Hillel at Gallaudet University 
Q & A with Paula E. Tucker, Ed.S. - Executive Director 

Primary Focus of the Agency:  

• Provide religious services
• Celebrate Jewish holidays
• Offer Jewish cultural events, guest speakers
• Provide information to students about Israel activities, volunteering, tzedakah activities
• Act as a resource of “all things Jewish” to the Gallaudet University Community

Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

The Jewish community (students, staff, faculty) at Gallaudet University.

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. "We make a difference in our students' lives."

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. Students coming to Gallaudet from more diverse language backgrounds – not all are fluent signers, and they need to be integrated into the larger deaf community.

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. Have a full-time religious leader.

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. Hillel at Gallaudet is often the first opportunity that deaf students have to talk about Judaism in American Sign Language.  Every year we have a large seder, done in both American Sign Language and spoken English.  I have had students tell me that it was the first time they’d ever understood what it was all about.

The other proud accomplishment is being recognized by the University as an important and integral part of our recruitment and retention efforts, and having the Admissions office refer Jewish parents directly to me when they ask about Jewish life on campus. 

Agency Contact Information:

800 Florida Ave., NE
SLCC 1118
Washington, DC 20002

Email: hillel@gallaudet.edu

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Washington DCJCC 
Q & A with Carole R. Zawatsky - CEO

Primary Focus of the Agency:  

• Build and preserve Jewish identity through the arts, education, community service, early childhood education and LGBT and family programming.
• Fullfill the needs of the Jewish community while creating an open and inviting atmosphere for all residents of the metropolitan area.
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Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

Consumers of culture and residents of the Washington DC Metropolitan area, from infants and toddlers (and their caregivers) in our Parenting Center, to preschoolers and campers, to the young professionals of EntryPoint DC, volunteers in our Morris Cafritz Center for Community Service, and the seniors who participate in the Behrend-Adas Senior Lunch Fellowship.

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. There’s something incredibly warm about it…the J is the one place I can go and just be me, and feel totally comfortable…I think that we live in a world where it is difficult to feel a sense of place and community. The Washington DCJCC solves that problem. DCJCC member

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. If Jewish Community Centers are to remain relevant and appeal to a future generation we must have an intimate understanding of the DIY generation that is filling our community. It is a generation of folks who are interested in change, reshaping what was, and acting out their Judaism in public, deeply creative ways. They are a generation most interested in experiencing their Judaism in non-traditional venues. And most of all, they are a generation that, when left with any void, will step up and fill it.

The Jewish community of today is looking to connect with their identity through multiple access points: film, visual arts, theater, and yes, even fitness in a Jewish setting. In order to be relevant we must inspire innovation. The Jewish Community Center must be able to give people the opportunity to use Jewish values, text and ritual on an everyday stage and in their everyday lives. It is no longer about compartmentalizing our Jewishness to the home. We bring our Jewishness into the public sphere where we can be fully-integrated political, spiritual, and social beings.

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. I would love for the DCJCC to be an incubator for young Jewish artists, musicians, educators, etc. The “Apple” of Jewish life, innovating the way we experience and consume Jewishness to a future generation.

Oh, and I’d love to raise the roof with song, laughter, joy and gardening.

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. It’s been a short tenure so far. I arrived in July and in very quick succession dealt with an earthquake, a hurricane, the start of a new preschool year, and many other things that can both be planned for and those that pop up when you aren’t looking. I am quite proud of fostering the new partnership among the region’s three JCCs. By extending DCJCC membership benefits to members of JCCGW and JCC NOVA, we are eliminating barriers for suburban members of our community to enjoy working out while working downtown, participating in our Literary, Film or Music Festival or enjoying a Theater J subscription.

