Birthday bash Nov. 14 will honor proud history

By Rachel Tucker

For 90 years, the Visiting Nurses Association has had a profound impact in Dallas by providing care to the community and enriching people’s health and well-being with compassion, dignity and integrity. These values are what continue to propel them today.

VNA will host a birthday bash on Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas. The event features a concert by Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys, while honoring the work the agency has done in the community over the years.

The organization serves the community in many ways: by feeding the hungry, caring for the seriously ill, providing health equity and comforting people and families at the end of their life. 

“VNA is tikkun olam,” said Katherine Krause, president and CEO. “You are putting that in action in the most tangible way. You are taking care of the sick and dying, you’re taking care of those who are hungry and many of the people we care for are widows.”

Although not a Jewish organization, VNA has strong roots in the Jewish community. It was established in 1934 by Sadie Lefkowitz, the wife of Rabbi David Lefkowitz of Temple Emanu-El.

Lefkowitz saw a need in the community to address home health care during the Great Depression. She, along with Lillian Beckett, a Dallas public school nurse, led a group of 11 women in Dallas and 13 public nurses to provide care for the sick, elderly and new mothers in the poorest parts of the city.

“Sadie Lefkowitz recognized that there was a problem in our community and needs to be met. It’s a proud history,” Krause said. “We function because of our staff and volunteers throughout the past 90 years that continue to have a passion for serving their community.”

In addition to providing palliative and hospice care, one of VNA’s hallmark programs is Meals on Wheels, which the National Council of Jewish Women helped get off the ground in the 1970s. Meals on Wheels provides hot, nutritious, freshly prepared meals five days a week to Dallas County residents who cannot obtain or prepare meals for themselves due to illness, age or disability.

Meals on Wheels services about 5,000 seniors a week. Volunteers from NCJW and Temple Emanu-El have driven routes to deliver the meals, with several of those deliveries on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

This year, NCJW worked with VNA to develop informational packets about the presidential election, which were hand-delivered to residents. VNA has also provided various grants to NCJW over the years. 

Dallas resident Peggy Millheise, a longtime NCJW volunteer who currently serves on the board of the VNA foundation and Meals on Wheels, said the nurturing care VNA provides to its volunteers and clients is part of what has contributed to its longevity. 

“VNA provides life’s basics,” she said. “All it takes from a volunteer is a little time and lots of compassion. The need for individuals to have a good meal, see a friendly face, ask questions and just connect to another person adds a special quality to life. To be able to give this to someone is the best feeling of all.”

Temple Emanu-El President Bob Krakow is grateful for the partnership the synagogue has had with VNA since its founding. He recently completed a six-year term on the VNA board and now serves on the governance committee and VNA Foundation board.

His family has also directly benefited from VNA’s hospice program in the past. That program and Meals on Wheels are two of the ways VNA continues to make a significant impact in the community, he said.

“VNA has done an exemplary job of delivering in both of those areas,” Krakow added. “One of our core values at Temple Emanu-El is tikkun olam, the task of world repair. There is no organization that does that more than VNA when it comes to Meals on Wheels, which allows seniors to live at home with dignity, and the hospice program that is enormously valuable for families dealing with loved ones at the end stage of their lives.”

As for the future, Krause said there is a lot more work to be done, particularly with health care for seniors and homelessness. Hunger is also an important issue to VNA as its meal delivery for Meals on Wheels increased 7% over last year.

VNA will continue this important work for years to come through government funding and donations.

“We look for needs in the community and take care of people. Those are Jewish values,” Krause added. “We are a people service business and our board members and volunteers have a passion for doing good in the community.”

To learn more about the birthday bash and to purchase tickets, visit https://trellis.org/vnas-90th-birthday-bash. Additional information about VNA can be found at https://www.vnatexas.org/.