“I haven’t been here since my grandmother lived here” is a comment frequently shared by visitors attending Handmaker’s recent community events. When they look around, they are usually amazed at how much Handmaker has changed since their last visit. What began as a 40-bed non-profit nursing home over 60 years ago is now a nearly 200-bed non-profit continuing care community. This is just one of the reasons Handmaker is thrilled to be able to host events for organizations in our community. It is an opportunity to reintroduce the community to the CMS Five-Star Quality-Rated Handmaker of today; the 2025 Arizona Daily Star Reader’s Choice Favorite Continuing Care Community, Assisted Living Facility, and Memory Care Facility.
On Monday, Oct. 20, the Handmaker Great Room was filled with 40+ women and girls from the community, gathered together for a monthly program organized by Rochie Leiter from the Tucson Torah Center.
While socializing with other women was a big draw for the event, the main purpose this month was to assemble care packages “filled with comfort, treats and heartfelt notes for the wives of IDF soldiers.”
Yuval Malka, from the Weintraub Israel Center at Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona, spoke about how traumatic it is for the entire family when soldiers go to war, and the comfort they would get from receiving these care packages from this group.
Everyone present put a lot of love and care into each gift, beautifully decorating the packaging and writing thoughtful notes, knowing how meaningful and healing they would be to those who received them.
JPSA’s Young Men’s group brought their families and friends to Handmaker on Friday, Oct. 24, for a post-Shabbat dinner singalong with Handmaker residents. The “Handmaker Handshakers” played some great live music and got everyone up and moving. One resident remarked, “I am not sure what is more fun to watch, the kids dancing or the musicians playing!”
On Nov. 2, Hadassah held its Annual Luncheon Meeting in the Handmaker Great Room featuring Dr. David Graizbord, Director of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona. Dr. Graizbord gave a talk on the challenges of being a young Jewish adult in the United States today, as distinct from being a Jew who is in their 70s and beyond, from a historical perspective.
And on Saturday, Nov. 22, the Tucson Torah Center will bring over 50 energized young people to Handmaker for a musical Havdalah and improv comedy featuring Dr. Juda Alcabes. Handmaker residents are invited to attend.
Handmaker is happy to host organizational events, especially those that include Handmaker residents, and to offer catering by Mae’s Kosher Kitchen. It is an opportunity to reacquaint the community with Handmaker, for residents to engage with the community, and for everyone to sample the Handmaker Great Room’s new AV System, installed thanks to a Community Impact Grant from JPSA. Contact Nanci Levy at [email protected] for more information about hosting your organization’s event at Handmaker.
