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Gems to Find
New Home at
Kaiserman JCC
Sasha Rogelberg | Staff Writer
G Courtesy of Golden Slipper Gems
olden Slipper Gems Executive
Director Rabbi
Moriah SimonHazani calls the organi-
zation a “hidden gem” for older adult
programming, but she wants Gems to be
more than just a diamond in the rough.

To allow Gems to grow a new
audience and diversify its programming,
the organization is looking for a change.

Gems, now a subsidiary of Golden
Slipper Club & Charities, will have a new
home at the Kaiserman JCC, the latter’s
CEO, Alan Scher, announced in a March
31 newsletter. The partnership, pending
regulatory approval from the state, will
begin this spring.

“It will bring together two respected
brands in and amongst our community
that have long served older adults in the
Jewish community and beyond,” Scher
said. “And brought together, [they] will
serve that community in a way that, from
my perspective, is a multiplier.”
Gems will continue to off er classes
and events on culture, arts and history
but will have access to the JCC’s campus
and facilities, such as a kitchen and
vans. With the partnership, Gems will
add the JCC’s older adult fi tness and
wellness classes and is hoping to incor-
porate intergenerational programs with
the community center’s Robert J. Wilf
Preschool and Kindergarten. Classes at
Gems’ Main Line location at Shir Ami will
continue through the semester.

“We just want to develop, what I
call, a holistic place for older adults
in the Jewish community and serve
them culturally, intellectually, socially,”
SimonHazani said.

The JCC serves about 300 adults
over 65, Scher said, and Gems serves a
similar number. The older adult popula-
tion in Philadelphia is growing rapidly,
according to Scher, and it’s the job of
community centers and organizations
to best adapt to them. Strengthening
programming for older adults is also
part of the JCC board’s strategic plan
adopted last fall.

“Particularly here on the Main Line,
the amount of services, particularly
accessible services, for this population
is dragging behind the growing popula-
tion,” he said. “In other words, we see
more and more older adults in need of
services to keep them thriving in that
proverbial third chapter of their life.”
During the pandemic, attendance for
Gems events — which became virtual
— dropped off due to older adults not
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But compared to years ago, the
aging population is also living longer,
SimonHazani said, meaning that
programming for older adults has to
be diverse. A 65-year-old has diff erent
interests and needs than an 85-year-old.

With the JCC’s resources, as well as
their recent Bernard and Etta Weinberg
Family Funds Grant from the Jewish
Federation of Greater Philadelphia for
care and services for adults over 60,
Gems will be able to tailor its programs
Gems members participate in the class “The British Invasion,” taught by Steve Pollack, which focused on the
music in the ‘60s and the infl uence of British music on the United States.

to the changing demographic.

Gems provides classes such as
“Disney at 100: A Legacy of Magic”
with Drexel University Professor David
Greenberg and “Special Political Aff airs:
75 Years of Independent Government
and Politics and Israel” with Bar-Ilan
University Professor Zeev Khanin.

Three Golden Slipper Gems board
members, including immediate past
president and board chair Jill Caine, will
join the Kaiserman JCC board. Human
Needs and Services, a charity providing
funding for essentials and emergencies
to older adults, that is now part of Gems,
will remain part of Golden Slipper.

Gems began in 1995 as a “tradi-
tional senior center” in Wynnefi eld
Heights, according to its website, but
later expanded to off er a wider array of
services to older adults at eight locations
in the Philadelphia area. In 2018, the
organization became Golden Slipper
Gems. As the organization turns the page
and enters its new chapter, Caine can
only see the positives of the partnership.

“There’s no place to go but really
improving and expanding,” she said. ■
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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