Helping Jewish Seniors Thrive

The Chicago Mitzvah Campaign serves more than 2,000 seniors at their senior center, providing cultural enrichment, social support, and exercise and nutrition programs to older adults from throughout the Jewish community.

Newly-expanded senior center gives older Jewish adults a place to belong

Last January, Burton Penn and his wife, Betsy Cooper, moved to Chicago to be closer to their son. As lifelong East Coast residents, they arrived in Chicago with no friends or connections their own age. Newly retired, they struggled to build a daily routine and social life.

Then one day, they spotted a sign about the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign’s senior programs, posted atop the organization’s brand-new building in West Rogers Park. Curious, they stopped by to check it out.

They’ve been coming back almost every day since—for book clubs, film screenings, guest lectures, and of course, the delicious kosher lunch.

“We thought, ‘wow, this is someplace for us,’” said Betsy. “It was wonderful coming here and finding a place where we could have activities and friends.”

From humble beginnings in 1995, offering visits and kosher meals to a small number of Jewish elderly and hospital patients, the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign (CMC) has since expanded to provide companionship, meals, and transportation to more than 3,000 Jewish families in the Chicago area. They’ve also grown to serve more than 2,000 seniors at their senior center, providing cultural enrichment, social support, and exercise and nutrition programs to older adults from the Jewish community.

Left: Rabbi Aron Wolf stands outside the original site of Chicago Mitzvah Campaign. Right: The new building for Chicago Mitzvah Campaign opened in April 2021.

Until recently, those senior programs took place in a crowded storefront on Touhy Avenue. With support from the Walder Foundation and other donors, CMC now serves seniors—and bases all its other operations—out of a new, state-of-the-art building at the corner of Pratt and California, just blocks from some of the largest senior living residences in the city.

“If you look around the building, you'll see everything is done and built for the seniors, whether it's classes, exercise, learning groups, food, whatever. They have everything they need, and everything can be accomplished in one building,” said Menachem Wolf, the general contractor who oversaw the site construction.

The 12,500 square foot facility is completely wheelchair-accessible, allows for multiple programs to run concurrently, and accommodates additional counseling and advocacy services, a library, and a fully-equipped fitness center. It also provides ample space for social distancing, which became important amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“This is a very populated Jewish Orthodox neighborhood, but they didn’t have anything like this for decades,” said Rabbi Aron Wolf, founder and director of CMC.

“I was always a giver and a doer, and I was there for everyone in my family and the community,” said Cynthia Simpson of Lincolnwood, who first got involved with the CMC as a volunteer herself. “Now that I am up in years, I realize that I have needs that the Chicago Mitzvah Campaign can fulfill for me. It’s lovely to be on the other side. It’s wonderful.”

Watch the video on Chicago Mitzvah Campaign

The new building for the Chicago Mitzvah Center is named for Elizabeth Walder’s grandparents, Chatzkel and Sarah Mallor. “My grandparents returned to their Jewish roots as seniors through Chabad. In fact, they made sure to place their Chabad shul at the center of their apartment complex in Irvington, New Jersey,” said Elizabeth. “With the opportunity to dedicate the CMC, I recalled their commitment to supporting the Chabad senior community and thought to honor them with this tribute.”

This project was funded as part of a series of capital investments by the Walder Foundation to support critical infrastructure needs at schools, synagogues and community centers in Chicago. Collectively, these investments total over $20 million and will be applied to projects for expansion or new construction so that these organizations can continue to provide valuable services to the growing Jewish community.