When the four residents move into their new home on Lake Boulevard in Annandale later this summer, it will be fully provisioned, from the furniture to the pots and pans and everything in between. The kitchen will be stocked with kosher foods.
Myra Gondos, who chaired the housewarming along with Kilmeny Chernys, called the event "unbelievable. It was just so heartwarming."Scher said she was impressed with the house, noting, "It is a home. You don't walk in it like it's a JCC or an institution at all."The home was purchased earlier this year. It will be formally dedicated later this month and opened in late June or July. JFGH opened its first Northern Virginia home, the Lawrence Alan Stempler/ David S. Stone Home, in Reston in 1998. The following year, the Marge and Chuck Levin Home opened, also in Reston.Besides filling up a table with registry gifts, people contributed money as well. "We already broke $7,000. We may hit $8,000," Scher said. That money will be used to purchase fumiture and fill the pantry.Although the four residents haven't been chosen yet, the Jewish community and the neighbors who live near this house are already in a welcoming mood. The Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia threw a housewarming shower Sunday, May 1 , providing a long list of requested items on registries at both Bed, Bath and Beyond and Target. Some of the items were as inexpensive as a $1 .99 place mat, but others ranged up to a $150 cookware set. In between were towels, sheets, table clothes and lots of kitchen items.Despite having 23 group homes now, there is still a waiting list of about 100 people, Fontek said."This is going to be their opportunity to live as adults," Fontek said."We will try and do it the whole school year and maybe even continue for next year," Rose said.by Suzanne Pollak"Forty people RSVP'd and 50 came. I couldn't be more happy. The house was just filled with community members," she said.Like all of its group homes, it will be home to adults with various disabilities. There will be around-the-clock supervision, but the residents will do the normal household chores like vacuuming and answering the door. They will be working during the day, either at a paying or volunteer position."Each class does a different mitzvah project. The fifth-graders want to help people with disabilities," she said.These presents and many more were presented at a May 1 housewarming shower to mark the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes' 23rd home for individuals with disabilities. This is the third group home in Northern Virginia and will be named the Barbara Brown and Robert Berish Home in honor of its generous benefactors, said Lew Fontek, director of development for JFGH.The students will invite the residents to various Jewish holiday parties and plays at the school. They will be collecting items that may be needed, including groceries and toiletries. Some of the students also will help out with the vegetable garden expected to be made at the home.The home is located a little more than a mile from the Northern Virginia Jewish Community Center. "It's in a beautiful part of town right off the Little River Turnpike," Fontek said. There is public transportation available nearby, he added."It was amazing. It was fabulous," agreed Jennifer Scher, director, cornmunity and resource development, Northern Virginia, for the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.Six students from Gesher Jewish Day School attended the housewarmjng. Their entire class of 18 will be helping the residents of this new group home throughout the year as part of the school's "Head, Heart and Hand" program, explained their teacher, Maya Rose.
Special to WJW
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