Some of the most inspiring work being done in the 92Y community these last months has been the result of the generosity of spirit of a trio of amazing women in our Himan Brown 60+ program. Eleanor (Ellie) Roth (76), Joanne Bernstein (77) and Sara Westhoff (76) have demonstrated that while physical doors may close, open hearts and minds make remarkable things possible. Meet them!
Ellie Roth has been an active and ardent Himan Brown program member since 2010. Pre-pandemic, she would come to 92Y four days a week, attending classes and discussion groups in politics, art history, music appreciation and more. “There’s a class for everyone,” she says, adding, “92Y is a big part of my life!”
When the coronavirus forced the closing of 92Y’s in-person programming and activities in March, Ellie says she was brokenhearted. “We would be so lost without the Y. It organized our days, it’s where we met friends, and suddenly we weren’t able to go there. I wondered, ‘Am I going to lose everything I have?’” But the Himan Brown program team quickly began shifting its programming to an online model. “Almost immediately, we were busy with the most marvelous courses, just like we were when we went there,” she said, adding, “We’re all getting very techie!”
Participating in online programming was just the beginning for Ellie. In early spring, recognizing that the HB 60+ program is a weekday one, she volunteered to lead a movie group on Saturdays, eager to provide a weekend activity to help others stay engaged and connected. It was an instant hit – Ellie’s film and miniseries discussion group has been averaging 25 participants every week since it began. The group discusses content selected by Ellie, which has so far included films from Tootsie and Breakfast at Tiffany’s to The Plot Against America and The Gods Must Be Crazy. The “take charge” initiative is made more remarkable the more you know its leader – Ellie is blind.
Himan Brown 60+ program director Julia Zeuner says, “Ellie is amazing. She has such a positive attitude about life and has not allowed her vision loss to hinder her in any way.” Beyond her online film group, Ellie has for years offered low-vision classes and support to other Himan Brown program members – something she is eager to continue offering over Zoom. “She is a tremendous inspiration to other members who are losing their vision, and she demonstrates by her very being that vision loss needn’t keep a person from pursuing and enjoying the things they love.”
Also pursuing things she loves is Joanne Bernstein, a Himan Brown 60+ program member for the last 10 years. Determined to hold onto everything the program offered, she eagerly scooped up the Zoom offerings, regularly participating in everything from current events groups to literature classes to exercise classes to a new offering on Italian Cinema. And like Ellie, she realized she could help enrich the weekend days that had traditionally been without programming.
A former professor of education at Brooklyn College, Joanne volunteered to start a short story class. In early May, she selected her favorite story, Shirley Jackson’s “Charles,” to kick things off. That Sunday, a handful of fellow program members gathered via Zoom and Joanne led their discussion. It, too, proved to be a hit. Eight months of weekly gatherings later, the group has grown (last week’s class had 37 participants!), meeting every Sunday at 2 pm to discuss stories they read in advance by writers from Hawthorne to Raymond Carver, O’Henry to Kafka, Baldwin to Cheever. The class has been such a success that Joanne recently launched a second one. Building on her 20 years’ experience coaching a high school College Bowl trivia team in Brooklyn, she started a trivia group that meets on Saturday mornings for the 60+ program members.
What Joanne and Ellie have created is providing a real added service to members of the HB 60+ program, but Joanne sees something more – “This is a lifesaver for me.”
The indefatigable Sara Westhoff became a Himan Brown member just two years ago, the center becoming her home away from home during her husband’s illness and after his passing. Though Sara lives on the West Side, she would be in our building at 92nd and Lex four or five days a week for discussion groups, lectures, concerts and more.
Sara retired a little over eight years ago from a career in computers, working with online systems, and jumped in to assist other program members get comfortable online. “Some people didn’t even have the basic equipment, and their families were terrific in helping to set them up. I started helping with Zoom. There were those who needed lots of guidance. Others were simply intimidated and just needed a little encouragement. Once I was on Zoom with someone I would help them get over the hurdle of whatever it was they didn’t know how to do.”
In addition to offering tech support, Sara founded the Virtual Warburg Lounge, which now meets over Zoom three evenings a week, including Saturdays. It started with her simple idea: “Let’s get together the way we used to, at a big round table, and talk. People have really missed that.” A silver lining in all of the Himan Brown program’s Zoom offerings is participation from new members as far away as California. Sara says, “I looked around one of our Virtual Lounges recently and realized suddenly that half of those in it were people I didn’t know nine months ago, yet they’re like old friends now. 92Y is such a beautiful community. And its so much more than its programs. That’s why I love it so much.”
With the cold winter months ahead, the Himan Brown 60+ program is sure to prove more meaningful and sustaining still. That members are volunteering their time to add to what we already offer has underscored the essential role of community at 92Y.
“Ellie, Joanne and Sara are remarkable women,” says Zeuner. They are each so generous in acknowledging how 92Y enriches their lives. They deserve to be recognized for how much they enrich ours.”
To learn more about the Himan Brown 60+ Online Program, visit 92y.org/himan-brown.