Q. Do you have a great constituent story?

A. Here is an excerpt from a recent email to our staff that makes me smile:

“I've been playing mah jongg with a group of women I met at the J. I love it...although we still play too slowly, we play quite happily. I'm forever grateful for your patience as I learned to play. I often tell people -- if an African American woman can go to a Jewish community center to learn a Chinese game, the world is on the right track!  xoxo, Deborah”

Q. Which Federation & community partners does your agency work with?

A. The Washington DCJCC works with more than 275 partner organizations each year including JFGW, its partner agencies, local community organizations, and the local synagogues and schools.

Agency Contact Information:

1529 16th St. NW
Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 
202-518-9400

Fax:
202-518-9420

Website:
washingtondcjcc.org

Facebook: facebook.com/WashingtonDCJCC
Twitter: twitter.com/16thstreetj
Blog: washingtondcjcc.org/blog

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Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA)
Q & A with Ken Kozloff - CEO

Primary Focus of the Agency:

For more than 118 years JSSA has been providing professional and compassionate care through a wide range of services:

• Counseling and care management
• Employment and career services
• In-home support
• Hospice and nursing care
• Social service

JSSA serves all those who turn to us in need regardless of religious or economic background.

Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

From the youngest child to the most frail senior, JSSA helps people cope with a wide variety of emotional, social and physical challenges. JSSA serves and supports nearly 35,000 individuals and families throughout the metro DC area annually.

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. JSSA saved my family. Recently a client called me personally to thank JSSA for the counseling he and his family received while going through a difficult divorce. He told me that because of the services he received from JSSA staff that he and his family felt whole again. What greater praise could there be than that?

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. One area that JSSA is continually focusing our attention on is ensuring that we keep pace with the increasing demand for our services. As changes due to the economic downturn impact the entire healthcare industry (particularly in the area of reimbursement), JSSA must work diligently to provide for the ever-growing need for services with the same quality care that has been our hallmark for more than a century. Demographic change is also an important issue. More and more seniors are turning to JSSA each year for care management, homemaker and nursing care and counseling services. We must be prepared to do all we can to meet the needs of this particularly vulnerable population.

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. We dream big at JSSA every day – we have to in order to ensure that we are reaching as many clients in need as possible! That said, I do wish that we could, once and for all, eliminate our mental health waiting list. Right now we have a longer waiting list than ever before -- more than 200 people,  mostly children and teens. With the economic downturn, raising donor dollars has become more difficult, and funding from local and state sources has decreased. Our clinicians are already stretched to the limit as far as seeing more clients daily. Without additional funding, we cannot hire additional staff to further reduce our waiting list.  I would love for JSSA to be in a position to provide services to an even greater number of people in need.

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. I am most proud of the amazing work our professional team does each and every day. They know the need is immense – and that it will continue to grow. They are always ready and willing to do whatever it takes to guarantee that all who turn to JSSA can receive the help they need.  And by “our team” I mean everyone at JSSA - our social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists who help those facing emotional challenges; our career and vocational counselors who are helping our community get back to work;  our hundreds of dedicated volunteers  who visit the ill, bring hot meals to the elderly, or deliver holiday baskets to those in need; our board and committee members; our nursing and hospice team and the many who work behind the scenes to make sure our agency remains strong and secure. The entire JSSA team goes above and beyond - all the time - and they inspire me every day.

Q. Do you have a great constituent story?

A. One constituent story?  JSSA has thousands of real life stories – stories of hope, stories of empowerment, stories of change. For instance, there’s Ethan’s story – a young boy of eight who thanks to JSSA’s Northern Virginia Camp Shalom social skills program made his first friend last summer! There’s Arlene’s story, a divorced mother of two (with one child with special needs) who lost her job and was beginning to lose hope until she found JSSA. She received career coaching and attended our interview skills workshop and has since found a job, self-reliance and even a parent support group that helps her cope with her son’s many challenges. And there’s Harry’s story. Harry lost his beloved wife to cancer two years ago. He was so touched by the compassionate care of our JSSA hospice team that he agreed to share his story with hundreds last year at our annual fundraising Gala. I will never forget Harry’s stirring words and his heartfelt praise of the hospice social workers and nurses who cared for his wife during her last weeks.

