Ruth’s Story

A mother of four sons, she has seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren, all living on the West Coast. Family members call her “Dolly.” She accompanied her father when he voted for Republican Calvin Coolidge, and has supported every Democratic candidate for President since. Last year, she met with First Lady Michelle Obama to talk about healthcare reform. When she’s not writing a weekly legislative update for the Older Women’s League, serving on the Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues and the National Council of Women’s Organizations, she enjoys her friends, participates in Iona’s activities and testifies before the City Council. At 96, her mantra is: “Age is just a number, and it’s unlisted.” Meet Ruth Nadel, the face of Iona.

Or should we say, one of many faces of Iona. From active seniors like Ruth Nadel to individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or other chronic illnesses and disabilities who participate in Iona’s Weinberg Adult Day Health, Wellness & Arts Center, Iona supports men and women as they experience the challenges and opportunities of aging. We educate, advocate and provide community-based programs and services to help people age well and live well.

The many faces of Iona include caregivers concerned about or caring for an elderly relative, advocates committed to helping members of our community with unmet needs, hundreds of volunteers who assist in the Adult Day Health, Wellness & Arts Center, deliver meals on weekends and holidays, help with errands, visit homebound seniors and provide leadership and guidance to the organization. And the face of Iona includes donors who believe in our mission to age well and live well. On the following pages, we will show you one face of Iona through the story of Ruth Nadel.

An advocate by nature, Ruth started out in her mid-50s working in the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, the only federal agency devoted exclusively to the concerns of women. Up until then, she had many years of volunteer experience, but none as a paid professional. Ruth was among the first women recruited and hired based on the value of her volunteer work—leading the way for others who followed. Not only that, but she was honored with the Department of Labor’s Distinguished Service Award for her work designing and developing the first federal childcare center. In addition, for many years she has been a member of Iona’s Citizens Advisory Council and the D.C. Coalition on Long Term Care, which advocates on behalf of the District’s older adults and people with disabilities. She’s particularly impressed with the range of occupations and interests of members of the coalition, which includes consumers, advocates and health care providers. Ruth also represents Ward 3 on the D.C. Commission on Aging, where she works to promote the challenges of the city’s aging population, and the many services provided by the Office on Aging. Well over a dozen years ago, recognizing real needs among the aging and disabled residents of her large apartment building, she organized the beginnings of the volunteer Neighbor Network (vNN), a precursor to today’s neighborhood “villages.” “Iona was a resource then, helping to develop a questionnaire of resident’s needs and assistance, and continues to be a resource today,” she says. The Citizens Advisory Council, she says, is eager to replicate the vNN model. “I’m very impressed with Iona’s leadership role in guiding today’s aging-in-place village movement,” adds Ruth.

“I am prone to ‘fall.’ But I like summer better.” Displaying her characteristic sense of humor, Ruth recounts how she took a nasty fall in the middle of the night last December. But there’s nothing funny about the damage that tumble did, requiring months of intense physical therapy.

Ruth learned a valuable lesson that night. “I didn’t want to bother anyone,” she says. So she didn’t. “I didn’t want to cause a fuss, but in the end that’s exactly what I did,” she comments. While she notified Link to Life, she didn’t ask for their help, which she now acknowledges was a mistake. Ruth finally reached out for help in the morning and went to Sibley Hospital at a friend’s urging. An Iona Care Manager was able to develop a rehabilitation plan, providing Ruth with support and her family with peace of mind. “Over the years, I have personally referred friends and acquaintances to Iona,” she says. “No one does a better job of providing older adults and their caregivers with the opportunities and resources to age well and live well. Now I have the personal experience to back that up.” Ruth is now fully recovered, enjoying life at a D.C. retirement home and back to her old habits.

“I doodle,” says Ruth. “Always have.” As a member of the Older Women’s League and the Women’s National Democratic Club, Ruth spends countless hours attending meetings where, she confesses, she frequently finds herself doodling. Many of her favorite drawings are displayed on the walls of her kitchen. She also paints and has often enrolled in a watercolor class at a local university. “It’s important to provide seniors with opportunities to be creative,” Ruth declares. Iona knows this well, she says, noting that art therapy is an important element of Iona’s Weinberg Adult Day Health, Wellness & Arts Center and the Gallery at Iona offers important recognition and inspiration for older artists and art admirers. Ruth is particularly impressed with the variety and quality of art displayed in the Gallery— “worthy of an art critic’s review,” she observes.

Before giving a lecture on volunteerism recently, Ruth looked up the word “volunteer.”

While the formal definition is “a person who undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service,” Ruth declares there’s something else. “You alone make the decision and it has to give you pleasure,” she says. It’s clear she gets personal satisfaction from serving on Iona’s Citizens’ Advisory Council and the many other organizations to which she is devoted. She also points out while many people are able to volunteer their time—whether a day a week or a day a month—nonprofit organizations like Iona also largely depend upon financial contributions. Ruth was among the hundreds of supporters who attended Iona’s Art of Caring Luncheon and the benefit concert featuring the Young@Heart chorus. “Funds from events like the concert are critically needed to make our services available to people of all income levels,” she notes. “The standing-room- only crowd is evidence of how the broader Washington community values Iona.”