Amplifying Our Residents’ Voices on the National Stage

November 27, 2024

By Michelle Rowe Advocacy is about more than policies; it’s about people willing to step up and make change happen. I’m Michelle Rowe, Resident Council President, and I was able to sit with federal officials at the 48th Annual National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care Conference, which represented more than just a meeting. It […]

John and Valerie Watson: A Healing Journey

October 24, 2024

By John Moskin John and Valerie Watson are a formidable pair. One of eight siblings, John grew up in the Ida B. Wells housing project on the south side of Chicago. His father, a postal service supervisor, often told him, “You have two strikes against you. You’re black, and you’re poor.” Accordingly, John learned early […]

One Family’s Story of Survival, Endurance & Optimism

March 14, 2024

Deborah Estreicher has become a familiar face on campus. Apart from an auto malfunction and two days of illness, she has driven here every day from Redwood City, to visit her 97-year-old father, Henry Estreicher. Deborah knows the nursing staff, the activities directors, the social workers, the physical therapists, the kitchen staff, the custodians, and […]

Balancing Life Through Art: Meet Esther

August 30, 2023

Art has always been an important part of Esther Mugar’s life. A native New Yorker, Esther grew up in the Bronx as an only child and remembers how artistically inclined her mother was. “My mother was a housewife because that was how it was back then, but she used to paint whenever she could,” says […]

A Century of Music

July 24, 2023

We love when our very own residents fill our hallways with music! Meet Jewish Home resident Dora Balter. Dora emigrated to the United States in 1981 at the age of 61 and continued her life as a pianist in San Francisco’s Richmond district. She played professionally at the former Geary Street restaurant Russian Renaissance and […]

Resident Profile: Patti Navarro

June 24, 2022

When Patti Navarro talks about her life, a word she often uses is proud. As the first transgender resident at the Jewish Home & Rehab Center (JHRC) on the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living (SFCJL), she was instrumental in making its first PRIDE event happen. Working with staff to organize, she invited some of […]