Q. Which Federation & community partners does your agency work with?

A. At JSSA we deeply value our sense of community. We partner and support other community agencies, and we learn and grow together.  JSSA works collaboratively with a large number of agencies including synagogues, schools, community centers, institutions, and support organizations. JSSA is particularly proud of its longstanding collaboration with Federation – our single largest annual “donor.” Federation is committed to helping us meet our community’s diverse challenges. An example is our still somewhat new initiative – JLink (www.jssa.org/jlink  or jlink@jssa.org) a partnership program funded by Federation that brings free JSSA career and counseling services into our community making it easier for those individuals and families impacted by unemployment or financial distress to access confidential, accessible assistance.

Agency Contact Information:

Main office: 
The Ina Kay Building
200 Wood Hill Road
Rockville, MD 20850

Rockville:
Montrose Road office
6123 Montrose Road
Rockville, MD 20852

Silver Spring:
9900 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20902

Northern Virginia:
3018 Javier Road
Fairfax, VA 22031

Phone: 

- Maryland

• General: 301-838-4200
• Client Intake: 301-816-2633

- Northern Virginia

• General: 703-204-9100
• Client Intake: 703-896-7918

Fax:
Maryland: 301-309-2596

Virginia: 703-204-9590

Website:
www.jssa.org

Email:
contactus@jssa.org

JLink:

Maryland: 301-610-8413
Virginia: 703-896-7917
Email: jlink@jssa.org
www.jssa.org/jlink

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Capital Camps & Retreat Center
Q & A with David Phillips - President & CEO

Primary Focus of the Agency:

• Jewish overnight camp for children and staff ages 8 through 25.
• Retreat and conference venue and program provider.

Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

For our camp program we target youth as both campers and staff (the research show how impactful summer camp is on young adults as well as children).  Retreat services can be for any age from children, teens and families to adults in their eighties.

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. We strive for excellence and more often than not get there.

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. Camp – significant cultural shifts have already impacted camping and we need to remain on the cutting edge.  We see parents wanting their children to return home having acquired a new skill and made life-long friends.  How children play and socialize in an ever changing monitored and supervised world may also drive camp content (we are one of the few places where children can get dirty and play without parents watching).  Finally, technology and the desire from parents and some children to remain ‘in-touch’ will offer opportunities and challenges! 

Retreat – with demand strong and increasing as groups and organizations discover the power of an immersive ‘out of city’ experience, we see more groups choosing to retreat.  We also predict that there will be stronger demand for programs that connect people and challenge them to improve themselves, all while engaging in a social environment.

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. We already seem to dream pretty big, however, we do have a list of exciting capital and program options that will keep us on the cutting edge of camp and retreat services.  For example, we want to build a spiritual center for contemplation and prayer, we want to invest in environmental/science education.  From a macro perspective we want to remain on the cutting edge of programmatic options for children and adults.  Truthfully, we have a pretty good list should anyone be interested!

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. It’s tough to identify one specific thing as our growth has been pretty broad over the last 10 years.  Principally I think of the impact we have on children, adults and groups as its mind-blowing and a constant source of wonder.  Changing so much of our physical surroundings and retaining the warmth and caring is another piece.  Lastly, the mutually respectful relationship developed between lay-leaders and staff is something truly special.

Q. Do you have a great constituent story?

A. We have over nine thousand stories every year! One that sticks out is the family who had sent their children to us for three years and had been generous enough to contributed to our scholarship fund. Following the economic downturn, both parents lost their jobs and they called to say neither of their children could come to camp. The parents were absolutely devastated as both children looked forward to camp during the entire school year. We encouraged them to apply for a scholarship and as a result, the children joined us again, blissfully unaware of the situation.

Q. Which Federation & community partners does your agency work with?

A. Everyone! We serve and are proud partners with the vast majority of Jewish organization, institution, synagogue, Jewish Community Centers and Day Schools.

