JFS Boulder Ambassadors enrich community living
JFS Boulder added an exciting new program in Spring 2022 to its ongoing work of bringing volunteers to Boulder County older adult and retirement living communities to celebrate Jewish holidays and to match Friendly Visitors with isolated elders. Two volunteers are assigned as Ambassadors to a specific senior living residence and will plan monthly Jewish cultural programs together with the residents. As with all JFS endeavors, Jewish and non-Jewish residents are welcomed to participate in all events. These cultural events are in addition to our religious events (Holiday and Shabbat services) with our Ambassadors and local rabbis.
Evie Verderber and Mary Ann Wilner, long-term volunteers at JFS Boulder, launched this Ambassador program at Golden West, which is a not-for-profit community in Boulder that has been meeting the needs of adults 62+ with independent and assisted living options for more than 50 years.
This summer, Mary Ann and Evie started programming monthly movies and conversations on Jewish themes. The first program celebrated the revival of Klezmer music in America in the 1970s and 1980s. The second movie, also a hit, was “Kutscher’s,” an engaging history of the longest-running Jewish resort in the Borscht Belt of the Catskill Mountains in New York. The post-movie discussion was especially fun since two participants had fond memories of childhood visits to Kutscher’s. The third movie, “Yidl in the Middle,” about a young Jewish woman growing up in the only Jewish family in a small Iowa town, was unfortunately postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
To date, about 35 residents have joined the movie hour, and about half of the participants are Jewish. One participant is a retired nurse who grew up in the Philippines, and another is an African American Jewish woman from Denver. We look forward to scheduling more monthly programs and a monthly Friday night Shabbat service at Golden West.
JFS Boulder plans to create these Ambassador relationships with several more older adult communities throughout Boulder County, where we have celebrated the Jewish High Holidays, Hanukkah, and Passover over many years. These services have been especially meaningful for those unable to travel to local synagogues. In order to expand to additional communities, we are actively recruiting volunteers for this role! If you’re interested in becoming an Ambassador, visit our Volunteer page or contact Nicole Hosack at nhosack@jewishfamilyservice.org.
As the Ambassadors build friendships with residents through these multiple connections to the communities, we look forward to identifying other JFS services that may benefit individual residents.