News & Impact

When 71-year-old Jay lost his wife in 2011, he received comfort from JFCS’ spiritual cares services and its Bereavement Support Group. “JFCS and Seniors At Home helped me get through a tough time,” he said. That’s why Jay didn’t hesitate to return to Seniors At Home this spring, when he began dating. “I felt like I was cheating on my wife,” he said, “and I needed to talk through issues I haven’t addressed in almost 50 years—sex and intimacy.” “It’s not unusual for many people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s to experience conflicting feelings about love, romance,… Read More

Happily married for 60 years, Max and Helen began experiencing difficulties caused by Max’s declining health. She wanted home care for him, he refused, and she no longer had the stamina to provide the assistance her husband needed. “They faced a difficult situation common to many senior couples,” says Judy Lynch, RN, BS, MA, Director of Seniors At Home. Helen and her family turned to Seniors At Home for help. “My mom was at her wit’s end,” says Cheryl, Helen’s daughter, who attended a Seniors At Home consultation with her mother. “The care manager and social worker were a… Read More

A retired teacher with a busy social calendar, Ann P., 84, suddenly became reclusive, declining invitations to lunch, theater, and the symphony. This concerned her children, who always thought of their mother as outgoing, spry, and interested in life. “We tried talking to her about what we saw,” says Ann’s daughter, Marla, “but she always rebuffed us.” Frustrated and increasingly worried, Marla and her brother, Jeffrey, met with a Seniors At Home care manager for a consultation about Ann. “We had a very thoughtful discussion about the possible reasons behind our mother’s recent changes,” says Marla. “The care manager gave… Read More

Over their many years together, Jim and Dale became known as a San Francisco couple you could count on: to take part in campaigns for LGBT rights, to help friends living with—or dying of—HIV, and to support their city’s many cultural and athletic institutions. “I taught Dale to love football,” says Jim, 77, an ex-jock and Air Force vet, “and he taught me to love the ballet.” But as Jim and Dale, who is 69, have gotten older, they have had to face their share of infirmities. Jim has congestive heart failure, osteoporosis, and many other physical ailments. Over the… Read More

Helga was in her late 70s when she began walking down to Route 101 at all hours, waiting for the bus en route from Sonoma County to San Francisco. Once in the city, she wandered the streets lugging a valise stuffed with cash. Helga had sustained a brain injury in her 40s, but at that time had a husband, sister, and brother-in-law to look after her. After they had all died or become infirm themselves, she only had Loretta, her niece, and Loretta’s husband to see to her needs. The couple lived an hour away, and Loretta feared that something… Read More

After 14 years, Barry and Lisa were as in love with each other as in the early days of their courtship. “When I saw and heard Lisa for the first time—at a museum exhibit—I knew she was the one for me,” says Barry. “She was warm, beautiful, and open-hearted. I’d been waiting for someone like her for my entire life. She was my beacon of light.” So when Lisa, 50, was diagnosed with uterine cancer this past October, the blow for Barry was as unbearable as the pain for Lisa. Scrambling for services to help them, Barry reached out to… Read More