Agency Contact Information:

Administrative Address: 
11300 Rockville Pike, Suite 407,
Rockville, MD 20852

Phone:
301-468-2267

Fax:
301-468-1719

Website:
Camp: www.capitalcamps.org
Retreat: www.capitalretreat.org
Agency: www.campandretreat.org

Facebook:
Camp: http://www.facebook.com/CapitalCampsPA
Retreat: http://www.facebook.com/CapitalRetreatCenter

Twitter:
Camp: @Capitalcamps
Retreat: @Capitalretreat

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Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington
Q & A with Executive Director Michael Feinstein

Primary Focus of the Agency:

• Providing a vibrant, inclusive and welcoming environment for our community to engage with Jewish culture, ideas and values – and each other, the broader community and Israel
• Building and expanding our core program areas of early childhood education, camp and youth programs, and fitness and recreation.
• Delivering excellent customer service

Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

While we seek to engage the entire community – from babies to bubbes – our primary target audience is families with young children.

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. That we listen to and care about our members, and act on their needs and concerns.

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. There are two primary trends that have a significant impact on our future direction. The first is the increasing geographic dispersion of the Jewish population in Montgomery County that will move us to become a Center without walls in order to engage our community where they live.

The second is the fact that our community has so many opportunities to participate in the broader community and many choose not to participate in the Jewish community. Many of the reasons behind the founding mission of JCCs are no longer relevant. We will need to provide new and multiple points of entry that support Jewish discovery in ways that are individually meaningful and respect individual preferences.

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. We would be serving the Montgomery County Jewish community through a network of satellite locations that provide preschool, afterschool and recreational programs, and an off-site day camp.

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. The accomplishment of which I am most proud has been in the way our board and staff came together to turn the JCCGW around from an agency that was losing money and participants to one that is financially stable with a growing preschool and camp, and fitness and arts programs.

Q. Do you have a great constituent story?

A. A group of members worked out in the fitness center at the same time every day, but didn’t really know each other. When one stopped showing up the others inquired of our staff. It turned out that the member was in the hospital. The other members asked where he was being treated and then wrote him cards and visited him. I don’t think that happens often in commercial fitness centers. That’s the kind of community you find at our Center.

Q. Which Federation & community partners does your agency work with?

A.

• BBYO
• Capital Camps & Retreat Center 
• Charles E. Smith Life Communities
• Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA) 
• Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia 
• Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington 
• Jewish Council for the Aging 
• Jewish Foundation for Group Homes 
• Jewish Social Service Agency 
• Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning 
• Washington DC Jewish Community Center

Agency Contact Information:

Address: 
6125 Montrose Road
Rockville, MD 20852

Phone:
301-881-0100

Fax:
301-881-5512

Website:
www.jccgw.org

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/JCCGW

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Jewish Foundation for Group Homes
Q & A with Executive Director Vivian G. Bass

Primary Focus of the Agency:

• To enable adults with disabilities to be valued, independent, and integrated members of the community
• To provide support to individuals and their families who are currently on our waiting list
• To help educate and sensitize the public regarding inclusion of individuals with disabilities into the fabric of their community
• To provide an opportunity for individuals to experience a meaningful Jewish Life

Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

The Jewish Foundation for Group Homes (JFGH), established in 1982, is a community based program supporting men and women, age 18 and older, with intellectual and other developmental disabilities including: autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, and learning disabilities, visual, hearing, and mobility impairments, and emotional/ behavioral conditions, and/or chronic mental illness.

Additionally, we provide informational programs, recreational activities, ongoing consultation and an array of other services for applicants and their families who are on JFGH’s Waiting List.

