Bonim Builders helps beautify DOMC

Volunteers Boris Davidson, left, and Eugene Eydlin, right, get a hand from Miriam Apartments II tenant Marion Lasofsky who holds the plant steady as they dig the hole for the ornamental shrub on the grounds surrounding the building. Courtesy DOMC

Among the joy of living in the Miriam Apartments at Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute in Clifton is access to the landscaped grounds. Gardens and trees surround the buildings of the independent living senior facility, allowing for apartment tenants to walk, eat al fresco meals, or sit outside on one of the benches. Thanks to the efforts of Bonim Builders of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, the surroundings have become more vibrant with the addition of several new trees and shrubs.

Bonim Builders, formed in 2002, assigns volunteers to help with hands-on projects, renovating or performing repairs for low-income homeowners and nonprofit agencies in Bergen, Passaic, and North Hudson counties. Volunteers perform these services to community members of all races, religions, and ethnicities.

Co-workers from Goldman Sachs were among the group that came to Daughters of Miriam Center.

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In 1979, the Esther and Sam Schwartz Building was part of a pilot program through the office of Housing and Urban Development to offer what it calls congregate services, which helps seniors to maintain their own homes for as long as possible. It was one of only three facilities in New Jersey to be chosen to participate. Congregate services combine shelter and services for the elderly, particularly for those who are no longer fully capable of maintaining completely independent lives.

Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute is a state-of-the-art long-term care and sub-acute facility providing broad-based services to seniors.

Bonim Builders, now Safely@Home, part of the Jewish Home family, is partnering with Rebuilding Together Bergen County to renovate a kitchen for an elderly woman in Teaneck on Sunday, July 12.

Bonim is looking for volunteers, 16 and older, for two shifts, 8:30 a.m. to noon, and noon to 3:30 p.m. To register, email Bonim Builder’s project coordinator, Stacey Orden, at SOrden@jewishhomefamily.org, or call (201) 518-1175.