Public Hearing - For Persons Age 60+ and Their Families, Caregivers and Service Providers

"We want to hear from you!"

This public hearing/forum is being held to provide older persons the opportunity to participate in the planning and operation of community-based services and programs provided for their benefit. We would like to receive your comments and concerns. Please join JFS:

Friday, February 24th at 1:00 PM
Buena Vista Apartments
1355 Meadowlark Lane S.E.
Rio Rancho, NM 87124
Adjacent to Meadowlark Senior Center

A Reception will be hosted by Buena Vista Apartments following the hearing at 2:00 PM. For more information please call Meredith at 505.291.1818.

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Del Norte Rotary Foundation Funding

The Mission Statement of the Del Norte Rotary Foundation is "to further the goals of Rotary by assisting the disadvantaged in the Albuquerque metropolitan area to assist themselves." The Del Norte Rotary Foundation found that JFS accomplishes that mission statement through the work we perform in our community and the difference we make to individuals and families.

Del Norte Rotary Foundation awarded JFS a grant in the amount of $1,500. We are very grateful to the Foundation for this grant as we were able to use the funds to purchase a much needed refrigerator-freezer for the food pantry. Community Support Programs Manager Debbie Garduno shopped for the best appliance at the best possible price and we even had some funds left over for to purchase food items needed at the pantry! JFS is very grateful for the support of community partners like the Del Norte Rotary Foundation.

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Very Special Client Thank You

JFS client Marjorie Shapiro Stein is working on a book of love poetry for the New Year. During the holidays she sent JFS a lovely poem she composed to thank us for our "good work." It is our pleasure to share this poem with our readers. Thank you Marjorie!

Ode to JFS
Jewish Family Services
To clientele who might be neediest
Asking for help in times of stress.
Saying they are in tsoriss!

"I'm a poor woman in desperate need.
Shall I go to Ganymede?
Who will help me out?
I just don't want to pout."

JFS has helpers galore
Like Arnie the Cohen
Who will get you go-in
Driving your car for forever more.

There are Ginger and Terri
And Karen and Mary
All helpers- Kayn-Ahora.
To make clients merry.

There are others, too
All there for you!
Call them. You'll be glad
For the service you've had
The year will soon be
2012 (yo-yo-yo)
By our calendar it's 5772
Not 5773 - (Hee-Hee-Hee)

Whatever is the actual year
We wish you Mazel Tov
And good health and happiness
With thoughts most sincere.

Marjorie Shapiro Stein
12-20-2011

Meet Matthew Decker - JFS Intern

JFS intern Matthew Decker has been with us for several months fulfilling his foundation year internship and is working with both the Health and Wellness and Case Management Departments. He comes to us from the University of Southern California where he is earning his masters degree in Social Work with a concentration in mental health and a sub-concentration in military social work. With this degree Matt hopes to work with military families struggling with the difficulties of military life.

Matt has worked on several projects within JFS including: brain fitness, Wii game facilitation (dancing), and MOD 22. He reports that these programs have taught him a great deal about the senior population and he can see the impact the programs are having on the clients with every interaction. Matt told us, "When you see the smiles of clients and have everyone participating in programs the mood in the room becomes contagious. It seems as though helping a few people can have a much bigger impact across the entire living facility."

Matt is very grateful to JFS for giving him this wonderful internship and helping him understand the senior population. Please feel free to stop him in the halls and chat him up about his experiences here at JFS or look for him singing around town as part of the award winning 505 Chorus!

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Building Community Through Wii Dance

Wii Dance, the newest fitness activity to take Health and Wellness (JFS) clients by storm, has been a hit! Wii Dance is similar to Wii bowling, a program consistently attended and loved at all of JFS' CIAIP Aging in Place Communities. The game was first introduced during a Brain Fitness class at Shalom House, where eight residents and three health and wellness specialists got their groove on and worked up a sweat. The game was so well-received at Shalom House the game was introduced as an energetic companion to Wii bowling at each of the other sites. At Three Fountains Apartments, which has regular Wii bowlers each month, five new residents have attended to try it out. Buena Vista residents were incredibly responsive, so much that at times 30 residents participated! Wii dance offers challenges for all ability levels, with a variety of music at different tempos, and the option for any number of players at one time. It's a great form of exercise for any ability because it can even be played sitting down. You don't need any dance talent or experience to enjoy Wii Dance; you just have to be willing to try, have fun, and break a sweat. JFS can offer Mobile Wellness programs, including introduction to Wii Dance, and other exciting and innovative programs, in your community! Call Terri Tobey at 348-4488 for more information.

Click here to view the video of Buena Vista residents doing Wii Dance!

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Food Pantry's Most Urgent Need

Home foreclosures, unemployment, bankruptcy... many in our community are experiencing these economic tragedies, and some that are affected can't talk about it. Pets are the silent sufferers when their families can't buy food or have to leave their homes. We try to help these family members by giving out dog and cat food at the JFS Food Pantry. Many of our Food Pantry clients say they will feed their children and pets first, and then buy food for themselves with any money left over.

This month we want to help people keep their pets fed and at home with their families. When you donate pet food, you not only help families keep their pets, you help seniors keep what is often their only companion. What better way to bring joy to families already struggling, and to save the companion of a lonely senior? Your food donations also help keep pets out of the shelters, automatically improving the chance of finding a home for the animals already at the shelters.

