CJF Returns to its Roots
March Featured Member of the Association of Jewish Aging Services
The Chelsea Jewish Lifecare is embarking on yet another innovative project. As its award-winning Leonard Florence Center for Living (LFCL), the country’s first urban model Green House®, celebrates its sixth anniversary, the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home (CJNH) is undergoing a dramatic $16 million transformation. What’s so unique: the renovated structure will include many elements of a true Green House home, but on a scale that is more easily adaptable.
Founded in 1919 by Lena Goldberg, the CJNH is the flagship home of the Chelsea Jewish Lifecare. Originally a multi-family building in Chelsea, MA, Mrs. Goldberg turned it into a welcoming home for aging Jewish immigrants. Over the years, the home expanded, moved to a different location and took on a more traditional nursing home structure. That is all about to change. “The organization has really come full circle,” explains Chelsea Jewish Lifecare CEO Barry Berman. “We are going back to the home model that was so successful nearly 100 years ago. For us, the beauty of this project is that it is an attainable model for nursing homes around the country.”
Instead of each floor having a nurse station, several rooms and one dining room supplied by a central kitchen, the new configuration will feature two “homes” on each floor consisting of 20 residents in each. The homes are designed from the bottom up to look and feel like a real home, complete with spacious rooms and bathrooms as well as a kitchen, fireplace living room, and dining rooms in every ”home.” Residents will set their own daily routines: getting up when they choose and eating meals where and when they want. Residents will also enjoy a European day spa, café and chapel off of the main lobby. One of the most important elements of the renovation is the addition of two kitchens on every floor. “It makes a tremendous difference to smell the wonderful aromas in each home,” states Chelsea Jewish Lifecare President Adam Berman. “Our goal is to create a warm, heimish atmosphere, with each kitchen making its own meals from scratch. In essence, we want to duplicate the true feeling of a home as much as possible.”
In addition to the soon-to-be completed CJNH, the Chelsea Jewish Lifecare recently opened a second ALS home at the LFCL…
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