The Mitzvah Gram CHIC AGO MITZVAH C A MPAIGN
Partially funded by the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, Senior Division and HUD (Housing Urban Development)
IYAR 5777
Patient visitation Shabbat and Holiday meals Advocacy and support Food for Hatzalah transports Free kosher guest meals Family counseling Hospitality suites & food pantries Tefillin, prayer and observances Shabbat packages Friday night candles Maternity box of delights Emergency food deliveries Bedside refrigerators
MAY 2017
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VOLUME 7
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ISSUE 8
CMC Headlines
CMC CHAPLAINCY AND SENIOR SERVICES DIVISION
IN HOSPITALS
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In order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of requests for this much-needed service, the CMC is currently seeking a sponsor to add an additional van to its fleet of medicar vans and regular vehicles.
CMC Seeking Sponsor for Additional Van From early in the morning until late at night, the CMC’s transportation service makes a lifechanging difference to countless members of the community who - because of frailty, illness, or disability - would otherwise be unable to get to their medical appointments and other essential needs. Common medical destinations include doctor appointments, dialysis, chemotherapy, outpatient
procedures, and physical therapy. Other common destinations include transporting handicapped students to school and disabled adults to work, family simchas and lifecycle events. In order to accommodate the ever-increasing number of requests for this much-needed service, the CMC is currently seeking a sponsor to add an additional van to its fleet of medicar vans and regular vehicles.
AT HOME Medicar transportation Senior Center daily programs Emergency medical alert systems Preventing elder abuse & neglect Home safety assessments Fall prevention equipment Free delivery service for groceries Senior friendship Medication management systems World-wide “SimchaVision” (from any hospital or residence)
Touching Lives
HOLIDAY PROJECTS (Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Home-bound) Rosh Hashana: Shofar blowing Sukkot: Lulov and Etrog Chanukah: Menorah lighting and gifts Purim: Megillah reading and gifts Pesach: Seder plates
real lives, real stories
Isolated Patient, Abandoned by Family, Cared for by CMC
END OF LIFE Musical enrichment Counseling and support Assistance with Jewish burials Minyanim for kaddish Kaddish recitation Yahrtzeit and memorial services
Seven years ago, the CMC received a request for assistance
from the owner of a local nursing home. The owner explained that he was in the process of selling the nursing home, and he was very concerned about “Harold”, an extremely ill and isolated Jewish resident. Seeing that
Harold had been abandoned by his family and did not have any friends, the owner had always made sure to take a very personal interest in his care. Now however, the nursing C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 3
This newsletter is dedicated in memory of Menachem Cohen – Menachem Meir ben Moshe
Spotlight on Services CMC Provides 150 Special Pesach Meals to Patients In readiness for the recent holiday of Pesach, the CMC had 150 special kosher-for-Pesach meals privately prepared, under the kosher supervision of Rabbi Aron Wolf. During Pesach, these delicious, nutritious meals were distributed to hospital patients, nursing home patients, and recently discharged patients at home. Several of the grateful recipients of these meals expressed their appreciation in the following [excerpted] messages: “…was admitted to the emergency room right before Yom Tov, and had no idea what
to do for Pesach food – the CMC absolutely saved the day! Thank you so very much, and may Hashem bless you with success in every way…” – Karen R. “…My hospitalist had been so brief with me and did not seem to have time for me to ask any questions… But today he saw the box of Shmura Matzah I received from the CMC, and he commented that he was Jewish too. For the first time in a week he pulled up a chair to have a conversation, and I was able to express myself and ask questions, which I found very helpful...” – Robin B. “Receiving the CMC’s Pesach meals was incredibly helpful for us, at a time when the illness had put the entire family under an overwhelming strain... Thank you!” – Yaakov T. “Having to spend part of Pesach in the hospital made me feel very sad and upset… But your caring and the CMC’s Pesach meals lifted me up and made me feel so
Touching Lives
much better. It was very reassuring to know that the CMC is out there, offering so many services to patients like myself who are struggling with their health and in need of help…” – Rose N. “The CMC’s Pesach meals were excellent. Just knowing that the CMC is there to look out for patients like myself is very helpful. Thank you for everything that you do…” – Joseph B. “Thank you so much for the Pesach meals… Everything tasted delicious, and the chicken reminded me of my own mother’s home cooking…” – Esther D.
Making a Difference All it Took was One Phone Call to the CMC
Expecting a baby? Going to Evanston Hospital? Are you fully PREPARED? Nestled opposite Evanston Hospital, the CMC’s Solomon and Dora Einhorn Evanston Hospitality Suite represents a veritable oasis of rest and refreshment, offering patients and their family members a full range of amenities.
Relaxing in Labor
One recent Friday, Aaron Rowner’s daughter Adina felt the beginning of labor pains and went to Evanston Hospital. Progress was slow however, and less than two hours before Shabbat, the doctor told Adina and her husband and mother that they needed to go home, and to return to the hospital only with increased labor intensity. “It was a very stressful situation,” says Aaron. “We didn’t have a chance to
prepare Shabbat food, and it was upsetting to be forced to go home when we were fully expecting that Adina would need to return within 24 hours to give birth in the hospital. We needed an alternative option. The accommodations at the CMC’s hospitality suite – including the space to rest, the variety of hot Shabbat food that was available, and the convenience of being so close to the hospital - were unbelievably helpful and reassuring to my daughter and to our whole family. The best part however, was the manner in which the service was offered, with incredible devotion and willingness to help.”
