors Alliance supporter.

Growth, change at Yaffa

Avie Estrin at Vancouver Yaffa Housing Society’s new laneway house. (photo by Pat Johnson)

Fred Dexall used to live in a group home in Kerrisdale. “I didn’t like it there,” he recalls. “The problem is they were very unfriendly. Everybody [kept] to themselves.”

When the Vancouver Yaffa Housing Society opened the first home for members of the Jewish community with mental health issues, in 2001, Dexall was the first resident. He remains there today.

“I’m happy here,” he said. There is more freedom to do one’s own thing than in the “dictatorial” group home he left, he said. Plus, the residents enjoy a Jewish lifestyle, celebrate the holidays, have Shabbat dinners on Fridays, attend the Bagel Club on Mondays and participate in other aspects of Jewish communal life. Every day, volunteers shuttle kosher meals from the kitchen at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital for Yaffa residents.

“Some of us have other disabilities besides mental illness,” said Drexall. “I have epilepsy and it’s all looked after.”

The organization is in the midst of a significant expansion. The house where Dexall has lived for 17 years is operated by Yaffa under a lease from the Vancouver Resource Society, a nonprofit providing accessible housing to people with disabilities, which owns the home in a quiet south Vancouver residential neighbourhood.

In 2010, Yaffa bought the house next door, welcoming more residents. Now, a sparkling new two-storey laneway house has just been completed behind the second home and renovations are taking place on the two houses to further increase capacity. Yaffa also has five units in a 51-unit building in Dunbar, which offers more intensive 24/7 care for residents. In an agreement with the Coast Foundation, B.C. Housing and the City of Vancouver, Yaffa has perpetual lease of these five spaces in return for funding a kosher kitchen in the facility.

Avie Estrin, the president of the society, is carrying on a family tradition. His parents, Aaron and Tzvia Estrin, were among the founding members of the Vancouver Yaffa Housing Society and Aaron was pivotal in raising the capital to launch the residential facility and purchase the second home. Their collective passion comes from firsthand recognition of the need. Avie Estrin’s brother, Marc, is a resident.

“I think it was front and centre for us because we had the awareness that many people – most people – simply aren’t privy to,” said Avie Estrin. “You see what people go through and the reality is, there was no other option. Remarkably, even though mental illness has been around forever, there was simply nothing in the Vancouver Jewish community to address it. Montreal had Jewish mental health housing facilities, Toronto had facilities. Vancouver had nothing.”

An ad hoc group of families came together to form the Vancouver Yaffa Housing Society, with no organizational support at the outset.

“We had to do something and it was meeting after meeting after meeting in somebody’s private home and, ultimately, they did make it happen,” said Estrin. “Once it got a little bit of momentum, then there was a little bit more attention. It got the ball rolling, but those first few years were very much uphill.”

Now, the facilities house 13 people. With the completed laneway house and upcoming renovations to the unfinished basement in the second house, the organization will welcome five more residents.

With 13 people in the south Vancouver homes, plus five in Dunbar, that makes 18, Estrin noted, “which is chai, which, again, is quite significant to us.”

photo - Avie Estrin outside of Yaffa’s new laneway house — Avie Estrin outside of Yaffa’s new laneway house. *(photo by Pat Johnson)*

Estrin said that, even with this expansion, the organization is only making a dent in the demand. With a rule of thumb that 10% of the population has a mental illness and half of those are acute, the Vancouver Jewish community, he estimates, probably has about 1,200 people who would meet Yaffa’s criteria for residency, which is based on DSM-IV Axis 1: “Schizophrenia, manic-depressive, things like that,” Estrin said.

He acknowledges the organization’s limits.

“We are doing what little we can,” he said, “and you might say, ‘well, it’s a little,’ but I would respond by saying something is better than nothing.” With the increase in capacity to 18, he reframed his response: “At this point, I would suggest to you that more is better than something.”

One of the other things the renovation project will ameliorate, Estrin hopes, is the gender imbalance. Because the nature of Yaffa House is a collective living model, there have been logistical challenges in mixing genders.

“By happenstance, we’ve become kind of an all-guys facility as things stand right now and it’s not because there are less women out there who are affected. There is an equal number of them,” he said. As the redevelopment continues, plans will incorporate accommodations for women, adjacent to the men’s accommodations, but with added privacy.

To complete the development and to support daily operations, Estrin is making a call for support, not only financial – though he stresses that is most welcome – but also for volunteers who can fill various capacities either as members of the board or in helping out at the homes.

For more information, visit yaffahouse.org.

Housing groups meet

On June 14, the board and staff members of all the Jewish housing societies met to discuss the progress they have made, the issues they are facing both collectively and individually, and how they can work together to solve them. Attendees included members from societies for seniors (Louis Brier Home and Hospital and Weinberg Residence, Vancouver Jewish Building Society and Haro Park Centre), singles and families (Tikva Housing Society) and people suffering from mental illness (Vancouver Yaffa Housing). Though there have been discussions in the past, this Jewish Housing Forum was the first outlet that provided all the housing societies a medium to come together and voice their opinions, concerns and future goals.

There has been strong support from the housing societies, donors and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver for the societies to initiate an open dialogue and find a way to amalgamate all of their strengths to provide the best support possible for those who need it most.

“The forum was a successful, and necessary stepping stone for the future of housing in the Jewish community,” said Susana Cogan, Tikva Housing Society’s development director. “Based on the feedback we’ve received, the overall consensus is that it was very productive and we’re looking forward to meeting in the near future to exchange developments prompted by this forum.”

Some of the issues discussed included communication among housing organizations, issues residents are facing (i.e., transition from independent living to supported living), lack of awareness of the societies’ services in the community, and donor funding. Upon breaking into groups to discuss these issues, participants agreed on a number of suggested solutions, such as more communication among societies, holding regular meetings to exchange information, the sharing of resources, the need to access more units for community members and working together when dealing with acquisitions.

All of these housing societies are continuing to excel independently, so exploring the ways they can work together demonstrated how they can better serve and help support the community.

Hannah Konyves is a volunteer with Tikva Housing Society.