 

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. “It (the JFGH group home) just looks like any other home in the neighborhood…...”  No statement could exemplify the mission of JFGH more. Key to our mission is the integration of our residents into the fabric of the community and their residences truly exemplify that value.  JFGH and its residents take tremendous pride in their homes and value the mutually beneficial and cordial relationships they share with their neighbors. Those we support in homes, apartments and other living arrangements throughout the metropolitan area, have become respected and integrated members of their neighborhood. They are welcomed at area synagogues, men’s clubs and sisterhoods as together they celebrate living, learning, and loving Judaism .  We are also an integral part of the community, enhancing the lives of others at Federation Super Sunday, Mitzvah Days, Humane Societies…etc.

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. 

• Persons with intellectual and other developmental disabilities are living far longer than had been the case in previous decades.  JFGH continues to explore collaborative opportunities for supporting individuals as they “age in place.”
• Continually declining government funding and economic uncertainties are affecting JFGH.  Additionally, the status of health care and government entitlements directly impacts the agency as well as the individuals we support.
• There is a greater complexity of disabilities among those we support.  JFGH’s clientele has more precarious medical concerns and maladaptive behaviors requiring more highly skilled staff, more specialized training and more supervisory oversight.
• The repertoire of service delivery models is expanding considerably. In addition to the `traditional group home model’ there are a myriad of services offering support such as those for individuals living in residences that they or their family own.  JFGH provides a multitude of support options.
• Greater attention is being directed to the transition from school to adult life to focus on what appropriate services are in place “when the school bus stops coming.”

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. While eliminating our lengthy waiting list surely appears unattainable, we wish we had the ability to support all those on our waiting list, with the service model of their choice…. regardless of finances.  And, this substantial expansion, structured with the necessary administrative oversight growing exponentially, would be executed gradually without compromising the superior quality of care provided to our current residents and without affecting our ability to continue to balance our budget every year.

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. JFGH is truly blessed to be embraced by the unconditional devotion of multiple generations of benefactors, donors and volunteers. We cherish the loyalty and passion of the early benefactors and friends who believed in our founders, Joy and Bob Cohen’s vision nearly 30 years ago and ensure that they remain actively engaged with JFGH. Simultaneously we continually have a steady influx of new, younger families who have made JFGH an increasingly important part of their lives.  Multiple generations contribute their time, talents and treasuries to JFGH.  The lives of our residents as well as the young adult clients of JFGH’s Sally and Robert Goldberg Maryland-MOST™  (Meaningful Opportunities for Successful Transitions)Program are enriched by interactions with our individuals and volunteer groups including those in the “Grandparents Brigade” as well as in “JFGH Juniors” representing ages 5 to 95.  Our Annual “family friendly” Galas regularly include well over 200 children under the age of 15 in attendance.

Q. Do you have a great constituent story?

A. In the late 1990s The State of Maryland closed Great Oaks Center, a large institution in Silver Spring, Md. located on the grounds where Riderwood Village/Ericson Community now exists.  At that time, JFGH was serving residents with mild to moderate needs.  Subsequent to an internal feasibility study and consultation with Federation and sister human service agencies, JFGH made the bold decision to overcome the architectural and attitudinal barriers and move forward with supporting individuals with complex, multiple disabilities. The Lorita and Murry Mendelson Home became the first of other JFGH homes and programs to support individuals with very significant needs.

When interviewing the parents of a man in his late 30s who had been institutionalized for nearly all of his life, I asked them a routine question – What is your son’s Hebrew name? The father burst into tears.  After gaining composure, he and his wife told me that they couldn’t perceive that anyone had ever “thought of him as a Jew before.”  Fifteen years later, the JFGH residents formerly of Great Oaks Center are thriving in their kosher home, rich with Jewish customs and traditions.

Q. Which Federation & community partners does your agency work with?

A. JFGH collaborates with essentially all Federation partner agencies and day schools as well as with dozens of synagogues.  Additionally, JFGH partners with a growing number of secular human service agencies.  JFGH is the second largest Project CHANGE AmeriCorps site in Montgomery County.  Members of the JFGH senior management team, residents and board hold leadership positions in Jewish and/or secular organizations locally, nationally and internationally.

