Almost 100 guests joined JFCS Board and staff members as the agency debuted the Mobile Food Pantry to supporters on January 30.
Those in attendance were able to tour the truck and preview the client experience. Michelle Napell toasted the supporters gathered and thanked all for their cooperative effort in getting the Mobile Food Pantry on the road.
The Mobile Food Pantry became a reality through the support of corporate and individual founding sponsors who collectively donated over $335,000 towards the purchase, customization and stocking of the Mobile Food Pantry for its first year on the road. Representatives from several of the corporate supporters including Firmenich, NJM Insurance, Lennar Homes, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Church & Dwight, and the Wawa Foundation attended the launch event.
Both corporate and individual sponsors of the Mobile Food Pantry will be invited to volunteer at a distribution stop. The first distribution stops are scheduled in February at locations in Hamilton (Yardville), East Windsor and Hightstown with more being finalized.
JFCS hopes to utilize the truck to encourage more corporate volunteer and community engagement opportunities. Businesses can sponsor an individual distribution stop or become a named sponsor with logo placement on the truck for one year. Sponsorships include the option to use the partnership as a team building or employee service day by volunteering at a distribution stop. Supporters who commit at $5,000 or above will have the name and/or logo added to the truck for display. The Mobile Food Pantry also opens JFCS to the opportunity to park at local grocery stores or community partner locations to host a food drive to “stock the truck.”
If you’re interested in sponsorship or volunteering opportunities for the Mobile Food Pantry, contact Helaine Isaacs at HelaineI@jfcsonline.org or 609-987-8100 Ext 104.
Our Thanks to Founding Mobile Food Pantry Sponsors:
Much
has been said about the sudden death of basketball great, Kobe Bryant.
The
words we keep hearing are heartbreak, shock, devastating, hero and legend,
inspiration and grief.
Our
Princeton community had our own heartbreaking loss on December 24, when our
beloved Rabbi Adam Feldman passed away suddenly while on vacation with his
family in Hawaii. This left many, beyond the Jewish community, shocked and
devastated. He maintained very close friendships with members of the Princeton
Clergy Association, provided chaplaincy to the Princeton Police Department and
to patients at Penn Medicine Princeton Health hospital.
He
was a hero to Princeton Chief of Police Nicholas Sutter, who saluted as the
hearse left The Jewish Center for burial. He has inspired his B’nai Mitzvah
students, who have now been dedicating their Torah portion to him. As rabbi of
The Jewish Center, he tended to the spiritual needs of 500 families, offering
comfort and support during challenging times. Members of his congregation, who
already miss him so much, are grieving the loss of a dynamic, energetic,
engaged and very caring rabbi.
There
were 1,000 attendees at his funeral and about 2,000 more who joined by
live-video stream from all parts of the world. Quite a legacy for our local
rabbi.
Rabbi
Feldman adored sports, so he probably wouldn’t have minded being compared to a
basketball legend, although he was a 76ers fan.
How to Cope with Sudden Loss
A
message echoed from our community to news stories, the passing of Rabbi Feldman
and Kobe Bryant serves as a reminder that anything can happen at anytime. Grief
can be a challenging time, especially when it comes unexpectedly and without
notice.
Find a Support Group: Do not feel you have to cope alone. Find others to connect with and share in the grief process.
Do what feels right to you: Everyone processes loss differently and on personal timelines, if you are not ready to talk about the loss or join a group, then do not feel obligated. Always feel empowered to tell family and friends about how you are choosing to express your grief so they can support you in an appropriate way.
Write: You may find it helpful to write down your emotions or even write a letter to your loved one who has passed away. Writing is a safe space to express your range of emotions that can come with grief – sadness, anger, uncertainty.
Ask for help: Speak up to family and friends and let them know if you are having trouble processing your emotions. Look for resources in your community including support groups or individual therapy.
The JFCS team is here to support our community through challenging times with counseling and support. If you want to talk to a member of our team, call us at 609-987-8100.
