A blog by UJC's Executive VP, Max Kleinman

MetroWest Cares – Part I

As an aging baby-boomer, I am part of the largest demographic cohort in American history. I am also part of the “sandwich generation,” as our aging parents require our assistance while we look towards the needs of the upcoming generation.

As Holocaust survivors, my parents lived in Pelham Parkway for three and a half decades. They immersed themselves in community activities, with my father serving as president of the Young Israel of Pelham Parkway for over 20 years. Apparently, rotation in office was not practiced. But as the neighborhood changed, the need for them to move to another place became necessary. But the trauma of relocating was so great that they were literally paralyzed into inaction for several years. Finally, seven years ago, they moved to Riverdale, where they are now doing quite well.

Aging in place in the neighborhood in which you made your life and raised a family is a social good. Why should one have to uproot the social network one has acquired over a lifetime? You can still live independently there, but you may need some supportive services to live well. That is why our national agency, United Jewish Communities, our Federation, and network of agencies serving the elderly developed NORCS or Natural Occurring Retirement Communities. Through the NORCS program, we provide the social, recreational, and vocational services, and link residents to services like housing, transportation, and counseling to help older adults stay independent and remain connected to others in their own neighborhoods.

With the assistance of Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, and Senators Lautenberg and Menendez, UJC MetroWest received funding from the Federal Government to establish such a community in Parsippany through LIVE – Lifelong Involvement for Vital Elders. We have reached over seven hundred older residents with the support services they need.

This effort is coordinated by the Committee Addressing Resources for Eldercare Services, or CARES. This collaborative effort of United Jewish Communities and its agencies helps to create a continuum of care for the elderly and was established with the support of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. I am pleased that we will now be able to bring NORCS to Caldwell, New Jersey.

I am delighted that many Baby-Boomers within MetroWest have an opportunity to let their parents continue to live in their communities, rather than undergoing a precipitous change of location. We all want to fulfill the Fifth Commandment, of honoring our mothers and our fathers. NORCS is a vehicle to help demonstrate it.

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by Johanna Ginsberg, NJJN Staff Writer

Day School Endowment Hits $20 Million Mark

A year after its launch, a community-wide campaign in support of Jewish day school education has reached the $20 million mark.

More than 35 donor families have made commitments of $100,000 or more, and close to 100 donors have made gifts to the MetroWest Day School Campaign, an endowment initiative that aims to boost excellence and affordability at three local Jewish day schools.

The campaign, launched with a goal of $50 million, earned national attention as a model for pooling support for day schools across denominational lines.

Under the plan, each school retains its own endowment fund while drawing on a community fund and a matching pool coordinated by the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest, the planned giving and endowment arm for United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.

Its beneficiaries are Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union, Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, and the Nathan Bohrer-Abraham Kaufman Hebrew Academy of Morris County.

The campaign was launched in April 2007 with $13.5 million. Since then, the schools and JCF have raised $6.5 million more in what they acknowledge is a tough economic climate.

“I am proud of the leadership that United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ and our Jewish Community Foundation have demonstrated in launching and growing this nationally renowned day school initiative,” said UJC executive vice president Max Kleinman. “It will recruit and retain many more families for day school education by making it more affordable for middle-income families while enhancing its academic excellence. It is a ‘win-win’ for the parents, the schools, and the Jewish community.”

In furthering the campaign, “we’re dealing with high-end donors who are very committed to Jewish education,” said Kim Hirsch, development officer at the MetroWest foundation. “The economic downturn may affect annual giving in the schools, but this is on a different level; these are people who are giving major endowments and/or future commitments as well as annual gifts.”

Already under way this year is a $2 million match challenge from The Paula and Jerry Gottesman Family Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest. The Gottesmans are the lead funders of the MetroWest campaign. Under the matching gifts program, which extends through June 30, 2009, matching grants will be awarded for gift commitments of $100,000 or more.

Families who have made such commitments become members of the Herskowitz Society of MetroWest, named for members of the Gottesman family. A major event is planned for Dec. 14 in Whippany to recognize members of the Herskowitz Society and highlight progress in the schools.

