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In the Jewish Home’s December 2010 newsletter
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Gelt, good times, and good wishes
The Home hits “a home run” with its annual state survey results
Let’s get together on the golfing green
Benefiting our community
Tasty victuals and the value of a community resource
No limitations to creating luminous art
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Gelt, good times, and good wishes
Dear Friend,
 Warmest holiday greetings to you and your loved ones. As we look forward to a new calendar year, we are so thankful for the community that supports us. In this tough economy, your generosity helps us continue to provide excellent service to our residents and short-term patients, and to deliver on our Jewish Home’s promise to be a center of Jewish life and living in the Bay Area.
And life – and lively – were certainly the order of the day at this year’s annual Chanukah show performance for the community. Sunday, December 5 saw the Home’s Lynne & Roy Frank Family Lounge packed to the roof beams as our guests (which included members of our board of trustees) delighted in seeing residents and staff – songsters and soloists, players and poets, dancers and dramatists – take to the stage for this year’s production. Entitled Simchah (which means “rejoice”), and created and produced by our Activities department, this concert-style event offered a spin on Glee
, the popular television show that focuses on the members of a high school’s glee club and their nemeses in the football and cheerleading squads.
We delighted in the breadth of talent, clapped in time to joyous melodies, were moved by poignant pieces, and laughed through a top ten list of why Chanukah may be enjoyed more than Christmas. (A favorite, apt reason: There’s never a silent night when you’re among your Jewish loved ones.)
We were also pleased to welcome a group of students from the Jewish Community High School of the Bay who added their youthful exuberance to the pep rally portion of the production. The students also fulfilled their community service requirements by connecting with the residents as they helped them get their costumes and make-up ready for the show. Sally Khomick (14) summed up the students’ motivation: “We knew this would be a fun way to volunteer our time. It’s also a way for us to give a little bit back to the community.”
The spirit that infused this multigenerational happening was reflected in the glow from the candles on the menorah and the smiles on the faces of our performers and community guests. The heart and soul that our residents and staff put into long weeks of rehearsal and then staging this warm and wonderful annual event was matched by the pleasure we got from being their appreciative audience. A line from resident cast member Frank Greenberg’s original poem really resonated with me: “I’m full of love and I’m full of hope,” declaimed Frank. Love permeates the relationships between our residents and staff and the dedicated, compassionate care they deliver, while my hope is that all of us associated with the Home will have many more opportunities to come together as a community. Here’s to celebrating and inspiring, and to continuing to bring life to our
Jewish Home in all its manifestations.
Daniel Ruth
President & Chief Executive Officer
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The Home hits “a home run” with its annual state survey results
Based on the number of residents and patients cared for on a daily basis, the Jewish Home is the third-largest nursing home in the state of California.
But operating as we must at present from an aging facility – with areas that may be less conducive to providing the most cost-effective, resident-centered care – could have impacted the Home’s performance when the Department of Public Health conducted its annual health survey last month. However, just the opposite was the case. “The results of the 2010 survey may be the finest the Home has received in its survey history and well above the state average,” says Daniel Ruth, president and CEO. “With the San Francisco Giants winning this year’s World Series, it feels appropriate to use baseball language and say that the Home scored a home run, too.”
The state surveyors reviewed all the Home’s departments, programs and services and, in order to receive the most widespread feedback, conducted interviews with both our English- and Russian-speaking residents and their family members. Although it is not typical for the surveyors to share comments elicited from these interviews, they chose to break with protocol and tell our staff that their quality of care, professionalism, dedication, and compassion received exceptional praise.
“The Home’s outstanding performance in this year’s survey is an indication of the level of care and services that are provided to our residents and their family members,” Ruth continues. “Even though most of them cannot afford the full cost of care, they are the beneficiaries of our commitment to excellence in resident-centered care, as is our community at large. In these challenging economic times, it is thanks to the Home’s past and present trustees, our philanthropic supporters and our staff – all of whom are committed to and invest in our mission – that we can ensure the most vulnerable elderly in our community have access to the highest quality, compassionate care.”
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Let’s get together on the golfing green
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Tee up for fun and for a great cause. Monday, May 9, 2011 is the date to make the approach shot, sink the putt, or get a hole in one (why not?) at the scenic Peninsula Golf & Country Club for the 17th Annual Jewish Home Golf Tournament.
Our 2010 tournament grossed over $220,000 to help the Jewish Home continue to fulfill its mission of enriching the lives of older adults by supporting programs and activities at the Home. And we plan to make the 2011 tournament even more successful. A range of tournament sponsorship opportunities have fabulous benefits, including recognition on the green and at the dinner and auction that follow the golfing.
Enjoy photos from the 16th annual tournament on our website. Be sure to check this site as we get further into the swing of organizing the 2011 event.
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Benefiting our community
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The Jewish Home has a tradition of service to the community at large – to the frail, elderly, and underserved; to vulnerable populations; to intergenerational groups, interns, and students.
This seven-generation history of benefiting the community is fundamental to the Home’s initiatives and philosophy, and to its organizational and strategic visioning objectives. It also informs its membership in “Building a Healthier San Francisco” – a collaboration of San Francisco hospitals, Department of Public Health, United Way, human services’ providers, philanthropic foundations, and numerous community-based organizations.
Visit our website to read an overview of the broad range of services the Home provided to the community for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010 and to download our complete Community Benefit Report that covers this time period.
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Tasty victuals and the value of a community resource
To start, split pea soup, followed by chicken lo mein accompanied by a blend of squash, and finishing off with mandarin oranges. Baked salmon with sides of oven-fried potatoes and seasonal vegetables, then banana cake for dessert.
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Seem like menu selections from your favorite restaurant? Well, not exactly. These are actually two of the delicious luncheons that residents of the Jewish Home enjoyed recently. And the same food that is prepared in the Jewish Home’s kitchen is available at the Jewish Community Center San Francisco. Join old friends or make new ones at the JCC SF as you savor appetizing and nutritious hot kosher lunches, Sundays through Fridays, in a warm, sociable environment.
For more information on the JCC SF’s Kosher Lunch Program for community-dwelling older adults, contact Shiva Schulz, Adult Programs Manager, 415.292.1260; e-mail to sschulz@jccsf.org; connect online at www.jccsf.org
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No limitations to creating luminous art
“Your motivation determines everything,” opined David Leffel, a prominent twentieth-century artist with whom Jewish Home resident Estella Hayden studied. Leffel may have been speaking about Estella herself, whose motivation and determination have seen her overcoming adversity to live her life well and fully.
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Jewish Home
302 Silver Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112
415.334.2500
www.jhsf.org
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