History & Timeline

Serving the Chicago Area Since 1972

Innovative Community-Based Services

Rooted in Jewish Values

Throughout CJE SeniorLife’s long and rich history, we have been a leader in eldercare management, consistently bringing innovative community-based services to our clients and residents in the Chicago area. The organization grew out of a concern by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago for keeping older adults in their communities. Research in 1966 by its board of directors showed new facilities catering to seniors were needed in other parts of the city, closer to the Jewish community. A larger study was commissioned in 1967 as the needs of older adults continued to increase. The two doctors supervising the study—Dr. Robert Morris and Dr. Sidney Lee—recommended that the Jewish Federation establish a community gerontology council to facilitate the development of cooperative arrangements among various agencies serving seniors (specifically, Jewish Community Centers, Jewish Family and Community Service, Jewish Vocational Service, Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Michael Reese Hospital, Park View Home, Drexel Home, Jewish Home for the Aged-BMZ, and the Aid Association of the Oak Forest Hospital).

The Gerontological Council was formed in 1968 and passed its first two resolutions in January of 1969:

The Homes (in the council) would plan together for a coordinated program of service and care for the Jewish elderly
A joint planning committee would be established, composed of representatives of the Homes and other Federation social service agencies.

A final report, entitled “A Jewish Community Plan for the Elderly,” was published in 1970 with the full endorsement of the Boards of Directors of all the participating Federation agencies and the Federation itself. The next year, Council for Jewish Elderly (CJE) was incorporated and officially joined the JFMC as an affiliated agency.

CJE’s first outreach program began in East Rogers Park in 1972, with an Evaluation Service Center opened on Western Avenue to provide services like counseling, nursing, housekeeping, home-delivered meals, and transportation. That same year, CJE merged with Jewish Home for the Aged-BMZ.

Today, nearly 25,000 older adults and their families receive care and support through CJE’s exceptional services and programming.