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-- Programs and Services -- Contact Information 35 years of Williamstown Council on Aging
Senior meals
packaging, "we are the first"
Enhanced
Elder Intervention: Mom has moved
beyond eccentric
From the Director
Tom Kelly Awards Finalist:
Interview with Francesca Byrne
Tom Kelly Award
Finalist: Interview with Edna Sunskis
Elder Services' new staff
New Planner at Elder Services - Jeanne B. Siegel
New Planner at Elder Services - Jeanne B. Siegel
By Roger Suters, Director of Community Services
Since her first visit to the Berkshires as a senior from Brandeis University, Jeanne Siegel hoped that someday she would be able to live in the Berkshires. Now, after three decade, she has moved here and joined Elder Services as Planner.
The concept of expanding the Planner’s position to include development will allow Elder Services to implement new projects as the needs of Berkshire elders increase. Siegel brings her experience with government and private foundation grants and her background in social service administration, as well as her respect for elders to the task of securing needed services for the county.
"I am excited by the opportunity to serve as the planner for Elder Services. We face major challenges in the provision of support services to older people. Chronic and long term health care, support for caregivers, alternative housing options, as well as basic quality of life issues call for creativity, compassion, and collaboration. In this decade, there will be profound shifts in the demographic of our country as the first baby boomers turn 60 in 2006, and the number of elders over 85 doubles. We must work together with all the partners we can find in order to be able to be ready meet the needs.", says Siegel.
Siegel has a Maste’rs Degree from Brandeis University, and has served as the Director of the Jewish Vista Corps, where she helped plan, fund, and direct projects that matched college students with needy elders living in the Bronx and Manhattan. She became a planner for the New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, where she worked in the area of community centers and culture.
As the Assistant Executive Director of the Central Queens YM & YWHA, she expanded and developed new programs, serving seniors through toddlers. In 1989 she became the Executive Director of the agency.
In 1994, as the Director of Academic Affairs for the New York office of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, she was responsible for the recruitment of American students interested in studying in Jerusalem at the Hebrew University.
From her own family experience, Siegel explained that she understands some of the issues that older adults face, especially when their children live in different states. Issues such as managing complex medications, living with diminished physical capacities and/or memory loss, and coping with isolation and depression. While many elders are inspiring portraits of aging, other need and deserve support. Siegel believes that the community, through organizations such as Elder Services, plays a critical role in the moral and ethical character of America. A society is judged by how it cares for it’s elders.