A
healthy mindset is an essential component to overall wellness. If there are
personal, interpersonal, or environmental challenges affecting your outlook and
mental health, you can be held back from an overall fulfilled life. We all
experience ups and downs, and engaging in therapy, whether for recurring downs
or a short-term situation or crisis, can bring personal emotional growth and a
more satisfying life.
If
you are experiencing any of the following challenges, consider
reaching out and making an appointment with a therapist:
Relationship & Family Challenges
Do
you find yourself often annoyed or arguing with your partner? Are you having
trouble communicating with your children? Do you have trouble setting
boundaries with family?
Grieving the loss of a loved one
Have
you experienced loss? Loss can be more than the passing of a loved one, it
could be an estrangement or illness that has changed the lifestyle of our loved
one. Loss can lead to feelings of sadness, depression, loneliness and
isolation.
Depression
Depression
can look like many things – feeling excessively tired, isolated, sad, an
overall loss of interest in things you once enjoyed and difficulty
concentrating. If you can identify that one or more of these symptoms is
affecting your day to day life, it can be a sign of depression.
Similar
to depression, chronic anxiety can show itself in many ways – worrying,
constantly thinking about past situations, overthinking and catastrophizing
(thinking the worst will occur in current or future situations)
Trauma
Trauma
deeply affects individuals who experience it and can be from domestic violence,
sexual abuse or assault, life threatening incidents or other negative impactful
events.
Immigration Concerns
The
fear of deportation – for an individual or for their loved one – can deeply
impact day to day mental health.
Medical Issues
Dealing with the diagnosis of a serious illness for yourself or a
loved one or the responsibility of caring for a family member with a
serious illness or chronic condition can be very draining on one’s mental
wellbeing.
If you are ready to look for a therapist in your area, JFCS is
here for residents of Mercer County to provide individual, compassionate care
with licensed therapists. Our therapists can help you through the difficult
times. Consider making that call to take a step towards a healthier lifestyle.
Does your heart beat faster ahead of that big test or
presentation at work? Do your palms get sweaty when confronted with an
overwhelming task or looming event?
If anxiety is impacting your day to day life, it is
important to recognize the signs as well as your triggers. Signs of anxiety can
include intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday
situations (Did I reply to that email? Did that person misunderstand my
tone? Did I pay that bill? Should I have said something different to my child/spouse/coworker/friend?);
fast heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating, and sometimes feeling tired.
Common triggers for anxiety include existing and/or ongoing
health issues, financial problems, negative thinking, stress, social events,
school or employment.
In order to cope with recurring anxiety it can be beneficial
to eat balanced meals, exercise, and limit alcohol and caffeine intake.
When you find yourself in a moment of heightened anxiety, try
these approaches:
4 – 7 – 8 Breathing Exercise:
The following steps should be carried out in the cycle of a
single breath
First, let your lips part. Make a whooshing sound, exhaling
completely through your mouth.
Next, close your lips, inhaling silently through your nose
as you count to four in your head.
Then, for seven seconds, hold your breath.
Make another whooshing exhale from your mouth for eight
seconds.
The Five Senses
Exercise:
Take a breath and look around you, wherever you are,
try to notice…
5 things that you can see,
4 things that you can feel,
3 things that you can hear,
2 things that you can smell,
And 1 thing you can taste.
This technique can help focus your senses on your
surroundings instead of your anxiety.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation:
Identify a specific muscle group –
your hands, arms, neck, shoulder – and hold that muscle tense for five seconds
then release. Work head-to-toe, tensing and releasing your muscles. By
honing in on each group, you will better understand all of the muscles that can
be affected by anxiety.
When you’re feeling anxious on a regular basis, about
recurring commitments or events, a long-term option to help reduce your
symptoms is journaling. Journaling can be narrative, as in jotting down a few
experiences you had during the day and how those events, interactions or
moments of inspiration made you feel. You can also try gratitude journaling, making
a note of the things you experience during the day for which you are grateful.
You can choose and vary how long that list is each day and how much detail you
want to write.
What if journaling and breathing exercises are not
helping?
Occasional anxiety is an expected part of life, however,
anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry or fear. For a person with
an anxiety disorder, the anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time.
