Young at Heart: at Ahi Ezer Senior Residence

Too many Americans live primarily among people their own age, especially senior citizens. Sadly, as a result, the elderly are expected to live in a vacuum while young people have no idea how to converse with, spend time with, or learn from them. This way of life is limiting for everyone involved.

Up until a few decades ago, virtually no one  expected to live for so long and so well. This is a great opportunity, but modern American society all too often treats old age as a disease instead the badge of honor it is. Isn’t it more beneficial to live in a multi-generational setting?

A little under a decade ago, a group of young, intuitive Sephardic Bikur Holm volunteers understood the importance of maintaining the dignity of, and relationships with, the elderly of our community. While going about their busy lives, they looked upon the Ahi Ezer Senior Residence on Kings Highway as a place where they could realize some of their goals. There they established Young At Heart, an organized schedule of weekly events where residents and volunteers could get together for lunch and a rotating roster of activities. One young mom got involved because her grandmother lived there and it was a perfect way to see her often. Others were pulled in by friends and found mid-day visits habit forming.

“I gave birth and I missed it when I couldn’t visit for a couple of weeks,” said one volunteer.

“The atmosphere here is very homey,” said another.

The volunteers run bingo events with prizes, sometimes with visiting school children from Magen David Yeshivah. They bring in yoga instructors, musicians and singers, run holiday parties replete with baking and gift wrapping activities. Each week they prepare lunch for the entire crowd, which with so many discerning cooks among the residents, is quite a daunting task.

As a result of so much effort, you can hear the voices of every age group, including the youngest of babies, during many hours of the day at Ahi Ezer. The atmosphere is upbeat, appreciative, casually comfortable and new visitors are usually inspired to get involved.

Some businesses help the volunteers keep costs down. Dairy Delight, Kosher Corner, Ouri’s Fruit and the Ben Zaken family of Gourmet Basics are just a few that have pitched in.

As always, interested individuals are encouraged to donate food, prizes and most significantly their time.

Thanks go out to the core group of volunteers: Luci Aini, Jane Choeka, Freida Elbaz, Sara Escava, Sally Franco, Julie Gindi, Sara Harari, Vicky Kafif, Eva Shamah and Adele Sorscher.