Agency Contact Information:

JFGH gives a “whole new definition” to the concept of multiple locations. We provide support to individuals in 71 different locations including homes, apartments, and other living arrangements as well as at our headquarters.
Address:
Headquarters – Joy W. and S. Robert Cohen Building
1500 East Jefferson Street
Rockville, Md. 20852
Phone 301-240-6000
Fax 240-715-9137
Website www.jfgh.org

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Washington DCJCC
Q & A with Executive Director Arna Meyer Mickelson

Primary Focus of the Agency:

• Building and preserving Jewish identity through the arts, outreach, education, GLBT and Family programming
• Fulfilling the needs of the Jewish community while creating an open and inviting atmosphere for all residents of the metropolitan area
• Creating community through connections with creative programming of all kinds

Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

The Washington DCJCC serves the Jews of the District as well as the greater Washington area in addition to those of all faiths and ethnicities seeking connection and understanding with the Jewish community.

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. “In short, it’s been a privilege for me to be a part of this wonderful renewal, and to continue a bond first established by my parents, whom I greatly revered. I have confidence the DCJCC will continue to thrive and enhance life in Washington.”
—Katharine Graham, Philanthropist, May 2001

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. One of the biggest trends in our industry today is the role of technology in our multiple business and the uses they have and will have in ways that we can not begin to predict.

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. One thing that has been important to me is that we never feel that the dreams that we dreamt for this agency have been fulfilled—that we are complete, that we are finished—there is a stagnation that comes with being finished that I never want to see here at the Center.  We must continue to expand the dream as we focus on our future—be it the expansion for critically needed space or the continued expansion of program—we must remain courageous and bold.  Proud of what we have accomplished here but ready to take on the new challenges of the next 10 years.  Excellence is something that can be lost.  We must continually seek our next opportunities for growth and we must be dogged in the pursuit of excellence.

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. The purchase and renovation of the building at 16th and Q streets NW. Taking the building that was originally built in the 1920s as the JCC for Washington DC and had stood derelict and deserted for a number of years and renewing and reconceiving that dream. Our return to the Dupont neighborhood also heralded the revitalization of the entire area that now has become a home to families, businesses and other organizations that have turned the area East of Dupont Circle into a community in the best sense of the word. I had a clear vision and I truly knew it could be done. Like the movie, “Field of Dreams,” I believed “build it and they will come!” To ensure the realization of this dream, I learned how to be an architect, developer, builder, interior designer, hard-hat tour guide, fundraiser, public relations person, lobbyist, cheerleader, and coach.

Q. Do you have a great constituent story?

A. Anne Reich, a leader in the Federation, died last year and I thought of her family and the many ways in which the Center touched their lives and the way Anne herself touched the lives of so many in our community—residents of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes, the 3 JCCs, the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning, Hillels, JCADA and a dozen other Jewish projects and institutions.  Anne’s husband was the director of the Health Club here at the Center in the very first days, her daughter Daryl started the first gallery here, when this building was what became the Rockville JCC, her son-in-law Lee was one of the chairs of our campaign and our  building committee in the 1990, her grandson, Barton created and donated the water sculpture—that he dedicated to Anne—which sits directly outside our front doors and her great grandchildren now join their parents and grandparents volunteering with our community service department and attending our arts programs..  Anne’s initial gift made this Center possible. It is a personal pleasure, that her family, throughout its generations has valued the Center and our community organizations. Anne’s story and the importance of the Center in her family’s lives is played out hundreds of times in this Center.

Q. Which Federation & community partners does your agency work with?

A. The Washington DCJCC works with over 275 partner organizations each year including JFGW, its partner agencies and the local synagogues and schools.

