Baycrest to open “Café Europa” for Holocaust Survivors

-- receives $500,000 from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to expand its Holocaust Resource Program to community

Toronto, ONT. - Baycrest Geriatric Health Care System announced today that it will open a Café Europa for Holocaust Survivors, as part of a new package of outreach programming for this special population.

Baycrest is home to the largest group of aging Holocaust Survivors in the country. Read more

Baycrest - which cares for the largest group of aging Holocaust Survivors in Canada - has received a $500,000 grant from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to expand its community outreach.

"This is an important investment in programs to support and care for aging Holocaust Survivors," said Ontario Citizenship and Immigration Minister Mike Colle.

"Baycrest Café Europa will provide a new weekly drop in place for survivors to relax and socialize. I'm pleased to be supporting such a great program."

On hand for the Minister's announcement today at Baycrest were Grade 6 students from Thornhill Woods Public School, who created colorful signage for the new café and performed dramatic readings and music. Also in attendance were Holocaust Survivors, including child survivor Joe Gottdenker.

"I commend our provincial government for recognizing the needs of survivors, particularly as they are getting older and dealing with health problems. They require emotional support and social interaction more than ever," said Gottdenker, who was hidden by a farm family in Poland during WWII when he was an infant.

Toronto is home to approximately 12,000 Holocaust Survivors comprising almost half of Canada's total survivor population. Aging survivors often have few or no extended family members and have looked to their fellow survivors for emotional, social and familial support.

The Baycrest Café Europa, which opens this fall, will be modeled after similarly-named cafés for Holocaust Survivors in Europe, the United States, United Kingdom and Israel. It will include refreshments, music, discussion groups and guest speakers - and be enriched with a social work component.

"This is a very exciting addition to the resources available for Holocaust Survivors in the Toronto area," said Paula David, social worker and coordinator of the Holocaust Resource Program at Baycrest. "So many survivors just need a little support to relax, socialize and enjoy themselves. Now we will have a venue for them."

In addition to the café, to be located at the Joseph E. and Minnie Wagman Centre, 55 Ameer Ave., Baycrest will launch additional initiatives with the new funding, including the following:

A Living Narratives Project to record the life stories of survivors who live at Baycrest and /or attend the café. School children will be invited to produce visuals of these narratives that can be displayed in resident rooms in Baycrest's Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged.
An Intergenerational Remembrance Day Project with students in York Region, emphasizing diversity and understanding between cultures, religions and ethnic groups.
Bring Café Europa programming to Holocaust Survivors who are spending much of their time caregiving for spouses in Baycrest's nursing home and hospital and who cannot attend the weekly café drop-in at the Wagman.

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For more information on this press release, please contact: Kelly Connelly, Senior Media Relations Officer, Baycrest 416.785.2432, kconnelly@baycrest.org

Baycrest is home to the largest group of aging Holocaust Survivors in the country

Baycrest estimates that it cares for almost 1,000 Holocaust Survivors, in its nursing home and hospital and through its outpatient clinics and the Community Day Centre for Seniors.

It also offers evening support groups for adult children of survivors, a bi-annual Second Generation Conference, and an e-newsletter If Not Now for healthcare professionals, family members and others who care for survivors.

In 1999 Baycrest hosted an international conference, "Caring for the Aging Holocaust Survivor", attracting more than 300 delegates from around the world. They attended workshops that examined the challenges of caring for genocide survivors and their second and third generation family members. "Survivors of more recent genocides are looking to us (the Jewish community) as the experts in how to be resilient and get on with life after the most massive and extensive genocide in history," said Paula David, social worker and coordinator of the Holocaust Resource Program at Baycrest.

In 2004 Baycrest published Caring for Aging Holocaust Survivors , the world's first comprehensive practice manual for healthcare professionals and families caring for victims of war atrocities and genocide. The manual has received extensive media attention and been requested by healthcare organizations and agencies on every continent!