If symptoms interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school
work, or relationships, the best step for you is to seek therapeutic services.
Grant Awarded to JFCS by Janssen to support partnership program with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton
In April 2019, Robert Wood
Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJ) launched Healthy Lives Hamilton,
a program designed to improve quality of life for those living with heart
failure. Through a generous grant by Janssen
Pharmaceuticals, JFCS is now teaming up with RWJ to bring our geriatric
care management skills to offer Healthy Lives Hamilton Plus.
Studies have shown that providing home visits and early
intervention upon discharge for patients with a diagnosis of heart failure have
significantly lowered the risk of readmission. JFCS will provide the services
of a geriatric care manager to discharged RWJ heart failure patients. Our care
manager and a registered nurse will assess the patients in their homes within
24-72 hours post discharge.
The home visit allows the care team to provide health
literacy skills so the patient and caregiver may better understand basic health
information and services to make informed health decisions. These include
medication usage, side effects and discharge instructions. A home visit also
allows the RN to gather information firsthand about which medications are being
taken regularly, and to better identify barriers to medication compliance or
exacerbating factors such as high sodium foods in the kitchen. The goals of
these initial visits are to increase adherence to the discharge plan,
compliance with the new medication regimen, and identify resources that are
needed including home care, medical equipment and/or assistive devices.
Our care manager will assess for activities of daily living, safety, transportation, and the level of caregiver support. Equipping patients with the necessary education and tools at home allows for the early detection of avoidable problems, improving their quality of life and reducing the likelihood of readmission.
In Mercer County, almost 40,000 men, women and children lack
consistent access to enough food to lead healthy, active lives. Often, they
don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
For 20 years, JFCS has maintained a brick-and-mortar
healthy, choice pantry at our Alexander Road offices. The JFCS Yvette Sarah
Clayman Kosher Food Pantry is one of several resources in the community;
however, we recognized that many have difficultly accessing these existing food
pantries and food banks due to limitation in transportation options, mobility
concerns and other obstacles.
The JFCS Mobile Food Pantry will bring the resources of the JFCS pantry on the road to locations across Mercer County. At each location, JFCS will park the fully-stocked truck and distribute groceries to those in need.
When patrons come to the JFCS pantry, they are provided with
guidelines by which to shop and select items. We utilize USDA nutrition
standards for a balanced diet in setting parameters for food selection. Every
patron is allowed the shop privately in the pantry and make their choice of
products in the various categories – grains, proteins, produce, dairy, etc. –
to best meet their dietary needs and preferences.
In designing the mobile experience, we remained committed to
replicating the healthy, choice-based, individualized experience for those
using the Mobile Food Pantry. The Mobile Food Pantry includes two refrigerators
and a freezer to stock fresh and frozen produce, meats, and dairy products,
along with standard shelf-staples. In the mobile experience, patrons will be provided
a shopping list and make selections based on their family size and personal
preference of products.
The Mobile Food Pantry will be making scheduled stops at
established locations in Mercer County including churches, daycare centers,
low-income housing and low-income senior housing. We are partnering with
designated sites so our patrons will not be forced to wait outside during
inclement or extreme weather conditions. Volunteers staffing each distribution
site will be there to “shop” the Mobile Food Pantry based on the completed
lists and bring the bagged order to patrons waiting inside the partner facility
or even directly to their apartment.
The first distribution stops of the JFCS Mobile Food Pantry
will be announced this month and will focus on existing partners in Princeton,
West Windsor, East Windsor and Hightstown.
Meals on Wheels is known across the
country for delivering hot meals directly into the hands of older adults. The
program is designed for those who face challenges in accessing nutritious, hot
meals due to limited mobility and/or limited income.
Why Kosher?
Meals on Wheels is an
incredible resource to aging adults who need the accessibility and nutritional
resource; however, older Jewish adults could not turn to Meals on Wheels if
they wished to maintain a Kosher diet. Kosher Meals on Wheels (KMOW) fills that
gap and allows Jewish seniors to maintain their traditions, bringing a sense of
comfort as they age.
