Crisis management

Editorial

Our community is on the verge of failing to care for our elderly and our homebound. The Jewish Community Center Senior Center is facing an $85,000 shortfall this year and is in need of a long term financial fix to avoid future deficits.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix has responded by making a commitment to provide three months of funding for the senior center, and plans are being made to provide for the future. So far, $50,000 has been raised.

If the senior center is not placed on secure financial footing, much could be lost. It delivered 16,000 meals to homebound adults last year, a need we can expect to continue. It also provides congregate meals at its site, 1805 W. Montebello Ave., Phoenix - and much more, including social and educational programs and periodic health checkups.

Behind every meal, program and service is a person: our father, our grandmother, our homebound cousin, our friend recovering from surgery.

A home-delivered meal may be the only hot meal a homebound person receives that day. All too often because of budget constraints, they stretch that one meal to cover lunch and dinner.

The volunteer who delivers meals delivers precious human contact. One such person is Arnold Pachecl, who for 15 years has been delivering 75-80 meals a day, five days a week. He offers conversation, helps with simple chores and reports back to the senior center about the health of the people he visits.

In keeping with our community's pledge of providing services to all Jews at every level of religious observance, all senior center meals are kosher - the only kosher home delivery service in the state.

The senior center is one of the few community organizations reaching out to Jewish elderly and homebound. According to the 2002 Greater Phoenix Jewish Community Study, 56 percent of respondents said they struggled to get assistance for an elderly relative. In addition, approximately 2,600 seniors live alone in households; of 1,800 who are 75 years old or older, a little less than half do not have an adult relative living in Greater Phoenix.

If the senior center can no longer provide for our elderly, who will? Many of those who benefit from the senior center live on the edge of self-sufficiency. Cutting senior center funding could begin a cascade effect adversely affecting their quality of life.

In the shtetl, we followed the tradition of establishing a community plate to provide care for our elderly and our indigent, to ensure that no one fell beyond our watchful eye.

As our parents once cared for us, so we must care for them. Send donations to JCC Senior Center Fund, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 203, Scottsdale 85254.

Home