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Update to how various organizations are coping with the pandemic

Shalom Residences’ Micah Kraut & Rabbi Yitzchok Charytan

Ed. note: As part of our continuing effort to report on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on all Jewish organizations and agencies in this city, we present information about Shalom Residences and Gwen Secter Centre based on email exchanges we had with Shalom Residences Executive Director Nancy Hughes and Gwen Secter Executive Director Becky Chisick. We also present information from Rady JCC Executive Director Rob Berkowits about enhanced amenities at that facility.

Shalom Residences update:

We should note that we were invited to attend a mezuzah hanging event at the newest Shalom Residence at 841 Oxford Street, where Rabbi Yitzchok Charytan attached mezuzahs to every room in the house. Previously there were only mezuzahs on the front and rear door frames. Since I was not allowed into the house myself, I asked Nancy Hughes to take my camera with her and take some pictures inside.

Following is information Nancy Hughes provided us about the situation re Shalom Residences. I had asked Nancy what specific impact the coronavirus and subsequent lockdown has had on Shalom Residences:
We now have six homes rather than seven. This past year, we were saddened by the deaths of two long-time residents. There were some internal moves by residents to fill these vacancies and we closed a two-person rented home.
We now support 21 people living in the six homes, eight people in apartments and three people in outreach.
We have one vacancy in one of the community residences (group homes). We want to be able to offer a home to someone to fill the existing vacancy before we would plan for any new home. As well, currently there is very limited funding available for adults with intellectual disabilities for group living. Provincial government funding is given mainly to people who have a critical need to move.
The area where we anticipate expanding the number of people is in apartment living and outreach in the next while.
The most significant impact of the corona virus for us has been that the day programs attended by most of the people we support have been closed since mid-March.
This means all of those people have had to adapt to a big change in routine and we have had to provide a great deal of extra staffing for weekdays.
Our staff are required to wear masks and for a while also had to wear eye shields. The people we support became accustomed to staff in masks and for the most part have gotten along very well staying home with their housemates. Only the three young people at Oxford St who you saw last week have been attending day programs again.
We are particularly grateful for the support we receive from the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba as well as the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg. Above all, we are grateful to our staff who have worked throughout this challenging time accepting the risks involved in front line care and providing comforting and positive support.
If you would like to contact Nancy Hughes to find out more about Shalom Residences, her number is 204-582-7064.

Gwen Secter update
It seems that each time I check in with Gwen Secter’s Executive Director Becky Chisick to see how many more meals Gwen Secter is producing and delivering for seniors, she astounds me with an ever increasing number.
In our April 15 issue (which was our last print issue for one month) I reported that the Gwen Secter kitchen staff had just turned out 60 meals for seniors the week of March 30 – April 3 – all free of charge. I also noted that Gwen Secter had stepped into the breach left by Meals on Wheels, which had stopped taking new clients as soon as the province went into lockdown mode on March 13.
Then, in our May 27 issue I reported that Gwen Secter had stepped up the production of meals for seniors to 286 during the last week in May, and to 340 meals the first week in June.
In our July 8 issue the figure had gone up to 400 meals (consisting of four meals a week delivered to individual seniors). The Gwen Secter Centre had also brought on Lauren Cogan as a volunteer coordinator for the meal program.
So, it should come as no surprise that when I contacted Becky for an update as to how many meals the Centre was now turning out, and whether Lauren Cogan was still coordinating the meal program, Becky responded (on July 27): “Last week we distributed 520 meals.
“Lauren Cogan is still the meal program coordinator.”
In addition, Becky noted that “We have launched our transportation hotline for medical appointments in partnership with JCFS, thanks to a grant from JFM. The response has been great. We have hired a summer youth, Kendra, through the Canada Summer Jobs program as community development coordinator and she is currently managing the hotline.” (In case you didn’t see the ad in our July 22 issue for the hotline, the number to call for the transportation hotline is 204-899-1696.)