When Rachel Stroh’s baby daughter was born premature, at less than 27 weeks, her husband Randy needed to somehow balance his responsibilities at work, along with the fact that his wife and baby daughter needed to be in the hospital for an extended time. “I didn’t know how I was going to manage,” says Randy, “until I found out about the CMC’s hospitality suite. All it took was one phone call to the CMC, and I didn’t have to worry any more. The suite was really close, convenient and inviting, and it helped tremendously that I didn’t need to go back and forth so much from the house to the hospital. Instead, I just went to the suite whenever I needed to rest, shower, have a bite to eat or take a break from the hospital. My wife felt great about the hospitality suite too; just knowing that the service was there for me while she was in the hospital was very reassuring for her.”
CHIC AGO MITZVAH C A MPAIGN
home was changing hands; consequently, the owner asked the CMC to step in and effectively fill the role of Harold’s family. It was a big request, but whenever the opportunity arises to make a real difference in the lives of the elderly and infirm, the CMC always does everything possible to go the extra mile. For the last seven years, the CMC visited Harold on a probono basis, making every effort to uplift his spirits and rekindle his interest in life. Throughout scores of hospital admissions and whenever a medical decision needed to be made, the CMC always acted as Harold’s family, visiting him, advocating for him, and taking the responsibility of being his power-of-attorney for health care. About a year ago, Harold’s health took an even further significant turn for the worse, to the extent that his doctor almost decided to transfer him to hospice care. Over the last year of Harold’s life, the CMC intensified their engagement and efforts on his behalf, including dozens of hospital visits, and countless meetings and phone calls with doctors and nurses. As Harold’s POA, the CMC left no stone unturned in seeking the best possible outcome for him. Sadly, Harold passed away this week. Although the legal responsibility as POA terminated with his passing, nevertheless, the CMC continued to care for Harold as family. In view of Harold’s complete lack of financial resources, the CMC organized and paid for all the necessary arrangements (special thanks also to Chicago Jewish Funerals for their professionalism and assistance in providing special considerations for indigent burials) for Harold to receive a dignified traditional Jewish burial. The only attendees at the funeral were the individuals whom the CMC arranged and transported in order to make a minyan so that kaddish could be recited for Harold at the graveside. Who can measure the impact of befriending a lonely and infirm individual? Thanks to the CMC’s visits and caring engagement, Harold was not left alone during his final years, but felt valued and cared for. May his soul be bound up in the bond of eternal life.
C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1
For the last seven years, the CMC visited Harold on a pro-bono basis, making every effort to uplift his spirits and rekindle his interest in life.
A Speedy Recovery Batya Esther bas Rivka Yakov Eliezer Halevy ben Bluma Menachem Mendel ben Chana Simcha Dovid ben Chaya Yaffa Meir ben Lily Asher Zelig ben Yehudis Rachel Breindel Chana Freida bas Nechama Gittel Refoel DovBer ben Rus
Chaim Eliezer ben Hinda Sara Gedalye HaKohen ben Sara Freida Sarah bas Yehudis Teibel bas Raizel Simcha ben Chaya Sara Faigel bas Kreindel Shneur ben Rivka Rochel Yechizkiyohu Yisroel Aryeh ben Odel
Yosef Eliezer ben Devorah Reuven David ben Chana Gittel bas Itta Chaim Yakov Avrohom ben Rivka Shoshana Raizl bas Gitel Yehudis Chaim Yochanan ben Sheva Yosef Sholom ben Shira Miriam Oren Yehoshua ben Leah Moshe Dovid ben Gita Leah
CHIC AGO MITZVAH C A MPAIGN
Shoshana Miriam bas Basya Leah Yisrael Yehuda ben Dena Sarah Braindel bas Rochel Yakov Shmuel ben Freidel Shraga Feivel ben Chaya Dovid Meir ben Rochel Liba
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CHECKED YOUR
Mezuzas?
DID YOU KNOW THAT MEZUZAS HAVE TO BE CHECKED TWICE IN 7 YEARS?
CMC WILL BE CHECKING MEZUZAS FROM
May 1st – May 4th
WE TAKE DOWN YOUR MEZUZAS AND PUT THEM BACK UP FREE OF CHARGE SAME DAY SERVICE ALL PROCEEDS GO TO OUR 30+ COMMUNITY SERVICES
CALL TO SCHEDULE YOUR APPOINTMENT: 866.MY.RABBI (697.2224)
CMC QUANTITATIVE MONTHLY REPORT: MARCH 2017 SERVICES PROVIDED TO
(PATIENTS) AND SENIORS
#
at hospitals and care facilities / at home / at the CMC Senior Center
Transportation rides (medicar and regular)
720
NOTE:
Meals for cholim, Shabbat meals, and maternity box of delights
291
Shabbat packages delivered to patients in 14 hospitals
650
Hospital patients visited
193
Hours of counseling
71
CMC Senior Center (total participation)
116
Lives protected 24/7 by emergency alert “Lifeline” machines
87
Emergency calls placed via “Lifeline” machines to save a life
7
As every year, in preparation for Pesach the CMC distributed boxes of shmurah matzah to Jewish doctors at hospitals where we visit patients. This year, the CMC distributed matzah to over 500 doctors at twelve hospitals serving our local Chicagoland communities, including Condell, Evanston, Glenbrook, Lake Forest, Lutheran General, Illinois Masonic, Northwest Community, Northwestern Memorial, Skokie, St. Francis, Swedish Covenant, and Weiss Memorial
HELPING SENIORS AGE IN PLACE THE NEXT GENERATION OF HOME HEALTH
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The Mitzvah Gram CHIC AGO MITZVAH C A MPAIGN
CHICAGO MITZVAH CAMPAIGN 2939 WEST TOUHY AVENUE CHICAGO IL 60645 | 866.MY.RABBI (697.2224) WWW.CHICAGOMITZVAHCAMPAIGN.ORG