You can help us help the dogs and cats in needy families by dropping off bags of dry dog food and dry or canned cat food at our Food Pantry collection sites - our office, the JCC lobby, and JFS food bins at local Congregations. We also appreciate donations of large, sealable plastic bags that can be used to break 50 lb bags of dog food into smaller amounts to share with more families. Our pet food goal this month is 1,000 pounds of dog food, 500 lbs of dry cat food and 100 cans of canned cat food. You can help by donating today. Thank you very much for your support!

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Great Volunteer Opportunity!

Are you looking for a volunteer opportunity that helps needy people in a big way?

Want to help low income people get the medications they need?

JJFS is partnering with the NM Aging & Long Term Service Department to bring MedBank to Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties. MedBank is an innovative, low cost and effective program that connects people with the medications they need but often cannot afford. The MedBank program along with its volunteers help clients apply for financial assistance directly from national pharmaceutical companies using technology that makes doing so easy and successful!

But, we can't do it without you! JFS needs a few good people to make lot of good happen to a lot of people. If you like working with people and more importantly helping them in meaningful ways, you have good computer skills, are available on weekdays, and want to work with JFS staff—who we believe are some of the most fabulous people working in the field—then call us about MedBank!

For immediate response and service, call Debbie Garduno at JFS at 505-348-4514 or email her at .

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2012 A Taste of Honey: Jewish Learning at Its Sweetest - Open to All!

Sunday, February 12 from 1:00 to 4:30 PM - $30 admission

The Jewish Community Center is hosting their ninth annual "A Taste of Honey" that will feature over 25 classes and workshops following keynoter, Michael Wex, from Toronto, whose talk is titled: "OY VEY! Jews, Humor and Yiddish." The offerings this year are diverse, rich and plentiful including Rabbi Min Kantrowitz's "Help! Mishnah, Midrash, Torah, Tanach and the Talmud-What's the Difference?!," as well as eight other rabbi's: "And Sarah Laughed," "Unmasking Esther, Secrets of the Megillah," "From Ageing to Sageing," "Psalms as Daily Spiritual Work," a "Poetry through Jewish Eyes" and "To Be a Jew or Not to Be a Jew." Lay presenters' courses will include: Janet Gaines' "The Heart of Ruth," and "Jewish Italy," "Tales of Rabbi Nachman," "the Messiah in Judaism," "Sulam Chi: A Dance of Life integrating Kaballah and Tai Chi" plus many more. You may view all the courses at the JCC website, www.jccabq.org. For more information contact, Phyllis Wolf, JCC program director, at 505-348-4500.

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Fort Sumner Garden Project

A Fort Sumner PAG (Partners Advisory Group) meeting was held in January with the community garden efforts taking center stage. Fort Sumner is very excited about the project! The official name for the community effort is now Ann's Garden in honor of a beloved community member. The lot has been leveled and cleared. Fencing is being installed and a local concrete contractor has agreed to reduce the cost to extend the existing sidewalks to make them ADA compliant. Negotiations are underway with other contractors about donating their time to help run the new water and electric lines.

Four trainings to be conducted by Hank Bruce of on horticultural therapy are being planned for this spring to correspond with the garden's launch.

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Rabbi Min’s Message
In case you are new to our e-newsletter, let me share this explanation for this space of the e-newsletter. The mission statement of Jewish Family Service of New Mexico reads: "Guided by Jewish values, we offer targeted social services that help preserve and improve the quality of life for New Mexicans." What are these Jewish values? How do they help guide the day-to-day work that we do at JFS? When new employees join the staff of JFS, they are introduced to eighteen of these basic Jewish values. (Why eighteen? Because that number is associated with life; the word "Chai" has a Hebrew numeric value of 18.)

Next month we will list them all with a link to our website where you can read all 18!

Basic Jewish Values #18 Yetzer haTov - Incline toward the good
Jewish tradition recognizes that humans are not perfect, that all of us have the potential to engage in proper, caring and decent behavior while at the same time having the capability for wrongdoing. These are known as "yetzer hatov" (the inclination toward the good) and "yetzer hara" (the inclination toward the bad). Jewish wisdom and texts urge us to choose moral, virtuous behavior, acts of loving kindness toward ourselves and others, and recommends actions which support the community through mutual responsibility and compassion. This Jewish value acknowledges that we have choice, that we are accountable for our decisions and that we can, and should, make a conscious effort to consider our actions thoughtfully, and then ‘incline toward the good'.

At JFS, staff members often create opportunities for clients to make good choices. The Health and Wellness Brain Fitness program, for example, teaches clients about healthy food choices. Care Managers often advocate with clients about community connections related to important life decisions. The Nurse Care Manager works with clients to manage their own medications and health care. At the same time, staff members are challenged to maintain appropriate boundaries with clients: clients may ask us to do personal care, act as Power of Attorney, lend them money or a variety of other actions which go beyond the appropriate scope of our jobs. Providing caring assistance, while maintaining appropriate boundaries, is one way we ‘incline toward the good.

Happy New Year...
Rabbi Min

If you or someone you know could benefit from JFS’ Jewish Community Chaplaincy Services or you would like to view the Grief and Loss Support Group schedule, please visit JFS’ website’s Community Chaplaincy and Calendar pages.

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JFS is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, a participating agency of United Way of Central New Mexico, and is supported by dozens of other organizations and hundreds of donors. Please visit www.jfsnm.org for more information.

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