Rady JCC update

We received the following notice from Rady JCC Executive Director Rob Berkowits:
Someone once said to me that we become what we repeatedly do. That means if you want to live a well-balanced life, not only do you need to create positive daily routines, you also need to live them, day-in and day-out.
For many of us, before the pandemic hit, the Rady JCC was an important part of our daily routines. It was one of the many parts of our everyday lives that helped define who we are. Coming to our facility for a swim, a few laps around our track, or a simple visit with friends was as important as the meals we would eat every day.
When we shuttered our doors back in March, everything changed in an instant. Our daily routines we had worked hard to develop were put on hold, including regular Rady visits.
Well, that was then and this is now.
Fast-forward to June 15, and we reopened our doors to our fitness and aquatics facilities. Those who were ready to come back, did so proudly and cautiously. Members who made their return tell us how great it is to have the Rady back in their daily routines. They tell us about how much they missed this part of their lives. How even the simple things like saying hello to our Rady staff as they make their way upstairs for their workouts make their days better.
Many members who haven’t yet returned tell us in order for Rady to be part of their routines once again, we need to add some additional amenities at our facility. Amenities that we temporarily put on hold when we reopened. Amenities that were once part of their routines.
With that in mind, beginning next week on Tuesday, August 4, our men’s and women’s locker rooms will reopen along with access to our showers. We are doing so with proper physical distancing and sanitization measures in effect. Everything we do is done so with the safety and well-being of our members and staff top-of-mind.
So, if your morning routine used to involve getting a workout in before you head straight to your office, this may be the added amenity that will bring us back in your lives.
For some others not quite ready to return: your daily routines do not include Rady right now. We understand and support your decisions. Please know that when you are ready to have us be part of your routines again, we will be ready to welcome you back through our doors.

 

 

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Long-time Winnipeg doctor and Israeli colleague make medical app available to general public

