Better Business Bureau Report for
CJE SeniorLife

Better Business Bureau Report issued April 2012
Better Business Bureau Report expires April 2014


This BBB Accredited charity meets all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability and is a Seal Holder. Find out more...


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Charity Contact Information

Name: CJE SeniorLife
Address: 3003 West Touhy Avenue
  Chicago, IL 60645
Phone: 773-508-1000
Web Address: http://cje.net
Also known as:Council for Jewish Elderly
Lieberman Center for Health and Rehabilitation
Weinberg Community for Senior Living
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Better Business Bureau Comments

Year, State Incorporated: 1972, Illinois
Affiliates: None
Stated Purpose: The mission of CJE SeniorLife is to facilitate independence of older adults and to enhance quality of life by advocating on their behalf and by offering programs and services throughout the continuum of care for individuals, families and the community.

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Evaluation Conclusions

              

CJE SeniorLife meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.
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Programs

              

Lieberman Center for Health and Rehabilitation is a skilled care nursing residence (accepting Medicaid, Medicare and Private Pay) offering a full spectrum of care for the community’s most frail elderly including long-term skilled nursing, Alzheimer’s Special Care Unit, short-term rehabilitation, and hospice/end of life care. In the past year, Lieberman provided person-focused skilled nursing care to more than 300 elderly residents (average age: 89) while also providing many socialization and life enrichment opportunities. Most notable are its range of award-winning creative art therapies that focus on building personal connections and improving communication skills. Lieberman has extremely high staff to client ratios compared to other (nationally-ranked) nursing home facilities: 1:8 (CNA/ patients); 1.5:48 (Professional Nurse/ patients); 1:48 (Social Worker/patients). Lieberman’s Haag Pavilion for short-term rehabilitation provided a 7-day/week therapy program to almost 450 individuals recovering from an acute illness, injury or exacerbation of a disease. At an average stay of 3 weeks, Haag Pavilion exceeds the goal of returning patients (with increasing medical complexity due to their more advanced age) to their prior level of functioning before the illness or injury. Lieberman closely monitors its outcomes through a variety of measures to ensure that it meets or exceeds the regional and national averages of re-hospitalization rates, improved functional abilities, falls data, house acquired pressure ulcers, etc. CJE SeniorLife offers over 40 different programs and services, many of which are provided through community-based services to alleviate the difficulties that may arise when someone chooses to “age in place.” Personal Care CJE provides over 140,000 hours of home-based personal care services to almost 800 low-income seniors through a subsidized program administered by the Illinois Department on Aging. These services include assistance with bathing, grooming, dressing, running errands, light housekeeping, meal preparation, and respite care. Without these services, many individuals would need to enter a residential facility. Transportation CJE has 19 buses, one of the largest private transportation fleets outside of a local bus system, that provide over 50,000 rides annually to almost 1,000 older adults. Many of our riders have mental and/or physical disabilities with limited English-language skills and would otherwise be homebound. The majority of riders are older than age 75, approximately 30% live below the poverty level, and approximately 70% live alone. A new low-cost Medicar service is available for more individualized trips on-demand to grocery stores, physicians, and activities that reduce isolation. Home Delivered Meals Through Title III subsidy programs, CJE provides 119,000 hot home delivered kosher meals at no cost to older adults who are unable to shop and/or prepare food. All meals provide for calorie controlled, diabetic, low fat and low salt diets. Adult Day Services At three locations, CJE’s Adult Day Services provide 220 older adults with a safe, supervised, structured program in a group setting. Our program maximizes the potential of each participant, helping him or her maintain functional abilities and quality of life while giving their caregivers a much-needed respite. Participants, 60 or older, come from all ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. In addition, the award-winning and unique Culture Bus Program, where participants visit cultural destinations throughout Chicago, is designed to provide socialization and stimulation to people with early stage memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. A sister program includes an "inside program" on alternate weeks to engage participants in therapeutic artistic expression in an environment that fosters meaningful social peer interactions. Consumer Assistance CJE SeniorLife's Entry and Resource Center Specialists provide assistance, information and referrals on a variety of health and welfare issues impacting older adults, ages 60 and over. Each year—at no cost to the client—they respond to over 10,000 inquiries by phone or through walk-in appointments. Bi-lingual staff (English, Russian, Yiddish) advocate on behalf of clients to ensure that they receive the government and social service benefits and services to which they are entitled. Approximately 30% of CJE’s clients use more than one service that CJE provides. Center for Healthy Living CJE’s Center for Healthy Living helps almost 5,000 older adults fully engage with life by improving their mind, spirit and body through low or no-cost educational seminars, expressive arts workshops, fitness programs and preventive health screenings. In a year, The Weinberg Community for Senior Living is home to almost 220 older adults at either Gidwitz Place for Assisted Living or The Friend Center for Alzheimer's Care, one of the first and largest assisted living residences in the state. The Weinberg Community is a safe, yet stimulating environment for older adults who need additional assistance with everyday tasks like medication reminders, bathing or housekeeping. Residents also have many opportunities to participate in socialization and life enrichment activities. Through primarily for a private pay population, approximately 30% of residents receive some type of financial assistance through a CJE-sponsored scholarship program, donor funds or state government subsidy. Assisted living communities bridge the gap between living independently at home and placement in a skilled nursing facility. A recent assessment at Gidwitz indicated that residents are requiring more assistance due to their increased age (average: 85) and their vast medical needs. To address the needs of the frailer, more medically-complex resident, CJE established the Gidwitz Plus program help residents “age in place” at Gidwitz instead of moving to a nursing home before it is necessary. The average length of stay at Weinberg is 3.3 years compared to the national average of 2.2 years. CJE Independent Housing is for seniors who do not require personal or medical care; it allows them to live independently in the same neighborhoods where they raised their families with the security of shared life circumstances and availability of CJE services. The six apartment buildings (Farwell House, Jarvis House, Krasnow Residence, Swartzberg House, Village Center, and Levy House) offer studio, one- or two-bedroom apartments. Residents are fully independent, but each apartment is equipped with an emergency response system that is monitored by CJE staff.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, CJE SeniorLife's program expenses were:

  
Salaries 21,061,894
Other Expenses 7,743,219
Employee Health and Retirement 4,711,817
Occupancy Expenses 3,236,857
Depreciation/Ammortizartion 3,212,967
Food Service 3,033,449
Professional Fees 2,586,295
Payroll Taxes 1,513,598
Total Program Expenses: $47,100,096
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Governance

              

Chief Executive : Mark Weiner, President & CEO
Compensation*:
$366,000

Chair of the Board: Bruce J Letterman
Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation: Vice President, Lenox Advisors

Board Size: 52

Paid Staff Size: 749

*Compensation includes annual salary and, if applicable, benefit plans, expense accounts, and other allowances.
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Fund Raising

              

Method(s) Used:

direct mail, invitations to fund raising events, print advertisements, grant proposals, internet
Fund raising costs were 5% of related contributions. (Related contributions, which totaled $10,150,429, are donations received as a result of fund raising activities.)
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Tax Status

              

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.
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Financial

              

The following information is based on CJE SeniorLife's audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2011.

Source of Funds  
Program Service Revenue 42,207,924
Public Support 10,150,429
Net Assets Released from Restrictions 1,059,214
Total Income $53,417,567


chart



Uses of Funds as a % of Total Expenses

Programs: 86%  Fund Raising: 1%  Administrative: 13%  Other Expenses: Less than 1%

Total income   $53,417,567
  Program expenses $47,100,096
  Fund raising expenses 465,859
  Administrative expenses 7,119,461
  Other Expenses 247,341
Total expenses   $54,932,757
Expenses in Excess of Income   (1,515,190)
Beginning net assets   798,297
Other Changes in Net Assets (7,907,252)
Ending net assets   (8,624,145)
Total liabilities   70,107,292
Total assets   $61,483,147


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An organization may change its practices at any time without notice. A copy of this report has been shared with the organization prior to publication. It is not intended to recommend or deprecate, and is furnished solely to assist you in exercising your own judgment. If the report is about a charity and states the charity meets or does not meet the BBB Standards for Charity Accountability, it reflects the results of an evaluation of information and materials provided voluntarily by the charity. The name Better Business Bureau is a registered service mark of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.

This report is not to be used for fund raising or promotional purposes.

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