Senior Bulletin

Jewish Family Services delivers hot meals for the Jewish New Year

On Sept. 17, Jews around the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. This is not the same type of celebration and festivities enjoyed on the eve of Jan. 1. It is a quiet time when we review our deeds from the past year with the hope of improving ourselves and our actions in the year to come. Rosh Hashanah serves as an annual reminder that we must constantly work at becoming better people throughout the year.

Rosh Hashanah helps us remember that those of us who are fortunate have the responsibility to make the world a better place for those who struggle — the power of compassion to repair our world. It is a tradition that is at the core of Jewish Family Services’ mission.

At a time when our friends and neighbors may be struggling to put food on their tables and keep roofs over their heads, it is up to every one of us to do what we can to help them. Throughout the year, JFS delivers hot kosher meals to the homebound elderly, hoping to make their holiday a little brighter. Not only will each person receive a hot, nutritious meal, they are also able to spend a few minutes talking with a caring volunteer, which serves as a great opportunity to share a story and/or just a few words that will last a lifetime!

If you are a homebound senior, JFS volunteers will bring a kosher Rosh Hashanah dinner to your home on Sunday, Sept. 16. To be included or to volunteer to deliver meals, please call JFS at 407-644-7593, extension 227, by Sept. 10. Clients of JFS’s collaborative Hospice of the Comforter program, Yad L’Hesed, are also eligible to receive these meals.

During the high holidays when we look at ourselves and look to how we can improve the world, I urge you to join JFS in our efforts. Learn more about JFS during our Evening of Valor fundraiser on Oct. 14; take up a food collection drive; volunteer to deliver meals to a home-bound elderly person this Sept. 16; or make a donation of time, money or other resources to help less fortunate members of the community. If you haven’t already done so, contact [email protected] and we’ll talk about how you can join us in making your corner of the world a better place for all.

JFS’ Holiday Connection program is an agency-funded program. A $25 donation will help offset the increasing fees and is always appreciated. If you would like to make a donation to the holiday meal delivery program, please visit us at http://bit.ly/BreakHunger while checks can be made payable to Jewish Family Services and mailed to JFS, The George Wolly Center, 2100 Lee Road, Winter Park, FL 32789.

Housing choice voucher waitlist opening

The housing choice voucher program is the federal government’s major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly and the disabled to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing in the private market. The Orange County Housing & Community Development Division will be accepting pre-applications to establish a waiting list of eligible applicants. This pre-application process will be open from Sept. 24 at 12:01 a.m. through Sept. 29 at 11:59 p.m. online at ocfl.net/waitinglist. For more information, please contact Ramona Rivera at 407-836-0922 or [email protected]

Caregiver survey

Caregiver Central is a self-assessment tool that provides users with a set of service recommendations and resources to several of the area’s providers. For information on caregiving resources visit tinyurl.com/CaregiverCentral

Free driver safety classes for veterans

To recognize and thank military veterans for their service, AARP Driver Safety is offering a free classroom course or 50 percent off the online course to all members of the U.S. Armed Forces — active duty, veteran, guard or reserve — regardless of age, from Nov. 1 -30. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/AARPDriverSaftey

Best cities for successful aging

The Milken Institute has published a ranking of the best cities (large and small metro areas) for successful aging. Orlando-Kissimmee was No. 77 out of 100 for best large metro area. Gainesville was ranked sixth on the small metro area list.

Sioux Falls, SD

Iowa City, IA

Bismarck, ND

Columbia, MO

Rochester, MN

Gainesville, FL

Ann Arbor, MI

Missoula, MT

Durham-Chapel Hill, NC

Rapid City, SD

Provo-Orem, UT

Madison, WI

Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

Salt Lake City, UT

Toledo, OH

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

Pittsburgh, PA

The new index is an empirical analysis that examines 78 factors that most affect seniors’ quality of life. These include not only health care, crime rates and weather but also economic and job conditions, housing, transportation and social engagement factors that help create a safe, affordable and connected community for seniors. With surveys showing that the vast majority of seniors want to age in place, the Institute included measurements that reflect their needs — and how well cities meet them. The index also recognizes the new economic and social reality that, especially for the 65-79 age group, many seniors want to continue paid employment.

Provo, Utah, the top city among the largest metros, scored high in a wealth of factors: its active, healthy lifestyle (the fewest fast-food outlets per capita); a No. 1 ranking in growth of small businesses; seven medical centers in the area, three of them magnet hospitals; and one of the highest numbers of volunteers per capita. The top-ranking smaller city, Sioux Falls, S.D., has hospitals that specialize in geriatric services, and its booming economy provides a strong financial base, with the highest employment rate among seniors among the 259 small cities.

“Cities need to be thinking about how best to make quality of life improvements for our rapidly-growing senior populations — and such improvements benefit all age groups,” says the Honorable Henry Cisneros, a member of the index’s advisory committee, and the former Secretary U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the former mayor of San Antonio, Texas. “What the Milken Institute’s index does for the first time is measure communities on the dimensions that matter most for seniors. It is a real breakthrough that will be vitally helpful for leaders in making policies, creating programs and reshaping communities.”

To see the whole list, visit successfulaging.milkeninstitute.org