Years of Kivel
In the nearly 10 years I’ve been writing for Jewish News, I’ve witnessed some major milestones for Phoenix’s Jewish community. The 2001 groundbreaking of the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale, the 2004 groundbreaking of the Barness Family Jewish Community Center in Chandler (then the East Valley Jewish Community Center), the 2001 opening of the area’s first Jewish community high school. No comments yet. You can be the first!
But it wasn’t until a recent visit to Kivel Campus of Care that I realized how some of these stories have personally affected me.
I have covered the facility for Jewish seniors through the years and unexpectedly felt a wave of sadness during a recent visit as I stood outside what used to be the front doors of Kivel’s care center, which closed last year. I remembered one of my initial visits, when I was surprised to see a greyhound roaming the lobby (part of a pet-therapy program).
Through the gutted lobby, I saw a wall partially knocked down and remembered the sukkot I helped decorate through community service projects organized by the Young Leadership Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix (now Young Jewish Phoenix). I thought of the seniors I played Bingo with during a federation Mitzvah Day some years back; somewhere on the grounds, were some plants I planted on a different Mitzvah Day.
Stories I’ve covered include Dor L’Dor, a program that sent residents to The King David School and Phoenix Hebrew Academy to visit with students; an ice cream parlor, a gift from the Kivel Auxiliary that opened in 2001 and closed with the care center; and It’s Never 2 Late, a computer system linking seniors to technology. I attended an induction ceremony for Kivel’s Centenarian Club, dressed up to celebrate Kivel’s honors at its annual ball and, sadly, visited with staff and residents after the care center’s closure was announced.
My favorite part of covering Kivel has always been talking to the residents. I’ve felt honored to hear the stories they’ve shared with me, and the cumulative years of experience and knowledge within those walls is amazing.
And so although my recent visit to Kivel, brought twinges of sadness when I saw the boarded-up buildings, visiting with the residents on the other side of the parking lot (at Kivel’s independent- and assisted-living apartments) brightened my spirits. How could it not when they talked about how Kivel is home to them, how much they love living there and how wonderful the staff is? “It’s entertainment,” resident Sherrill Moore responded when I asked her about how she feels about the demolition occurring outside.
And so once again, as I left Kivel, I was newly inspired by my visit and reminded that a building is not what makes a place home, but the people. And Kivel residents, as well as staff, are looking positively toward the future. Who am I to argue with that?
01 Dec, 2009 >