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‘No Jew Should Be Alone’
OUR COMMUNITY
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Rabbi Joey Krakoff and Gladys Sampson hold hands.
Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy expands services to enrich life and help the bereaved.
SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
JERRY ZOLYNSKY PHOTOGRAPHY The diagnosis of a severe or life-threatening illness can be overwhelming. Since 1999, Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network (JHCN) has helped thousands of Detroit-area Jewish patients and their families cope with spiritual and medical needs during a vulnerable time. With the commitment that “No Jew Is Alone,” Jewish Hospice has provided spiritual guidance, medical coordination and, more recently, life enrichment to those with severe and terminal illnesses.
The idea for a Jewish hospice originated when David Techner, funeral director of Ira Kaufman Chapel, was serving as the only Jewish member of the Hospice of Michigan board. Hospice of Michigan was starting to work with more Jewish families and asked Techner to recommend a rabbi who could assist them. He recommended Rabbi E. B. “Bunny” Freedman, who began working with Hospice of Michigan.
The hospice movement was growing in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it had a Christian orientation, Freedman explains. “There was nothing for Jewish people. At the end of life, people start contemplating spiritual issues.”
Techner saw “a gap and need,” and Freedman responded by developing a program for Jewish patients at Hospice of Michigan.
Over time, Freedman began helping other hospice organizations with Jewish patients and decided that the Jewish community should organize its own hospice services. It began with a “soft start” in 1989-90, he says. Then, in 1991, a nonprofit organization was established to provide supportive and spiritual care to Jewish patients and families. Jewish Hospice is not a medical hospice but has strong connections with medical hospices, home health agencies, and a variety of other medical and supportive services.
AN ARRAY OF SERVICES
“With one phone call, a patient or family member can access a basket of services. Natalie Rosenfield, director of patient care, will help them find a hospice that will do a medical assessment. A rabbi will visit within 72 hours, unless declined. Patients are asked if there is a rabbi in their lives and, if so, we provide backup, if desired,” explains Rabbi Joseph “Joey” Krakoff, senior director at JHCN.
“JHCN helps with end-of-life conversations and surrounds people with love,” he says.
In addition, the staff helps with management of
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pain and other symptoms, as well as spiritual needs. Patients include both those receiving palliative and hospice care. Palliative care patients may be severely ill with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, MS, cancer or heart disease. These patients may be in a pre-hospice situation and bringing them into the agency sooner through its LifeLinks program provides a more seamless transition when they become hospice patients, Krakoff explains.
Rosenfield explains that the term hospice generally refers to individuals whose life spans are expected to be six months or less. Some patients don’t meet the criteria for hospice or may not be emotionally ready for it, and some patients improve enough to move off of hospice care.
Regardless of their diagnosis, patients receive individualized services, including spiritual guidance appropriate for their personal beliefs, and social work navigation to help with home health care, insurance or medical issues.
“Our goal is to see patients every two weeks, but it can be every day depending on their needs. We are always asking what more we can do,” Krakoff says. JHCN also helps educate caregivers with an annual conference — the Caring Coalition Conference.
For several years, JHCN has provided enrichment programs — bringing music, art, salon services, pet visits, tai chi and the opportunity to create legacy books to patients. This program “changed the face of the organization. It made us an organization more about life and less about death,” Krakoff says.
With the exception of the COVID lockdown period, JHCN staff visit and help patients wherever they are — at home, in assisted living facilities, a nursing home or hospital. During the COVID lockdown, virtual visits and Zoom meetings were used to connect patients, families, staff and volunteers to maintain vital support and connections.
“We reached out more, including providing an opportunity for out-of-town family members to join in end-of-life prayers online,” Rosenfield says.
NO-FEE MODEL
From its inception, Freedman chose not to bill government agencies, insurance plans, other hospices or patients for JHCN services. “We had a wonderful staff, and if you create goodwill, it will come back to you,” he says.
