AN EMERGENCY. A LOVED ONE IS IN THE HOSPITAL. THE CHALLENGES ARE ENORMOUS. FINDING THE RIGHT MEDICAL CARE, COPING WITH A NEW REALITY. THE FAMILY NEEDS TO BE THERE. WHERE WILL THEY SLEEP? WHAT ABOUT FOOD? THAT’S WHERE CHESED 24/7 STEPS IN.
Ayour home in the hospital.” That’s Chesed 24/7’s motto — to make sure family and caregivers don’t have to worry about anything except making sure their loved one gets better. As Nathan Hoffman of Chaim Medical put it so well, “When someone is going through a medical challenge part of the struggle is feeling alone. Chested 24/7 eliminates that feeling which allows you to focus on what’s most important, you or your loved one’s health.” So sleeping accommodations are provided.There’s a Chesed 24/7 hospitality room, plus daily and Shabbat/Yom Tov meal deliveries. There’s shofars, a sukkah (we built 25 last year), lulav and etrog, Pesach Seder plates, Shabbat in a Box with electric Shabbat candles, Kiddush, and more. These rooms are visited literally hundreds of thousands of times a year. There are over half a million visits annually.
Starting from humble beginnings at Good Samaritan Hospital in Rockland County, moving on to NYP-Columbia in upper Manhattan, Chesed 24/7 now operates 25 hospitality rooms throughout the Metro area and beyond. These rooms never close. They’re open 24 hours a day, every single day of the year. And each hospitality room was and is a milestone event. It takes a lot for a hospital to be willing to give up space. But with perseverance and dedication, all of the major hospitals in Manhattan now have a resource that has proven to be a lifesaver for so many.
Of course each room represents a financial investment as the hospital needs funding to convert the room into a patient oasis. The Syrian community has been instrumental in the growth of this important community service, partnering with Chesed 24/7 to dedicate three hospitality rooms so far. In 2015, Debbi Gindi dedicated the Chesed 24/7 hospitality room at Weill-Cornell in memory of her beloved husband Jack M. Gindi A”H. In 2016, the Pauline and Maurice R. Cohen Hospitality Suite was dedicated by Esther and Neil Saada, Sarah and Albert Maleh, Debbi Gindi, and Rachelle and Mark Harari.
Also in 2016, at the inaugural annual Chesed 24/7 Breakfast event hosted by Ken and Lillian Cayre, the community dedicated the Chesed 24/7 Hospitality Center at Columbia Children’s Hospital as the Circle of Friends. Major Donors included Harry and Alice Adjmi, Ben and Debra Ashkenazy, Josh and Rochel Leah Augenbaum, Jack and Joyce Kassin, Joe and Trina Cayre, Ken and Lillian Cayre, Abraham and Renee Fruchthandler, Eli and Michal Gindi, I. Chera and Sons, Zvi and Jodi Ben Haim, Jack and Miriam Basch, Eliyahu and Rina Cohen, Ralph and Vivian Sitt, Steven and Rina Vegh, Eddie and Ceryse Mizrachi, Jerry and Janet Harary, The Edmund J. Safra Synagogue, Brooklyn Rabbi Eli Mansour, Isaac and Sharon Hazan, and Saul and Brenda Hazan.
Then, most recently the Chesed 24/7 Hospitality Room at Mount Sinai Hospital, was due for an upgrade. Jeff and Rachel Sutton graciously dedicated the entrance to the room, in memory of their brother-in-law Jack Gindi A”H. Despite the Covid pandemic intervening and delaying the project, it was completed just a few months ago. It has a modern, clean new look with more improvements on the way.
Chesed 24/7 and the Syrian community have tirelessly worked together to constantly add and upgrade services. In this past year alone three new rooms were opened. More are on the way. As Rosh Hashana approaches, we pray for Hashem to grant a happy and healthy New Year for all, in the great merit of our care and support for hospital patients and their families.
