OU TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO SANDWICH GENERATION MEMBERS FROM JANUARY 7 TO 21 ON WWW.OU.ORG
In recognition that much of its core constituency is part of what has come to be known as The Sandwich Generation — people who on a daily basis are faced with balancing the demands of aging parents with the demands of children and grandchildren — the Orthodox Union has undertaken a worldwide program to offer advice to members of this often beleaguered and ever-growing group.
At the center of these efforts is the launching of an online community discussion on www.ou.org for two weeks beginning Sunday January 7. The website’s worldwide audience will have the opportunity to direct questions to distinguished professionals and to receive guidance from them. The web will also allow sandwich generationers to communicate with others in the same situation about their daily challenges.
“Millions of Americans find themselves caring for elderly parents, with the numbers growing daily,” declared Frank Buchweitz, OU National Director of Community Services and Special Projects. “The website provides an opportunity to learn what you can do, share what you know, and get and give help in navigating this vast and overwhelming territory.”
The professionals, Rosa Roberts LCSW; Leah Abramowitz MSW; Chanie Holzer MSW; and Dr. Fred Moskovitz Psy.D, with additional experts joining, will respond to the questions up to and including Sunday, January 21.
The OU effort also includes a slideshow, Raising Up Bubbie, by Kevin Unger, which is part of the website’s Shabbat Shalom features for the week of January 7 (Parshat Vayechi), and to be archived thereafter; a segment of the Around the Dining Room Table program of OU Radio, in which OU President Stephen J. Savitsky discusses the situation with Dr. David Pelcovitz Ph.D and Rabbi Menachem Goldberger; When Illness Strikes and Decisions Have to Be Made audio workshops on OU Radio; and an upcoming workshop in Brooklyn, NY on February 10, which will serve as models for similar events in other communities.