Jewish Home’s 120th annual meeting

Jewish Home’s 120th annual meeting

November 5, 2009

“Tonight our community has come together to witness the installation of new officers and trustees for one of our community’s most important regional resources – the Jewish Home,” said Daniel Ruth, the Home’s president and CEO on the occasion of the board of trustees’ 120th annual meeting, which took place on November 5, 2009. “… [Al]though the times we live in are incredibly complex and demanding, our board has met the national and healthcare industry challenges with fortitude and commitment,” Ruth continued. “And they have done so under the stellar leadership of our outgoing board chair, Mark Myers. We are here to honor the completion of Mark’s term and to usher in the chairmanship of Michael Adler.”

Before passing the gavel to Michael Adler, Mark Myers noted the following: “We’re in a time of exciting transition for the Home. I reflect on the opening of Moldaw Family Residences [in Palo Alto], and how that undertaking has stretched the physical boundaries of the Home, as well as broadened the Home as a resource for the community.

“The Home’s site re-master plan, which deals with this Silver Avenue campus, and which we’re in the midst of now, is critical for us. It will take the Home’s ability to serve seniors to the next stage.

“Perhaps our biggest challenge has been, and continues to be, how to balance the economic realities of the Jewish Home with its mission and responsibility to the community. Although the process of becoming even more fiscally responsible has not been easy, I feel confident that we’ve acted in the best interests of our residents. I know we will carry on doing so.”

Newly installed chair Michael Adler addressed the evening’s guests: “We have been living [a healthcare crisis] for decades. Irrefutable truths: there is no social framework which provides medical care and aging support for the frail elderly. Not medical insurance, not social security, not Medicare, nor Medi-Cal. The gap between what the social system offers and what it costs to provide compassionate care, dignified care, moral care, and yes, Jewish care is, and has been, bridged by the philanthropic support of the larger community. But yearly that gap becomes wider … and yearly it becomes … more difficult to sustain the necessary levels of support.”

He went on to share some of his thinking around his term as board chair: “We have a great deal to accomplish and I, personally, feel the pressure to get it done, get it done now, and most importantly, get it done right. … This is an important time to continue to get the message out, and find new and innovative ways to touch people we have not as yet touched. … We need to keep the dialog with the [Jewish Community] Federation robust, alive and vibrant; looking to our community partner and umbrella organization for financial support, marketing support, strategic and long-range planning support, and support of our needs for talented, committed, and passionate volunteers and board leadership.”

Photos from the Annual Meeting

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Jewish Home’s Council of Residents: Treasurer Claire Shor (left); president Edie Sadewitz (center); vice president Sylvia Korn (right).	New member of the Jewish Home's board of trustees Joel Roos and his wife, Laurie Isenberg.
Nurit Robinson, Menorah Park executive director (left), with Paul Cohen, Menorah Park board member (center), and Adele Corvin, Jewish Home & Senior Living Foundation's board trustee (right).	Daniel Ruth, Jewish Home president & CEO, welcomed guests and acknowledged past and present leadership.
Dr. James Davis, a past chair of the Jewish Home, and Arlene Krieger, chair of Jewish Home & Senior Living Foundation.	Eleanor Myers, mother of immediate past chair of the Jewish Home’s board Mark Myers (left), with William Lowenberg, a past chair of the Jewish Home (center), and his wife, Fern (right).