Thanks to a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation, Handmaker will be hosting a monthly Shabbat Lunch & Learn program for older adults in our community. This year-long outreach program begins this fall, on the second Friday of each month. This program is part of an effort by the Jewish Community to connect or re-connect with older adults who are isolated, in part due to the pandemic.
Participants will enjoy a delicious kosher lunch, followed by a talk on healthy aging-related topics with experts in our community. Topics may include Financial Wellness, Mindfulness and Aging, Managing Grief and Loss, and other opportunities to learn about programs available to them that support aging in place and congregant living options.
There will be some time for schmoozing before and after the program, for those who are interested. Participants will also have the option of pre-ordering and picking up Shabbat dinners to take home with them. Handmaker can help to arrange transportation through the Senior Transportation grant for those who require assistance. Handmaker residents are also invited to attend the lecture portion of the program.
For a full schedule of topics and dates, or to sign up for one or more lunches, please contact Nanci Levy at 520-322-3632 or nlevy@handmaker.org. Or, if you know an older adult who might be interested and/or benefit from this program, please contact Nanci and she will reach out to them. There is no cost to participate in this program, but reservations are required. Information about the lunches will also be listed in the weekly Jewish community eblast and at most local congregations.
And in other happy news, after more than three years of covering up smiles with surgical and N95 masks, masks are now optional for staff, residents, and visitors at Handmaker!
Masking has been an effective part of a long list of COVID protocols that Handmaker has been required to follow in order to keep Handmaker residents safe and healthy. On May 11th, with the declared end of the Federal Public Health Emergency (PHE), everything started to shift. And on Wednesday, May 31st, masks at Handmaker became optional.May 31st also happened to be National Smile Day, and since then, the smiles have been endless. It has been so fun to see what everyone looks like under their masks.
