Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) and Councilman Eric Dinowitz (C.D. 11), both of whom broadly represent the northwest Bronx, joined attendees and officials from Selfhelp Community Services on Thursday, Sept. 18, when the organization hosted its latest “Coffee House” event at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, part of an event series dedicated to Holocaust survivors. 

 

Around 45 to 50 survivors, plus home care aides and spouses, participated in the gathering during which there was music, lunch, programming, and socialization opportunities, according to the organizers. “It’s particularly important for older adults, and especially the last generation of survivors, to fight the scourge of social isolation,” a spokesperson for the event later said. “These events do just that.”

 

Selfhelp Community Services provides programming to over 25,000 older adults in New York City every year. In reference to the assemblyman and the councilman, both of whom are Jewish and father and son respectively, the spokesperson said their presence highlighted the importance of collaboration by elected officials in supporting Holocaust survivors.

 

The spokesperson added that the New York City Council’s Elie Wiesel Holocaust Survivor Initiative is an important source of funding to support services for low-income Holocaust survivors across the City.