Cuts at Freedman anger seniors
By TERRY COWGILL
August, 07, 2008
FALLS VILLAGE — There are some changes in store for one of Falls Village’s oldest establishments and not everyone is happy about them. The Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, formerly known as Camp Isabella Freedman, has decided to scale back its offerings for senior citizens.
Adam Berman, executive director of Isabella Freedman since 2002, made the announcement at a July 16 meeting to a group of seniors who were attending a two-week session at the camp, according to several people who were present. The camp has provided extensive programs for seniors for more than 50 years.
In a voice mail message to The Lakeville Journal, Berman said, “We’re changing the format of how we serve seniors.” Gone are the two-week programs, to be replaced by programs of about one week in duration. According to Berman, however, the actual number of senior program nights for next year will be comparable to, if not higher than, this summer. But the profile of the elderly campers will also change.
“The demographic that will come in will probably be slightly different — less frail seniors, for example,” Berman added.
Berman did not return a phone call by press time for clarification and additional comment.
In interviews and in letters to Berman, several of the Jewish seniors, many of whom were well into their 80s or 90s and had been coming to Isabella Freedman for 20 years or more, said they were caught off-guard by the changes. Most were convinced their summer camps sessions were being discontinued in favor of an emphasis on the more financially lucrative programs that focus on spirituality or the environment.
“They were shocked because they did not know it was coming,” said one former staff member who spoke only on the condition of anonymity. “Some of them had been coming for 20 years.”
According to Marjorie Connor, who, like many of the elderly, lives in New York City, the two-week summer programs for seniors are being eliminated. In their place will be five-day Elderhostel educational programs. On the Isabella Freedman Web site, there is no indication of how much an Elderhostel session costs, but Connor said it is far more expensive than the $500-per-week summer camps; and transportation to and from the city is not included. Also there will no longer be a motorized cart at the camp to take seniors to and from the various buildings and programs on the 450-acre campus.
“I think it’s discrimination against seniors,” Connor said. “It’s just a crime.”
Ruth Silverman, 89, has been coming to the camp for almost a dozen years (many of those visits with her husband, who has since passed away) to escape the heat of the city. She is convinced the reduction in programs is motivated by a desire to save money and divert resources to more lucrative endeavors. Berman also told the seniors the camp is not safe for them anymore.
“It’s a way of getting rid of us,” Silverman surmised.
Some are Holocaust survivors. In a letter to Berman, Yala Korwin complained of being treated “like children” and wished for Berman’s removal as director.
“I am a Holocaust survivor and I survived Hitler,” Korwin wrote. “Therefore I am not afraid of anything. Especially of telling you what is on my mind.”
The facility first opened its doors in 1893 on donated land in Port Chester, N.Y., as the Jewish Working Girls Vacation Society. The idea was to provide an affordable vacation for young Jewish women (primarily immigrants) working in Manhattan’s garment district. The society even paid for the vacations and compensated campers for lost wages.
In the 1940s the camp began to offer getaways to young adults, including ex-GIs and students who could not otherwise afford a vacation. It was not until 1956 that the camp moved to its current campus on Johnson Road in Falls Village. At that time, the camp’s board of directors’ decided to develop programs for Jewish seniors.
Then in 1994, the Teva Learning Center opened. That program serves elementary school children, with an emphasis on Jewish spirituality and environmental activism. In 2003, Isabella Freedman developed a new program called ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship, a three-month leadership training program for Jewish young adults that teaches the connection between Judaism and environmental stewardship.
Last year about 6,000 people participated in Isabella Freedman’s programs. According to its Web site, Isabella Freedman is in the middle of a capital campaign to raise $16 million “to transform the physical landscape of Isabella Freedman so that we may meet the needs of the Jewish community for years to come.” It is estimated that the new campus will accommodate over 20,000 guests per year.
Plans call for new and renovated guest accommodations, an expanded kitchen and dining hall, a fitness center, a meditation hall, a bet midrash (study hall), a teen village, a new synagogue and several new program spaces. So far, about $1 million has been raised.
In 2006 (the last year for which data is available), the nonprofit Isabella Freedman reported total revenues of $2,661,050 against expenses of $2,854,477 for an operating deficit of $193,427, according to publicly available federal tax returns.
© Copyright 2008 by TCExtra.com
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