Agency Contact Information:

Address: 1529 16th St. NW, Washington DC 20036 
Phone: 202-518-9400
Fax: 202-518-9420
Website: http://washingtondcjcc.org
Facebook: http://facebook.com/WashingtonDCJCC
Twitter: @16thstreetj
Blog: http://washingtondcjcc.org/blog

JCA® - Jewish Council for the Aging®
Q & A with Executive Director David Gamse

Primary Focus of the Agency:

• Help all seniors thrive!
• Provide access, answers and activities for seniors and their caregivers throughout the Greater Washington, DC area.
• Offer comprehensive information services, essential employment assistance, safe transportation alternatives, compassionate adult day programs and more.

Primary Target Audience(s)/Clientele You Serve:

The JCA serves older adults and their family caregivers in Washington, DC, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia.  While our Jewish heritage and values guide our vision and work, we serve seniors of all faiths, ethnicities and income levels.

Q. What is the nicest thing anyone ever said about your agency?

A. Recently a jobseeker who found a new career via one of the many award-winning JCA Senior Employment Programs said "You restored my hope. Is there any greater gift than that?"

Q. What are the industry trends that will most greatly impact the direction or focus of your work in the next three to five years?

A. Demographics:  The aging of America and our local Jewish community means that “staying even” is falling behind.

Diversity of need:  The Jewish Council for the Aging represents so many different things to the men and women we proudly serve! 

• To the isolated senior with no means of getting around town, we are the smiling ElderBus driver who cheerfully helps with canes, walkers and wheelchairs and even carries packages. Sometimes, the casual banter between rider and driver is the only conversation the rider will have all day, or even all week. The JCA is more than just a ride. We are a friendly, caring face.
• For the independent adult over age 50 who is eager to stay active and involved, we are the face of a Senior Tech instructor – an over- 50 volunteer – who teaches computer and Internet use so instant messaging children and grandchildren and e-mailing the latest digital family photos becomes second nature. The JCA is more than just a place to learn.  We are a gateway to an exciting new world.
• For the older person who is unemployed and unable to find work, we are experts who assist in resume preparation, one-on-one job coaching and identifying job leads. 
• For many low-income seniors, we are the staff person who arranges on-the-job training through the JCA Senior Community Service Employment Program, enabling elders to receive minimum wages and additional needed benefits while learning marketable job skills. The JCA is more than just encouraging words. We offer the skills to ensure long-term success and self-reliance.
• For the concerned family member suddenly faced with overwhelming health or home care issues, we are the confident voice of a Senior HelpLine Information & Referral Specialist who understands precisely the services needed to care for a beloved parent or spouse and who can access the JCA’s unique, comprehensive database to locate those very services close to home. The JCA is more than just a provider of information. We are the source of real-world solutions to complex problems.
• To the senior who needs enhanced daytime support in a safe environment, we are the compassionate activity leader or geriatric aide at Misler Adult Day Center, offering not only stimulating things to do but well-trained eyes attuned to each participant’s unique physical and mental status. The JCA Misler Center as well as our new Kensington Club, a social day program for people in the early stages of diagnosed memory loss, is more than just a way to pass time.  We are a place where the joy of living each day is rediscovered.

We are different faces in various places, but united in our mission of helping seniors experience the positive side of aging.

Seniors’ invisibility:  Many older adults who become ill, confused or frail simply disappear.  They become forgotten elders in our midst – too proud to seek help and too isolated to be remembered.  Our increasingly youth-obsessed culture and our sometimes youth-focused community impact JCA senior services in frightening ways.  For example, a study of local foundations  – including family foundations –that was conducted several years found only two percent (2%!) had a focus on aging despite the vast number of seniors and the urgency and diversity of their needs.

Urgency of care:  You cannot tell a 92-year-old in need of care, “We hope to have a program to help you next year.”  We must meet the needs of vulnerable elders today or lose those elders to illness, premature institutionalization or death.

