Couple's gift allows JVFS to expand its senior services
Jeff Lampl, Jewish Family & Vocational Service executive director, left, and Martin B. Stein hold a signed agreement in which Stein and his wife, Edith, donated $150,000 to JFVS to assist area seniors. Joining them in Stein's Boca Raton, Fla., home is JFVS board member Bobbi Goodman.
The Jewish Family & Vocational Service of Middlesex County has received a $150,000 gift that will allow it to expand services over a two-year period to seniors with cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities.
The gift made by Edith and Martin Stein, former longtime East Brunswick residents now living in Boca Raton, Fla., will establish the Edith & Martin Stein Center for Senior Adults.
The agency also plans to use to the money to establish services targeting seniors in Monroe Township, according to JFVS executive director Jeff Lampl.
"Mr. and Mrs. Stein are both visionaries in that they understand the growing needs of seniors in our community and have the capacity to envision programs and services needed not only today, but also tomorrow," he said. "This gift is providing seed money for things like staff, publicity, and furnishings."
JFVS already offers an Elderday at Edison program for those with Alzheimer's disease and other related disorders, and CAMEO (Challenging Adult Minds and Energizing Ourselves), a program for alert adults with physical disabilities. The services are designed for socially isolated and cognitively impaired adults.
With the additional money, the expanded center will operate five days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and have the capacity to serve several hundred seniors weekly, said Lampl, who anticipates approximately 70 daily participants. JFVS plans to eventually add a mid- to late-afternoon shift. Kosher continental breakfasts, hot lunches, snacks, and refreshments will be included.
Moreover, plans include eventually expanding the program to other sites in the county, particularly Monroe, which has seven adult communities. At least a dozen seniors in the Monroe area have expressed interest in attending the programs, but have been unable to get to JFVS' Edison offices. The agency has another office in Monroe, but programming is out of the Edison facility.
To help these seniors, a van to transport them is being jointly purchased by the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County, JFVS, and the foundation of the Oscar and Ella Wilf Campus for Senior Living in Somerset.
JFVS — which already offers assistance for caregivers — will have a case manager available to help participants' families and caregivers navigate through often confusing government programs and benefits and ongoing support groups conducted by a licensed social worker.
The gift enables the agency to provide additional staff, including social workers, case managers, and psychiatrists if needed, from its offices at 200 Metroplex Drive. Lampl emphasized professional experts were consulted to ensure the program would fully meet the needs of the seniors.
Renovation on the facilities in Edison is expected to begin in late summer or early fall with completion expected in late January, when an opening ceremony with the Steins will take place. It will be staffed by a full-time director and recreation therapist.
The program is designed to promote socialization, utilizing crafts and creative arts and having outings, guest speakers, and such exercises as stretching and movement — rather than passive activities such as watching television — for stimulation.
"This is a big coup for Middlesex County," said Joanne Bartosik, JFVS fund development associate. "There will be no other place like it. I'm delighted that we can provide services so that our seniors will not be warehoused, not be stuck in front of a television set. They will be involved and connected."
Lampl said that as the agency began to formulate plans to expand its senior services it identified several potential donors, including the Steins. The couple asked for a written proposal.
The couple asked questions and made some suggestions before agreeing to the donation, which Lampl characterized as "caring and compassionate." He and JFVS board member Bobbi Goodman went to Florida, returning July 16 with the signed agreement.
"Mr. Stein told me that his mother had been taken care of by the community for many years at a time when she really couldn't afford to pay for it herself, and he tries to give back to the community for that reason," Lampl said.
(The Steins were traveling last week and could not be reached for comment.)
The couple also has given significant support to the Martin & Edith Stein Assisted Living Residence on the Wilf campus.
Lampl said the agency is actively seeking other donors to allow the agency to further broaden its senior programming and services. Future services could include a concierge service to take seniors to doctor's appointments and on errands, as well as programs to provide assistance in performing small chores in their homes.
"Our goal would be to keep people in their own homes as long as possible," explained Lampl. "It's pretty clear people do better in their own homes than even in the best institutional settings."
For more information, contact JFVS or 732-777-1940.
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