Freedman’s funding model of reliance on philanthropy has continued. Krakoff says that it relies on the “kindness and philanthropy of this Jewish community.” He says that about 30 percent of patients
Rabbi Davey Rosen of Ann Arbor, Natalie Rosenfield of Walled Lake, Rabbi Joseph “Joey” Krakoff of West Bloomfield, Rabbi E.B. “Bunny” Freedman of Oak Park, Rabbi Rachel Lawson Shere of West Bloomfield and Rabbi Shalom Freedman of Oak Park.
Gladys Sampson of West Bloomfield sits with Rabbi Joey Krakoff in her apartment and talks about their past and friends they have known.
and their families contribute to Jewish Hospice and the remainder of its budget — just over $2 million annually — is covered by other donors and foundations, including the Jewish Fund.
Jewish Fund Executive Director Margo Pernick says the Jewish Fund has provided more than $1.5 million in grants over the years to Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy, mainly for programs and capacity building. A recent grant will be used for training rabbis.
Pernick says that Jewish Hospice “aligned super well with the Jewish Fund’s goal of focusing on the health and welfare he Jewish community. The organization is healthy and well-run. They don’t charge for services, which is not typical, but they’ve been successful.”
Krakoff is especially proud that the Jewish Fund has twice honored JHCN with its Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence, most recently with its 2021 Award for its LifeLinks and enrichment programs. Jewish Hospice is the only Jewish agency to receive this award twice.
Pernick concurs with Krakoff’s description of Jewish Hospice services — that it’s about achieving the highest quality of life regardless of the stage a patient is experiencing — not about dying.
MONNI MUST
Carole Lasser enjoyed JHCN’s music enrichment program. Here she is in the 20162017 JHCN Annual Campaign brochure. UPCOMING TRANSITION
Now Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy is going through a transition and expansion. This January, Freedman will retire from his CEO position and serve as CEO emeritus and senior advisor. Three other JHCN rabbis — David Nelson, Avie Shapiro and A. Irving Schipper — are retiring as well.
Krakoff will become CEO of JHCN and three new rabbis — Shalom Freedman, Davey Rosen and Rachel
Shere, representing a range of Jewish movements, will join its staff. Freedman will help train the new rabbis and focus on building an endowment for JHCN. In addition, he will seek ways to spread the JHCN model to other Jewish communities. Rabbi Joseph H. Shalom Freedman will focus Krakoff on operations, marketing and development. Rosen will concentrate on education and outreach with community members — expanding partnerships with synagogues, and temples, clergy and Jewish communal organizations, and others. Shere will be starting a bereavement program, conducting several different types of bereavement groups for JHCN. She will also lead study sessions focused on Jewish belief and practice surrounding death and escorting the soul. Krakoff believes these changes — dubbed the JHCN 2.0 Model — will help ensure the organization’s successful future for the next 20 years and beyond. Techner, JHCN’s founding president, who continues as a board member, describes Jewish Hospice as a “wonderful organization with an amazing team.”
Family Members are Grateful for Jewish Hospice Services at a Difficult Time
When an individual learns of a severe or terminal illness, the patient and family members may be overwhelmed with anxiety and sadness about the future, as well as the potential need to arrange specialized care, medical equipment and other supportive services. Ellen Kirshenbaum of Farmington Hills and her parents connected with Jewish Hospice when her parents, both in their 90s, had terminal diagnoses.
She needed advice and help. “They came right out — they were so responsive, so helpful at the end of life. They offered a better quality of life and more time,” she says. Initially her parents were part of Hospice’s palliative care program. They received help at home, including music therapy, which they both enjoyed. Pastoral care was provided weekly or every other week. “We were very grateful for their great response.”
Mitchell Bleznak of Birmingham contacted Jewish Hospice to help him with his late father, Richard, who lived in Arizona and had “significant dementia issues.” The distance made it difficult to manage his care. Bleznak says Jewish Hospice staff provided “emotional support to make good decisions and provide dignified care” for his father. “Family members want to think they’re doing what their parents would want. The beauty is that (Jewish Hospice) they are able to help the family satisfy their needs by providing resources in the community.”
