feature story
Local Jews Deal with
KleinLife in Northeast Philadelphia helps
Jewish seniors in the surrounding area.

INFLATION CONCERN$
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
L ibby Cohen, a 78-year-old Jewish resident of
Lower Moreland, probably would have struggled
more with infl ation in pre-COVID times. But
since the pandemic started in March 2020, she has
cut out her extra expenses.

Cohen describes herself as “very COVID-phobic,”
and the feeling prevents her from restarting many of
the activities she enjoyed in 2019. No longer does she
take bus trips to New York City to go to the theater
or drive to her local movie theater. She doesn’t go out
to eat anymore, either.

“I hardly drive anywhere,” the senior said.

Her only drives of the week are to KleinLife in
Northeast Philadelphia for a Wednesday morning art
therapy class and to the occasional doctor’s appoint-
ment. Otherwise, Cohen does “so many Zooms that
I love,” she says, like free events from libraries and
other organizations. She starts each day by doing
Wordle and Spelling Bee from Th e New York Times.

“Th ere’s so much out there that really I’m never
bored,” she said. “Th e one disadvantage is the lack of
human contact.”
Since Cohen is a senior citizen, her approach to
COVID is perhaps more cautious than the average
person. But in cutting back on nonessential activities,
she is like many area Jews right now, according to
Andre Krug, the president and CEO of KleinLife, the
community center in Northeast Philadelphia.

With infl ation near 40-plus-year highs, lower-in-
come Jews are not necessarily falling short of cov-
ering their basic needs. But they do not have much
room to pay for much beyond them.

Krug’s organization serves about 35,000 people a
year. About 90% of them live within 200% of the fed-
eral poverty line. Roughly 25% are seniors, and most of
those seniors are Jewish. And it’s those seniors, many
of whom are on fi xed incomes like Social Security and
a pension — usually receiving between $2,000 and
$2,500 a month — who are struggling the most.

“People are defi nitely complaining about the cost
to drive, about the cost of food,” Krug said. “Th ey
come to us looking for emergency food and things
of that nature.”
Photos by Stephanie Hampson
In the Northeast, there is minimal public trans-
portation, so residents need to drive to get to places.

Th is causes them to make choices. Instead of getting
lunch with friends, KleinLife clients go to the grocery
store to make sure that their refrigerators are stocked.

Th ere are plenty of other tough choices, too.

To fi x your car or to buy a new one. To get your
house repaired or to just let it sit as long as it’s still
functional. “It’s a struggle,” Krug said. “We’re just coming out
of COVID and now this.”
Many Jews around the Philadelphia area probably
feel the same way. Th e 2019 Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia study “Community Portrait: A
Population Study of Greater Philadelphia” found that
“24% of Jewish households in greater Philadelphia
have an annual household income of less than
$50,000.” Th e study also found that 12% of Jewish
households are food insecure, and that “households
with children are more likely to be food insecure.”
Th e date of that study, 2019, shows that food
insecurity is an ongoing problem for local families.

But in 2022, according to Marianna Salz, the director
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