Hello, Akiba alum and friends of Doc (Harold). I am Doc's younger son, Ben (Akiba class of '90, and also Doc's student in more ways than one!), and I'm writing on behalf of my parents with a request for help from the community. I should preface this with the obvious, that this is something that Doc himself, in his humility, would be reluctant (if not downright unwilling) to ever ask for, but my parents are in a challenging position and our family is in need of the generosity of the community that my father served as a teacher -- and even more so as a mensch -- for over four decades.

 

Harold and Natalie have been living independently in the Greenhill condominiums for over a decade after moving from their home in Havertown where they lived for over 40 years. While the move to the condominium setting has enabled them to continue to live independently, they've now reached a juncture in their lives where independent living is no longer sustainable. With only limited access to the full gravity of their situation (both because of the pandemic and my geographic home in Evanston, Illinois), I have only come to this full realization recently when it became evident that my mother, Natalie, could no longer shoulder the burden of Doc's considerable care needs subsequent to a health crisis that many of you have been following via some recent Facebook posts.

 

As all of you who know Doc as a teacher are aware, he can regale you for hours with stories about the American founding fathers, the New Deal, World War II, the Six-Day War, and so forth-- and in the coming months, I know he would love to have many visitors and conversations where he will do just that.  It has been a hard reality to accept that his physical state has declined to the point where my mother can no longer safely manage his care.

 

My parents' current situation is that we are looking to find long-term assisted living where they can get the permanent support that they need to function and live safely - but to get them to that point, they need the support of the community to manage the substantial cost of skilled in-home 24/7 care until they are safely re-situated, something which I will be working on in the coming weeks. Those of you who have yourselves navigated these issues with aging family members will likely not be surprised to hear that such in-home round-the-clock care costs in the neighborhood of $4,500 per week.

 

Whatever you are able to give is enormously appreciated. We are looking to raise $36,000 to cover eight weeks (two months) of at-home care. Any funds that we are able to raise will go directly to pay for the in-home care they have been receiving from Family Cares (an agency that has provided remarkable and compassionate in-home caregivers over the last few weeks) and will allow us the time and space to set up a long-term plan for their living transition going forward. Any funds not utilized for this short-term emergency would be used for Doc's longer-term care.

 

If you have any questions, I can be reached at my Northwestern University email which can be found here.