Dr. Gerald Minuk (left) and Dr. Daniel Iluz-Freundlich

By MYRON LOVE Seven years ago, Dr. Gerald Minuk, Canada’s first hepatologist (liver specialist), partnered with Israeli computer science student Daniel Iluz-Freundlich  in founding Refuah Solutions Ltd (RSL). Their goal was to create an app – which they called PI-enroll (“PI” stands for “Principal Investigator”), which was designed to be used by clinical trial investigators that would save them time and effort so they could be more personally involved in seeing their trial patients.
Last month, they released their second app, this time for patients. The app, called  Patient-empower, informs patients about clinical trials underway for their condition and helps them make an informed decision as to which trial best meets their specific needs and preferences.
“I was approaching retirement,” recalls Minuk, now Rady School of Medicine Professor Emeritus, who has been in practice in Winnipeg since 1987, and “I couldn’t see myself filling my days doing crossword puzzles or Sudoku.  I wanted to be able to continue contributing to medical research and patient care.”
It just so happened that, at the time, Minuk was introduced to an Israeli student, Daniel Iluz-Freundlich, who had just finished studying Computer Sciences at the University of Winnipeg. (Minuk notes that Iluz-Freundlich – on graduating – received the Gold Medal in Computer Science.)
“Daniel is an exceptionally talented young man,” Minuk says.  “So I tapped his computer programming skills to create our PI-enroll and subsequently, our Patient-empower apps.”
The friendship continued after Iluz-Freundlich returned to Israel in 2020 to begin medical school on a Phil and Elle Kives Scholarship, where he earned numerous honors. Iluz-Freundlich is currently an intensivist anesthesiologist at the Beilinson Hospital in Israel. Despite his new professional responsibilities, including caring for IDF forces wounded in Gaza– he has remained active with Refuah – as vice-president of the company.
Minuk adds that a dozen other senior professors of medicine also contributed to Refuah’s software design.  “Together,” he reports,  “the company represents 400+ years of clinical trial experience. That experience is being applied to identifying and addressing the major challenges investigators and patients face when conducting or participating in clinical trials.”`       
He adds that Refuah Solutions has established a truly global network with company personnel in San Diego, São Paulo, Mexico City, London, Barcelona, Nairobi and Delhi thus far.
According to Minuk,  the company has enjoyed worldwide success – with over 2,000 doctors in 40 countries and 50 drug companies signed on for the PI-enroll app. He attributes this success to the app’s impressive results. In a recent global clinical trial, Minuk reports,  within 3-6 months of implementing PI-enroll, investigator personal involvement increased by 60% and with that, patient enrolment increased by 80%, patient drop-outs decreased by 50% and there were 20% fewer protocol deviations (mistakes made). In addition, 90% of PIs rated the App 8 out of 10 in terms of usefulness.
He adds that one site that had not enrolled any patients for 12 months, subsequently became the trial’s leading enrolment site.
Regarding the newly released Patient-empower app,  Minuk notes that despite the many benefits patients derive from clinical trials including free and early access to new and often safer and more effective treatments, fewer than 10% of patients who would qualify for a clinical trial are ever invited to consider that option. “The problem,” he explains, “is that most Health Care Providers are either unaware of what clinical trials are underway in their area or if they are aware, don’t have the time to discuss the trials with their patients.”
Therefore, Minuk, Iluz-Freundlich and their team designed and recently released their second app – Patient-empower – which informs patients of what clinical trials are underway for their condition and empowers them to select the trial that prioritizes their needs over those of industry.
The platform, he explains, uses AI to generate concise, easy-to-understand summaries of clinical trials tailored to the patient’s location—city, state, country, or globally, depending on their preference. Each summary includes clear explanations of the patient eligibility criteria and key practical details, such as the likelihood of patients receiving a placebo, the number of required site visits, and other important practical considerations. It also suggests questions that patients should consider asking the investigator before they consent to enrolling. The trial information is presented in a shareable format to facilitate discussions with family, friends, and local healthcare providers—supporting both patient confidence and continuity of care.
Once a trial is selected, Minuk continues, Patient-empower provides the contact information for the trial investigator closest to the patient’s location, the trial’s sponsor and, where available, the world’s experts in the field.
The feature Minuk is most enthusiastic about is the “Recent Findings” page which keeps patients up to date on newly published clinical trial results and discoveries relevant to their condition. 
“Patient-empower is available to patients from internet venues (App Store or Google Play) or through NFP organizations, associations, societies and patient support group web-sites,” he adds. “Although only recently released, we have already attracted interest from the American Diabetes Association, the Alzheimer’s Society of America, the Canadian Liver Foundation, Colorectal Cancer Canada, the American Myasthenia Gravis Society and many others.”
“Overall, Patient-empower informs patients, and more informed patients benefit everyone involved. After all, it’s the patient’s health; their voice should be heard,” Minuk concludes.

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The South Seas come to the Asper Campus

Pacific Island dance team with members of the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble

By MYRON LOVE On Thursday, July 24, about 150 members of our Jewish community got a chance to sample the dance and music of the South Pacific. The event was billed as “Beyachad Together – Celebrating Indigeneity, land, culture and identity.”

Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble

The program featured both the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble dancers and Steinbach-based Island Breeze Manitoba – which describes itself as “a high energy live band & Pacific Island dance team featuring authentic outfits and dances from the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand.”

According to Dr. Ruth Ashrafi, Regional Director of B’nai Brith Canada in Manitoba, the evening’s performance was connected to  an Indigenous Peoples Conference that was held in Steinbach under the auspices of Island Breeze with participants from Canada, the United States (specifically Hawaii), Antigua and Bermuda in the Caribbean, South Africa, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific island countries of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, the Solomon Islands and Tonga.   

