At KleinLife, a nonprofit Jewish community center with three locations in the Philadelphia area, the standard that it has set is to constantly improve its services for the diverse community that it serves.
Inna Gulko, director of Support Services at KleinLife, said that the demographics of the clientele at the center have shifted, but that hasn’t impacted how they are received by the staff and community at large.
“We’re a community center, and the demographics of the community in Northeast Philadelphia as well as Elkins Park are shifting,” Gulko said. “We have people from different ethnicities and cultures, and when they come here, of course we don’t turn them away. We welcome them with open arms. It’s a mixed community, and it’s fun to see.”
KleinLife just moved its senior services to Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, a site that has better access for members of the elderly community. Gail Korostoff is the program director at KleinLife. While she emphasized that the center’s previous location at Congregation Adath Jeshurun was wonderful for a decade, she said that the KleinLife community is excited for a new start in a new facility.
Korostoff said that Keneseth Israel has an elevator and easier access for handicapped people, as well as lots of handicapped parking. There is also a library that can be used to host classes, as well as other versatile rooms and modern, easily usable AV equipment that will improve the services KleinLife can offer.
“We looked around and decided that KI was a really good fit,” Korostoff said.
On Wednesday, KleinLife and Keneseth Israel held a celebratory grand opening party at the synagogue. While the center has been operating at KI since September, this get-together allowed the community to properly break in the new space.
“We [had] a featured performer, a special dessert buffet, door prizes, and more. This is after a regular day that includes an exercise class, then lunch,” Korostoff said.
While the JCC may be willing to help anyone regardless of their Jewish lineage, that is not to say that it is just any other community center. For example, the featured performer at the opening party was a renowned Klezmer group, the Ken Ulansey Ensemble.
For Gulko, the opening of a new space is a chance to breathe even more life into the program, which has a rich history of helping all sorts of elderly Philadelphians.
“We celebrated Veterans Day and seeing the veterans left in our community felt really good,” Gulko said. “When we work with Holocaust survivors — there are less and less of them — seeing them here makes me feel really good. We have refugees and immigrants here. Our community is diverse in culture and age and we are trying to cater our services to all of [these groups].”
At the new center, Gulko is most excited for the prospect of continuing to improve the adult fitness and exercise classes at the new center. She said that in the last few years, the average age of attendees has dropped from 81 to 78, which indicates that the programs KleinLife is offering are appealing to more than just the oldest members of the community.
“It’s not the same senior center that existed 10 years ago. We are focused on socialization, health, wellness, and that’s why the programming is appealing to a younger, more vibrant and more active demographic,” she said.
The new deal for KleinLife to rent space at Keneseth Israel is indefinite. Korostoff mentioned how the organization is by no means looking to shuffle around, and was happy to be at Adath Jeshurun for a decade. Hopefully, this deal can yield similar success.
“Everybody is thrilled so far,” Korostoff said.