JFCS delivers Kosher Meals
on Wheels to Jewish seniors in West Windsor, East Windsor, Hightstown, Hamilton,
Princeton and Plainsboro. Deliveries are made twice a week and include 5 total
meals, one for each day of the week. The hot, Kosher meals are prepared by our
partner Greenwood House then
distributed by JFCS volunteers to our local communities. Greenwood House staff
and volunteers deliver KMOW to those in the Trenton, Lawrenceville, and Ewing
communities. Meals are $25 per week and some scholarships are available.
Call us at 609-987-8100 to learn
more about how to receive KMOW deliveries.
Interested in delivering more than
a meal to seniors?
We are always looking for motivated
volunteers to serve as KMOW drivers for our local seniors. The older adults who
receive meal deliveries look forward to the friendly face and short
conversation – many recipients face isolation as well as nutrition challenges
as they age. Our volunteers are valuable eyes and ears on the ground for our
staff, regularly reporting back if there are visible concerns of declining health
or living conditions. Our staff has been able to intervene quickly and provide
additional support to the senior in cases where a volunteer has provided
valuable feedback.
If you are interested in becoming a
KMOW delivery driver, contact our Volunteer Coordinator Eden Aaronson at EdenA@jfcsonline.org.
For non-Jewish seniors who do not
need Kosher meals, connect with Meals on Wheels to find
delivery options in your community.
2019 is
quickly coming to an end and the New Year is right around the corner.
The end of
every year end brings a sense of reflection, but when we stand at the precipice
of an entire new decade, we are even more prone to contemplation.
Although I
was not a part of JFCS 10 years ago, in my four years as Executive Director I
can see that JFCS is not the agency it was in 2010. I am incredibly proud of
how the agency – our Board of Directors, our dedicated staff members, and the
community of supporters who make our work possible – have all adapted to the
changing needs in Mercer County.
In the
last year, the agency has made incredible strides expanding the reach of our
programs to better serve those in need of mental health counseling, seniors in
need of supportive services to remain in their homes, and individuals and
families desperately in need of access to nutritious resources found in our
food pantry.
What will the new year and new decade
bring for JFCS?
The
possibilities are endless but I do know that….
Our
counseling department will continue to grow and be available to those who need
therapy. Our team includes bilingual counselors who can provide mental health
therapy in Spanish. Additionally, JFCS is one of the handful of options in
Greater Mercer County available to individuals who have Medicare, Medicaid or
are uninsured.
The senior services team remains dedicated to older adults who wish to remain in their home as long as possible. They ensure that seniors can age with dignity through our array of elder care solutions – grocery delivery to homebound seniors, provision of nutritious meals to low-income seniors at Kosher Cafés, and comprehensive geriatric care through our membership programSecure@Home.
Our food pantry will expand beyond the office walls in 2020 with the official launch of theJFCS Mobile Food Pantry. The team at JFCS recognized the challenges people face in accessing the brick-and-mortar food pantries and food banks available in Mercer County, and developed a solution. JFCS is bringing the resources of our food pantry directly to the people who need it most.
I invite you to grow with our agency into the next decade – it is only through the dedication of our volunteers, our donors, our partners that our agency can continue to serve this community.
If
you and your family are having trouble paying bills, and seeking a resource to
keep food on the table, you will find a different approach at our on-site food
pantry. The Yvette Sarah Clayman Kosher Food Pantry is a healthy-choice pantry
open to anyone living in the Greater Mercer County.
What does it mean to be a choice pantry?
Your
individualized experience will be personal, confidential and respectful at our
food pantry. We stock our pantry with shelf staples, fresh and frozen dairy,
produce, eggs, meat and more. All items in our pantry have been stocked on the
direction of a registered dietitian to ensure we are providing healthy,
convenient options to all. Anyone who utilizes the pantry is allowed to select
the products that meet their personal preferences and dietary needs.
What does a pantry “shop” look like at JFCS?
