JSSA Receives $10,000 to Help Holocaust Survivors
Earlier this month, JSSA received its second $10,000 grant from the Family & Nursing Care Foundation, a fund of the Community Foundation for Montgomery County to help Holocaust survivors by providing in-home care and support services from Premier Homecare.
“This grant will dramatically improve the quality of life for these older adults,” said Cindy Libby-Green, Executive Director of Premier Homecare. Premier employs Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) and Certified Medication Technicians (CMT) who assist with personal care, meal preparation, mobility assistance, and medication monitoring.
In Montgomery County, the average age of JSSA’s 459 Holocaust survivor clients is 86. Eighty-four percent are living near or below the federal poverty line. According to Libby-Green, approximately 90% of JSSA’s survivor clients have some limitations in performing daily activities.
One beneficiary of the grant is Josef Engel, a Holocaust survivor client who was once a renowned opera singer in Germany. His daughter is grateful that the grant will provide her father, who lives alone, with companionship and assistance with activities of daily living throughout the week that will allow him to age in place and with dignity.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to age in place according to their wishes, but especially this specific population, who have already been through so much. I feel compelled to ensure that they have the option to age where they want to, on their terms,” said Sandy Kursban, founder of Family & Nursing Care and the Family & Nursing Care Foundation.