Dear friends,

The current pandemic has brought up real issues and challenges for many of us. Collectively we are dealing with the reality of staying home for a long stretch of time, without a definitive end date. Individually, we bring to this moment of time a slew of individual circumstances. For a plethora of reasons, COVID-19 is not enriching our well-being.

Some of us are trying to work while acting as IT support for our children. Others have teenagers complaining of boredom. Some of us are finding ourselves without a job to go to for the first time that we can remember. And for those of us who are over the age of 70 and feel healthy, we keep hearing messages that we need to stay home and not leave the house at all, even to go for a walk to get exercise.

There is also a segment of our community who are not able to walk into our parents' home, which is often the same home we grew up in. And for a lot of us, myself included, this is hard. If only we could go inside for three minutes and put the groceries in their refrigerators instead of leaving them at their front door. If only we could spend ten seconds in front of their iPads instead of helping them remotely for three hours. If only we could actually visit them and advocate for them in person if they, God forbid, find themselves in the hospital.

This is hard stuff. Thankfully, we have a resource for you. Anne Max, MSW, RSW, a lifelong member of Beth Tzedec Congregation and a member of the Centre for Spiritual Well-Being Advisory Council, has been a practicing social worker for 36 years. Anne has worked in a variety of health care settings, the last 22 of which have been at Baycrest. At Baycrest, Anne has counselled in-patients, out-patients and their families in many different departments and programs. We are grateful to Anne that she has volunteered to be a resource for members of our community who need help assisting their parents during this pandemic.

If situations with your parents arise,and you need some help, please reach out to me at rabbirfb@beth-tzedec.org and I will connect you with Anne.

Stay home and stay safe.