Pacific Island dance team


 “The conference organizers contacted B’nai Brith Canada,” Ashrafi reported.  “They wanted to bring greetings to the Jewish community, as the indigenous people of the Land of Israel, and celebrate indigeneity together through dance and music.
 “Their support in these difficult times is heartwarming.”
 
 In her opening remarks as emcee for the evening, Ashrafi noted that “it is a great honour for the Jewish community to welcome so many indigenous guests from all over the world.”
 She then related the story and miracle of Chanukah and connected it to the experience shared by many indigenous nations around the world.
“They have been told that their religion is wrong, their traditions are not sophisticated,” she pointed out, “just as the Jews of that time were told by the Greek rulers that our religion was wrong and our traditions were outdated.
“Here in Canada, the First Nations were forced into Residential Schools to learn Canadian ways. The manner in which they were taught in these schools was abusive and horrific. Many children died, and many more were scarred for life.
“As with the Maccabbees,” she continued, “courageous individuals have stood up and fought for rights of their indigenous brothers and sisters. They had to overcome a lot of resistance and other obstacles. Indigenous peoples are still over-represented in the Canadian prison system and social services.
 “The story of Chanukah tells us that it is okay to be different from the majority culture,” she said, and “that special and unique traditions are important and worth preserving.
 “The story of Chanukah also teaches us that fighting for our rights is not easy,” Ashrafi added. “We may be a tiny minority and the other side may be much more numerous, better organized and equipped. But if we take the first step, like deciding to use that little jar of oil (that burned in the Temple for weight days even though there was only a day’s supply), we will be helped along the way.”
 
 
“We put the Menorah in our front window,” she noted, “so that the light is shining into the dark winter nights. We want to share the story of the Chanukah miracle and we want to bring light into a world that has still so much darkness in it.”
Ashrafi’s words were followed by greetings from David Harper, a former Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief who spoke glowingly of his visit to Israel in  2014.
“Our faith teaches us that the People of Israel are the people of the Bible and we must bless them and pray for them,” he said.  “My people have a lot to learn from the people of Israel about healing the land.”
Next, Ashrafi introduced Pastor Roger Armbruster whom, she described, as the man behind the vision for the evening.  Armbruster, a strong Christian Zionist supporter of Israel, is the founder of Canada Awakening Ministries.
 
She said of Armbruster that “it is a privilege to be his friend. I have learned so much from you.”
 
 According to Armbruster’s bio on the Canada Awakening Ministries website, “his life has been dedicated to a ministry of reconciliation, and of building bridges between cultures, nations, denominations and generations. He sees cross-cultural reconciliation as a key to making disciples of all nations, and in seeing God’s House become a House of Prayer for all nations.
 
“As director of Canada Awakening Ministries, he is a leader in facilitating Native-Non-native reconciliation, and in restoring the indigenous peoples of the land to reflect that part of God’s image that He has deposited in them in their sounds, songs, praise and dances.”
 
Armbruster attended the Inaugural World Christian Gathering of Indigenous People in New Zealand in November 1996 as well as gatherings in Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1998, northern Sweden in 2005, and Israel in 2008.  In his remarks, he noted that he has visited Israel numerous times over the years – often leading tour groups representing  Canadian Inuit, Greenlandic Inuit and Manitoba First Nations at the northern ends of the earth, along with Maori, Fijians and Samoans from the southern ends of the earth – back to the City of Jerusalem from where the original gospel message first came. 
“In Israel,” Armbruster said, “these Indigenous People have shared their language, their culture and their faith with both Jewish and Palestinian audiences alike.  In one Israeli community, they even shared a message that brought hope to a joint audience of some 500 people that included both Jews and Arabs coming together.”
The dance part of the program was emceed by Isi Masi of Island Breezes. The musical program included several Hawaiian dances, including a rousing foot-stomping number,followed by performances featuring Hawaiian song and gentle movement.  The final part of the island dances concluded with a brief Maori war chant.
(The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand.)
The final part of the program included several high octave dances by our own – always outstanding – Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble, with all the performers singing “We Shall Overcome” and the audience invited to join in a round of Israel dancing. 

