Message From Our Executive Vice President

2020: The beginning of a year of great significance to Federation Housing. Fifty years ago in August 1970, Federation Housing Inc. was created to meet the growing need of affordable housing for seniors. Under the pioneering leadership of Founding Executive Director Ephraim F. Goldstein, with the support of the Federation of Jewish Agencies (FJA), coupled with a generous contribution by the Tabas family, FHI opened its first apartment community in the Bells Corner section of Northeast Philadelphia at 2101 Strahle Street in 1974. The Samuel Tabas Apartments with 322 apartment units was quickly filled and has housed thousands upon thousands of needy seniors ever since.

As a community, we at Federation Housing had planned on celebrating this momentous occasion with a variety of commemorative events including resident, staff and Board gatherings and community outreach activities. With the onset of COVID 19 and the need to practice social distancing and to adhere to CDC guidelines, these celebrations and group gatherings have been postponed.

Although COVID 19 has brought disappointment and uncertainty into the world and directly to our apartment communities, Federation Housing has responded with great strength and efficiency as we constantly adjust to our communities’ “new now”. At the onset of this pandemic, Federation Housing rapidly took action and closed all community spaces at each of our 11 properties in an effort to reduce mingling and congregating. Our facilities team has been working tirelessly to clean and disinfect our properties each day. Office staff remain available daily, both on-site and remotely, to assist residents in accessing needed services and addressing resident concerns. Most importantly, we have continued to offer our subsidized Meal Program, our most essential activity, in each of our homes where we are seeing great demand in the need for food security. To comply with CDC guidelines for social distancing our community dining rooms remain closed. To make the meal available to everyone in need, we have waived the $1 per meal participation fee. With residents making less trips to area markets we have seen a significant increase in the number of meals served as well as the number of residents participating. Currently, we are providing over 4,200 meals to over 350 un-duplicated residents each month across our communities.

If nothing else, this pandemic has reinforced not only how strong Federation Housing is but more importantly how flexible we continue to be in meeting the needs of low-income seniors in our region. Our deepest thanks go to our dedicated board members, long-standing partner foundations, and community friends of Federation Housing, whose generous donations and support have enabled us to continue to provide these quality programs and services to our over 1,500 elderly agency wide.

As we look back and reflect on FH’s accomplishments over the past fifty years, we can be proud of the impact we make each and every day on the lives of those we proudly serve. The demand for quality, affordable housing and related services has never been greater and we remain committed to serving those less fortunate today and in the future.

We welcome your on-going partnerships and support as we fulfill our goals of creating new homes for low and moderate income seniors, help our seniors to remain in their homes and ensure that our residents have access to a wide variety of health and wellness programs and services. We also look forward to the time when we will be able to gather again as a community to celebrate Federation Housing’s legacy of service to the community.

Wishing you and your families sustained good health,

Eric Naftulin

Executive Vice President

Federation Housing Reacts to Pandemic

In the early days of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, there were numerous concerns that communal living spaces were not prepared for the dangers to come. But for Federation Housing, which took an early and proactive response to the crisis, it has proven just the opposite.

Federation Housing provides affordable living communities for more than 1,500 older adults (ages 62 and older) at 11 locations throughout Greater Philadelphia. The organization is unique in the extensive support services it provides to residents, including meals, transportation, on-site social workers and a broad array of social, recreational and intergenerational enrichment programs. That also made the response to COVID-19 even more challenging.

“We simply took an immediate and proactive step to curtail all community programs and settings in our building,” explained Eric Naftulin, the executive director and CEO of Federation Housing. “We did not hesitate in taking immediate steps to not allow residents to come together, no matter how difficult that would prove to be. And I think this played a major role in preventing the growth and spread of the virus in our buildings.”

Federation Housing’s quick actions indeed proved effective: At all 11 properties, there have only been three cases of the coronavirus, two of which were a husband and wife. Those affected were immediately transferred to a local hospital, where they are recovering well, and a third-party cleaning company was brought in to sanitize and disinfect all surfaces to keep a lid on the growth.

With all residents confined to their apartments, the centers became a vastly different kind of place for those that live and work there. Every Federation Housing center is usually bursting with activities — from communal congregant meals to programs and exercise classes with Golden Slipper Gems to bingo games and art classes. To ensure his residents had access to food and continued to be connected to their community, Naftulin knew they would need to get creative, and get some help.

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Precautionary Measures regarding COVID-19/Coronavirus

Dear Residents and Families,

We are in the midst of an unprecedented global pandemic with the COVID-19 Coronavirus. This county has not experienced a pandemic in over 100 years.

Federation Housing’s board of directors, management and staff are relying on information and directives provided by the federal government’s CDC, state and city governments.

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What can you do to help your family member?

• Call and check on them. Seniors are lonely and afraid at this time.

• Monitor their medications and make sure that they have enough. Shop for groceries or arrange grocery/food service deliveries.

• For residents with aides – please make sure that aides are arriving as scheduled.

• All of our buildings are open as residents rely on their family and aides/attendants.

• Our management offices are staffed on a limited basis. All communication must be by telephone/email only. (Phone numbers are listed in the Communities section of our website.)

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Information Shared with Residents

The information below was sent to all of the residents last week and translated into seven languages.

We are urging you not to panic but instead take simple precautionary measures to protect yourself and those you interact with.

Below are some basic guidelines:

• If you are sick, seek medical treatment.

• If you are feeling sick, sneezing, coughing or have a fever – STAY IN YOUR APARTMENT. This is the best way not to spread sickness.

• AVOID CONTACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE.

• If you are feeling sick, do not sit in the lobby or any other public spaces.

• If you are feeling sick, please do not go to the Manager’s or Service Coordinator’s offices. Call us on the phone if you need assistance.

• If you are feeling sick, sneezing, coughing or have a fever, do not call for maintenance unless you have a maintenance emergency. We can make routine repairs when you feel better.

• Van services are cancelled at this time.

• Practice Good Hygiene – wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth/nose if you sneeze or cough. Wash your hands after you have been in the common areas. This includes after going to the mail room, trash rooms, using elevators and commonly used doors and touch points.

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Management has also taken the following precautionary measures within your building/home which will remain in place until further notice:

• We have closed/locked all community spaces including the community room, social rooms, game rooms, computer center, restrooms, library and chapel.

• Laundry rooms, mail rooms and common lobbies will remain OPEN.

• Activities & Social programs, including religious services, Golden Slipper Gems, etc. have been cancelled until further notice.

• Boxed lunches will continue to be provided to those who participate in our meal programs, however those boxed lunches will be distributed to you to take to your apartment for consumption. NO community room space will be provided for consumption of the boxed lunch.

• Van transportation has been cancelled.

• Property Staff will routinely disinfect the common areas, door handles, bathrooms and elevators.

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For more information on the COVID-19, please visit the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Or

Pennsylvania Department of Health:

https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx

The Federation Housing management office is closed to visitors.

We thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Eric Naftulin

Executive Director