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November 28, 2003
Advocacy and education
Alliance is affiliated with major B.C. seniors groups.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Information, education and advocacy. In short, this is the mission
of the Jewish Seniors Alliance of Greater Vancouver (JSA). Affiliated
with many Canadian seniors groups, the JSA is giving community seniors
a more powerful voice than ever before within the Jewish community
and at all levels of government.
The JSA is a nonprofit umbrella group comprised of representatives
from 18 community organizations for seniors and seniors 55 years
and older. It began as the Seniors Advisory Council of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Vancouver in 1988. In that capacity, it educated
its members through a variety of speakers, held annual forums, conducted
a survey of seniors in the community, worked to integrate Russian-speaking
Jewish seniors into the community and published the quarterly Senior
Line.
When Serge Haber became council president in 2000, he wanted to
broaden the council's focus to include more outreach and the recruitment
of younger members. But, in the midst of these changes came the
news, in September 2002, that the provincial government's Gaming
Commission had denied the council's application for funding. The
council had relied on the government funds to support its work.
To remain operational, the organization needed to fund-raise. That
meant becoming more relevant and active and so the speed of change
increased.
Federation was unable to help the council financially but provided
it with meeting space and office support. Financial contributions
from some community members helped the council keep going until
the end of 2002 and a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation
of Greater Vancouver has helped support its work this year. Now
called the Jewish Seniors Alliance, the group is an independent
society that has secured some funding from Federation but is still
seeking additional donors and members.
Along with its new name has come a renewed energy.
"When we changed the structure of the board by putting in new
people and linking the new people and younger people with the older
people as teams, then we created a working body ... to undertake
many other things that we could not do before," said Haber.
"In other words, we started outreaching, particularly through
advocacy and information, much more than before."
The alliance has already achieved a broader focus than its predecessor.
"The council was mainly an information channel towards a very
restricted number of people," said Haber, referring to the
representatives of the 18 Jewish organizations that were on the
council. "The alliance is basically doing the same thing [information-wise],
but it's extending its information and education towards a much
larger group of people within the Jewish community. That means all
seniors in the Jewish community.
"And it is also assuming the role of advocating [to] both the
Jewish community as well as the outside community, that is municipal,
provincial and federal [governments]," he continued.
In this regard, the JSA is now affiliated with three major B.C.
seniors groups: 411 Seniors, the Cross-Cultural Seniors Network
and the Council of Senior Citizens' Organization of British Columbia,
better known by its acronym, COSCO. Through its membership with
these provincial organizations, the alliance hopes to provide Jewish
seniors with a more powerful voice in issues that concern them –
government changes in home-care support and cuts to seniors' health-care
services, for example. As well, membership with a group like COSCO
gives the alliance an affiliation with many Canadian organizations
that deal with seniors, said Haber.
Currently, the JSA is in touch with more than 3,000 seniors in Greater
Vancouver, mainly through its member organizations. In the Jewish
community, these groups are Beth Israel Seniors, Pacific Region
of Canadian Jewish Congress, the seniors department of the Jewish
Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, Jewish Family Service Agency,
Federation, Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia, the
B.C. chapter of Jewish Women International, the Nonprofit Housing
Society of Federation, Richmond's Kehila Council, L'Chaim Adult
Day Centre, Louis Brier Home and Hospital, Most-Bridge Russian Jewish
Seniors Society, Na'amat, the Vancouver chapter of National Council
of Jewish Women, Shalom Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, Sholem
Aleichem Seniors, the Sophisticates and the Vancouver Holocaust
Education Centre.
"I think the more time that passes by, the alliance will become
even more crucial because the times are changing, the older people
are getting older and more in need of information and help,"
said Haber, adding that Federation is considering the formation
of a council on aging.
The JSA also publishes the Vancouver Jewish Seniors Directory
every year. In addition to community listings, the directory
includes information on seniors programs in the community, items
in Russian and Yiddish, health-related articles and other information.
The directory is available at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater
Vancouver and at various Jewish agencies and businesses in the city.
You can also get a copy mailed by calling the JSA.
An annual alliance membership for an individual is $5, an associate
(organization) membership is $36 a year, and people can become a
life member for $150. Members receive information updates and special
mailings on issues affecting seniors. All donations over $10 are
tax deductible. For more information on the JSA, call 604-257-5100
or look for Jewish Seniors Alliance on Federation's Web site, www.jfgv.com.
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