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Israeli-born realtor believes in paying it forward

By MYRON LOVE When Hofit Yanev and her husband, Stefan, first arrived in Winnipeg in May 2013, they knew no one here.
 
“We were looking for a safer environment in which to raise our children,” she recalls. “We thought that would be Canada, and Winnipeg seemed to be the most welcoming Jewish community.”
 
Despite not knowing anybody, on their first morning in our community they found that someone had left a challah on their doorstep. That was a small kindness that she has never forgotten. She is a strong believer in paying it forward. Ever since then, she notes, she has made sure to greet newcomers in our community with a challah.
 
Helping others – whether to buy and sell their homes or manage their money – is a principal focus of the thriving career she has built up here as a real estate agent and insurance adviser.
 
Sales has always been Hofit Yanev’s strong suit. Originally from Holon (near Tel Aviv), she began her sales career right after her army duty. Her first venture was selling Dead Sea and hair care products. (Some readers may remember the kiosks that used to be set up at some Winnipeg shopping centres some years back.) She worked a year in Chicago and four years in Miami before returning to Israel, where she met and married Stefan.
 
Soon after settling in Winnipeg, Hofit found work in sales, initially for an HVAC company (while Stefan became a long-distance truck driver and now operates Excellence Fences and Decks). “As I was doing very well in sales for this company,” she recounts, “after taking time following the birth of our third child, I decided to try selling houses.”
 
She secured her real estate license and went to work. After 18 months of trying, she was still struggling to make a go of it.
 
“I lacked experience,” she recalls. “I reached a point where I was ready to give up and go back to selling HVAC products.”
 
However, on what she thought would be her last day, she received two calls that revitalized her hopes. In quick succession, she recounts, she got a call from a former customer who wanted her to sell his house and a new customer who wanted her help in selling his house and buying another.
 
“I took it as a sign from God,” she says.
 
Today, eight years later, Yanev, working under the eXp Realty banner, oversees an operation with over 20 agents—nine of whom are on her team and the others working under her in the eXp umbrella.
 
“I achieved my dream,” she notes, “and I want to help others – either those looking to buy a home or fellow realtors starting out – to realize their dreams as well.”
 
She notes that she strives to understand what her clients’ needs are and provide the right homes for them. She reports that 70% of her real estate clients are members of our Jewish community. She deals with commercial as well as residential properties and adds that she also helps clients with long- and short-term rentals as well as car rentals.
 
About a year ago, she notes, she added another entry to her resumé – that of insurance adviser. “As a realtor, I could see how some people are struggling financially,” she says. “I wanted to help.”
 
As an insurance adviser, she works with single mothers, seniors, and others plagued by financial difficulty. “I advise clients on how to get out of financial trouble, how to save 10% of their net income, and build their savings.”
 
She makes it clear that she keeps a distinct separation between her real estate clients and her insurance clients.
 
Now, you would think that an individual working two careers – with five kids to raise (all of whom are enrolled in Jewish educational programs) – would have her hands full. Nonetheless, Yanev has a third avocation – that of a social events planner for fellow Israelis in Winnipeg and other Hebrew speakers.
 
“For the past six years,” she reports, “I have been producing five programs a year in our community for Hebrew speakers. No one else was doing it, and I felt that it was important for Israelis here to be able to connect with each other.”
 
She adds that the family-oriented programs have been “super successful.” “We have had as many as 300 people at some of our programs.”
 
Yanev believes that her success story can inspire other newcomers to Winnipeg. “If you are prepared to work hard, you can achieve your dream,” she says.
 
She also expresses gratitude to our Jewish community. “We have found the community here to be welcoming and supportive,” she says. “It is thanks to you that we have been successful. This really is friendly Manitoba.”

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