Q. If you could dream big, what is the one thing you wish your agency could do? 

A. The JCA programs are essential programs, yet too often are hidden from view.  Sometimes, we simply lack the wherewithal to publicize them.  More often, we hide them purposely because to add more vulnerable seniors to waiting lists for services serves no one.  Instead, it demoralizes our hard-working 50-person staff and it demoralizes the amazing 500 JCA volunteers who work so hard to help so many.  I hope that one day soon the JCA will have the financial resources to open our program doors wider, enabling everyone who needs our services to learn about them quickly and access them easily.

Q. What is your proudest accomplishment of the agency during your tenure?

A. The JCA is an agency with the kind of extraordinary impact that is achieved only by working hard, working smart, forging and sustaining vibrant community partnerships, and utilizing skilled volunteers.  Last year alone, the JCA served more than 30,000 older adults and their family caregivers.  Moreover, we accomplished that with compassion and a commitment to excellence that are second to none.

Q. Do you have a great constituent story?

A. Sheila Grosberg is among the 30,000 men and women that the Jewish Council for the Aging so proudly served last year.  Sheila suffered the Holocaust, a stroke, loneliness, Alzheimer’s disease and partial blindness, yet still she smiles.

There are many reasons that Sheila smiles.  They include her inner strength and her loving family.  They also include our caring community and the JCA Misler Adult Day Center, a program that provides stimulating activities, socialization and nursing supervision for older adults with physical, cognitive or emotional challenges.  At Misler, Sheila “found herself again,” forging new friendships and gently teaching others to smile with her.  One day, for example, when one of her fellow Misler participants was complaining about a tablemate Sheila told her, “No matter what, you have to be kind to people and treat them well.”

As a young girl, Sheila bore witness to unspeakable horrors in her native Poland.  As a young woman, she and her late husband ran a busy New York bakery, where she often delivered knishes to grateful customers.  Today at 97, the horrors of World War II generally have receded from her mind and she sometimes enjoys a knish or two, though she may not remember where or when she’s had knishes before.  But she knows she’s loved.  And her family knows that her life was made better because of the JCA.

Q. Which Federation & community partners does your agency work with?

A. Every JCA program is a collaborative effort.  Our many community partners include B’nai Shalom of Olney, Charles E. Smith Life Communities, the Gesher Jewish Day, the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes, JSSA, the National Council of Jewish Women, Temple Rodef Shalom, Temple Emmanuel, the Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation, and all three JCCs.  We hold a special place in our heart, however, for the Jewish Community Relations Council, which advocates not only for essential program funds but also for changes in policy, practice and law to help local people age gracefully.

Contact Information:
JCA Headquarters/Center on Aging:
12320 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD  20852
Phone:  301-255-4200 or 703-425-0999
Fax:  301-231-9360
Website:  www.AccessJCA.org
Email: SeniorHelpLine@AccessJCA.org

JCA Albert & Helen Misler Adult Day Center:
Terrace Level of Ring House, 1801 East Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD  20852
Phone:  301-468-1740
Fax:  301-468-9207
Website:  www.MislerCenter.org
Email: Misler@AccessJCA.org

JCA Kensington Club:
Temple Emmanuel, 10101 Connecticut Avenue, Kensington, MD  20895
Phone:  301-255-4204
Email: KensingtonClub@AccessJCA.org

JCA’s Virginia Office: 
Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, 8900 Little River Turnpike, Fairfax, VA  22031
Phone: 703-425-0999
Email:  SeniorHelpLine@AccessJCA.org  
 
JCA SeniorTech Computer Training Centers:
Asbury Methodist Village in Gaithersburg, MD, B’nai Shalom in Olney, MD, Holiday Park Senior Center in Wheaton, MD, Landmark Mall in Alexandria, VA and White Flint Mall in North Bethesda, MD
Phone for all locations: 240-395-0916 or 703-652-1512
Fax for all locations:  301-231-9360
Email: SeniorTech@AccessJCA.org

JCA at Montgomery Works:
11160 Viers Mill Road, Wheaton, MD 20902
Phone:  301-946-1806
Email:  SeniorEmployment@AccessJCA.org