Administrators at the three schools say they expect to spend more than $1 million from the campaign during the 2008-09 school year (see sidebar).

The MetroWest campaign will be highlighted at a national day school endowment conference cosponsored by the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education and the national United Jewish Communities in New York on Dec. 2.

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Parsippany LIVE Expanding to Caldwell with Federal Grant

Since September 2004, Parsippany residents have directly benefitted from a United Jewish Communities (UJC) of MetroWest NJ-initiated program involving hundreds of households with older adults. Parsippany LIVE (Lifelong Involvement for Vial Elders) was started with a one-year federal grant from the Administration on Aging in 2004, to develop a program that would help older adults “Age in Place” within Parsippany. Using information gleaned from a community assessment process that involved over 400 older residents, a team of non-profit agencies from our MetroWest community and beyond, led by UJC, developed a program to address the specific needs of older Parsippany residents.

Since the start of this initiative, hundreds of Parsippany residents age 60 and over have enjoyed a variety of low-cost or subsidized weekly exercise classes; more than 200 received job placement assistance, and 82 have experienced success in obtaining part-time and full-time employment with the support of a dedicated employment counselor; many more have attended conferences and workshops on topics including Home Safety, Using Humor to Cope with Caregiving, and Medicare Part D; and some have taken leadership roles in a community-wide initiatives including an inter-generational “Big Read” program, teaching ethnic cooking, coaching ping pong and leading Tai Chi classes, and successfully advocating for improved local public transportation.

Parsippany LIVE has provided information, programs, and services to 700+ older residents of Parsippany on a non-sectarian basis, under the leadership of UJC. The goal of Parsippany LIVE is to create an elder-friendly community, one where residents can “age in place” with social supports, access to services, and meaningful activities that promote civic engagement, encourage independence, and help people stay safe and healthy in their own homes. After three years with sustaining funding from UJC, the State of New Jersey, the Grotta Fund for Senior Care, the Wallerstein Foundation for Geriatric Life Improvement, and the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany Foundation, and wide support from UJC beneficiary agencies and throughout the community, UJC was successful in securing a second federal grant for $478,492 to sustain Parsippany LIVE and bring this innovative community organizing and service delivery model to another community. The second generation of LIVE will launch this fall in Caldwell.

Caldwell is extremely well-suited to the LIVE program. It is a town of 1.2 square miles, and as of the 2000 Census, it had a population of 7,584 in 3,311 households, 1,325 of which were headed by someone over the age of 55. Of those households with older adults, 15.4% lived alone. With 40% of its households including an older adult, it is a “Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC),” a town that initially attracted young families but where people have remained and grown older. Caldwell has a strong sense of civic identity, an active interfaith network, a dense population, supportive local leadership, and a myriad of shops and services located along Bloomfield Avenue. The LIVE program will weave these community assets together and work with a team of non-profit service providers to address the expressed needs of older adults and help foster a sense of Caldwell not only as a great place to live but also a great place to grow older. Key to the LIVE model is the recruitment and active participation of Resident Advisors, who serve as local experts and ambassadors, helping to shape and promote the overall program.

The second generation of the LIVE program will be jointly implemented two UJC-supported agencies – Jewish Vocational Service and Jewish Family Service, each of which will employ a Site Coordinator and receive guidance from UJC’s Director of Eldercare Services. They will work together to further enhance services in Parsippany, while using the initial model as a template for launching the new program in Caldwell.

As demonstrated in Parsippany, creating “elder-friendly” communities through the LIVE model allows older adults to “Age in Place,” in their own homes; encourages older adults to make meaningful contributions to civic life as mentors, leaders, and program participants; promotes emotional and physical health by reducing isolation; and connects residents with resources and services they need to stay self-sufficient and independent longer.

For more information about the NORC program or about programs and services available to seniors in MetroWest, contact Karen Alexander at: , or by phone at: (973) 929-3193.

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