“Jewish Home at Home”
There are a lot of things on the horizon for the Jewish Home Family as we look to the original Mission Statement and continue to develop services for the elderly which will enable them to remain in their own homes as long as possible.
For those of you who have had a long-term relationship with the Jewish Home, it is common knowledge that our Gallen Adult Day Health Care program was the first in the State of NJ and has been running since the early 1970’s, first in Jersey City and by the late ‘70s in River Vale. As the River Vale program grew it was housed, through their generosity, in the YJCC in Washington Township. Since Rockleigh opened the program has blossomed under the leadership of our Director, Joan Di Paola, RN.
The Kosher Meals programs are still going full steam ahead. If you happen to stop in our kitchen at 8:30 a.m., Monday through Friday, you will see meals being prepared which are delivered daily to Hudson, Bergen and Rockland Counties for both Congregate Meals and the Meals-on-Wheels programs run by the Jewish Family Services in Teaneck, Fair Lawn/Wayne, as well as the JCC in Bayonne. The Jewish Home at Rockleigh also delivers to the Teaneck Jewish Center and a number of other sites, in addition to Kosher catering special events for our sister Jewish Agencies.
In addition, we have restarted our Congregational Nursing program in cooperation with the Jewish Family Service and the UJA NNJ. This program was first started under a federally funded Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) program and allowed for a full time nurse. Unfortunately, at the present time, there is only enough funding for a 10 hour/week nurse. The good news is that the program is focusing on the Teaneck elderly and the need is great. The other good news is Paula Ridge, RN was available to return to this position so there was no learning curve. As we look for funds to expand the nursing hours, the program is doing well and the cooperation between the Jewish Family Service and the Jewish Home is outstanding.
In order to bring some structure to the development of community-based services, the Jewish Home Family has formed the “Jewish Home at Home” entity which will house all community-based services going forward. Presently, we are looking at the development of a Care Management program for those elderly in the Bergen County community who need support to remain in their homes. In the coming year we hope to have this program functioning with perhaps a sister component which will provide Home Health Care as well. We are exploring options with other community agencies to create joint ventures and avoid duplication of services.
With the Jewish Home Family giving us the encouragement to move forward and expand our community-based services, the “Jewish Home at Home” will provide the vehicle for implementing this effort. We have formed a committee under the lay leadership of Robert Peckar, Esq. Bob and I look forward to bringing services to a new level for the elderly throughout our service area.