It is a crisp winter morning as a young man uses crutches to maneuver up a wheelchair accessible ramp past the jewish menorah that decorates the front of the building. He hobbles along to the security desk and is greeted by a sign that says, “WELCOME” in six different languages. As he signs into the a building a young woman walks up to the front desk and begins to talk into an intercom, “Good morning, today is December 4th 2012, and we have a count of 451 residents. Today, we will be showing a movie at 1:30 in the auditorium, and having arts and crafts in the…” She concludes the announcements  and then hands over the intercom to another woman who delivers the same message, only this time in Spanish.

This is a normal morning in Beth Abraham Center Light Health System, a facility that provides rehabilitation for long-term and short-term residents. It’s conception stems all the way back to 1920; when a socially conscious woman named Bertha Alperstein opened the simple brick building to provide services for the poor and elderly Jewish community.

Beth Abraham has come a long way since opening its doors in 1920. Located at 612 Allerton Avenue in the Bronx, the facility serves the diverse demographic of the Morris Park neighborhood. Vincent Bonadies, the director of therapeutic recreation, has been working for Beth Abraham for over two years. He said, “Beth Abraham provides service for everyone, whether you are an elderly person who needs care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or maybe someone who needs rehab to recover from an injury.” Also, he made it clear that Beth Abraham is not a hospice.  “We do have a few hospice beds, but people do not come here because they are ‘end-of-life’ patients, they come here to receive care, and to get better,” he said.

One of the major problems in the healthcare industry is funding; however, Beth Abraham avoids this difficulty by accepting multiple methods of payment. “Most of the funding is provided through medicaid, which is state funding. Residents will apply for medicaid or medicare and the state will reimburse us for their stay and our services, and some have private insurance. It’s really a combination of those three, but a majority of it comes from medicaid, said Bonadies.  With a majority of the cost covered by the state, one can see the benefits it has on the residents, who enjoy multiple activities throughout the day as well as state-of-the-art equipment and a virtual rehabilitation system.

With funding under control at Beth Abraham, it is no surprise as to why they were able to handle the natural disaster that hit the Atlantic coast on October 29th, 2012. Hurricane Sandy was one of the most detrimental storms to hit New York City and the tri-state area; many hospitals were flooded, lost power, and had to be evacuated. Fortunately, the Morris Park community was not greatly affected and sustained minimal damage.  Therefore, in this time of crisis, Beth Abraham became a safe haven. Mr. Bonadies recounts his experiences during hurricane Sandy when he said, “ We were pretty lucky here at Beth Abraham. The managers were called in, and some stayed overnight. We had good staff, the electricity was on and the residents were safe. But we felt the after-affects of the hurricane. We had to admit people who were evacuees from Queens, from Brooklyn, from other nursing homes– that’s how we were really affected.”

Usually the facility is responsible for a certain number of residents, but during this time of crisis, the resident count rose significantly. There are usually designated areas throughout the building, where residents can relax and enjoy some ‘down-time’, however with the surge of people admitted to the Center, there isn’t any free area or space in the building except for the residents’ lounge.

Going forward, Beth Abraham has decided to begin a new Social work interning program. This program will be one of the newest additions to the facility, as well as a fall prevention program.  “We change stheir environment so it is more conducive to the resident; we will alter the colors of certain things such as their toilet seats, and build things closer to them,” said Bonadies.

In addition to the new programs, Beth Abraham already has great volunteering opportunities. They allow individuals as young as 16 years old to help out with the residents during recreational activities, as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals in the cafe. The facility also allows volunteers to go onto the floors and help the nurses out with the residents. “New York Peers Group does one of the biggest coat drives in the city, and they do Friday night game night with residents, and help out with bingo and other games,” said Mr. Bonadies.

Overall, it is remarkable that 95 years after a woman opened a building for the impoverished elderly Jewish community,it is flourishing as a great facility that provides for a diverse group of people. It tends to the young, the old, Jewish,Latino, black, and any other ethnicity you can think of. Although Mr. Bonadies has only been working with Beth Abraham for two years he has witnessed the growth and progression of this medical center, he said,” Beth Abraham has been a cornerstone of the community for some time now. We have these three buildings here on Allerton Avenue, and three other nursing homes. We have health aid programs and 22 locations of comprehensive care programs. We’re pretty big now. We’re in all of the five boroughs.” The expansion of Beth Abraham Center is a testament to the great work and services it provides the people of its community as well as others. The facility does not limit itself to only helping a few, but to helping many.