Individuals
are provided private access to our pantry for a confidential “shopping”
experience. You will be provided guidelines for selecting quantities by
category (example grains include bread, pasta, rice; example dairy include
strong cheese, shelf stable milk, yogurt; etc.) determine by size of your
families (example: a family of 4 can select 4 grain products). A staff member
will help you with selections as well as packing your groceries into bags and
bringing them to your vehicle. Every visitor to our pantry will receive our
regular newsletter with recipes using the pantry resources and helpful tips for
healthy choices beyond our offerings.
Who can visit our food pantry?
If
you’re in an immediate crisis and need food for you or your family, our pantry
is open to anyone on an emergency basis. Call our offices at 609-987-8100 to
confirm we are open and let staff know you are in need of food. A staff member
will meet you and help you “shop” the pantry according to your needs. We will
also walk you through a brief assessment to see how we can further assist –
whether it is setting you up with a monthly shopping schedule at the pantry,
connecting you to one of our other programs or services OR making a connection
to an outside agency for help with employment, financial management or
applications to benefit programs.
Improving convenience with our Mobile Food Pantry.
The JFCS Mobile Food Pantry will be on the road soon. This fully stocked truck will include all the offerings of our on-site pantry, delivered directly to those who need it most. Email us to receive regular updates on the upcoming Mobile Food Pantry stops.
The holidays are a wonderful time for
families to gather and share in memories and traditions. However, meals around
the table can also spur on questions about the health of our aging family
members.
“Did Dad almost trip coming up his own
front step?”
“Did Nanna look this frail last year?”
“Does Uncle Stu seem more forgetful?”
Family gatherings can shine a light on
deteriorating health in our loved ones and be an opportunity to discuss senior
care options from in-home care to assisted living.
What
are signs your loved one needs help?
Some of the most common signs of concern
include*:
Changes in mood or extreme mood swings
Cluttered, dirty and/or disorganized house
Disheveled clothing / poor personal hygiene
Expired/spoiled groceries
Confusion and uncertainty when performing
once-familiar tasks
Forgetfulness
Loss of interest in activities
Trouble getting up from seated position
Unexplained bruises
How
to start the conversation?
As with many difficult topics, beginning
the discussion is often the hardest part. Open-ended questions are the best way
to encourage them to talk. Sit back and really listen to their answers.
These conversation starters may help:
How is it living at home alone? Do you still
feel safe? (OR give specific examples i.e. Are you concerned about the stairs?
Do you have trouble getting into the bath?)
Do you feel lonely sometimes? Would you like to
spend more time with people your own age?
How do you feel about driving? Would you be
interested in other options for transportation, so you don’t have to worry
about getting where you need to go, car maintenance costs, traffic, parking,
etc.?
Is it ever hard to manage your finances and keep
up with paying your bills?
Ever wonder about getting a helping hand with
housekeeping and laundry?
Would you feel less stress if you didn’t have to
worry about the house?
Speaking to your aging loved ones about care options
can be difficult, starting the conversation is the first step. Multiple
conversations may be needed to understand your loved one’s needs and wishes AND
balance those with the best options for a safe, comfortable and fulfilling
lifestyle. Remember these tips to have a helpful conversation each time:
Talk in person. This isn’t a
conversation to have by telephone if you can avoid it. Instead, pick a day when
you and your parent are well-rested and relaxed. Block out a time and a
location where you can talk without interruption.
Empathy, not sympathy. No older
adult wants their child to feel sorry for them. But empathy is another matter.
Your kind, calm voice and demeanor will show you care – and that you’re trying
to understand the fears and frustrations they may feel. The idea of accepting
in-home care or moving to a senior living community is tough. You begin to help
as soon as you really begin to listen.
Don’t rush. Once you’re armed with
knowledge, you may feel ready to make a decision. But your parent may need more
time. Allow them the time they need to find the words to express how they’re
feeling. Coming to an unpressured mutual agreement now will continue to pay
dividends as you move forward together.
Plan to talk again. And again. As
much as you might want to wrap things up in one conversation, the reality is this
will likely be a series of talks. Unless your aging family member is in eminent
danger, that’s okay. It’s a process, not a once-and-done discussion.
