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Good Neighbors of Park Slope

OUR PURPOSE

Good Neighbors of Park Slope (GNPS) is an all volunteer, non-profit, aging-in-place organization, open to residents of Park Slope and surrounding areas who are age 50 and over. Our goal is to create a network of members to make life in our neighborhood easier and more fulfilling, while maintaining our autonomy and quality of life in our homes.

Members: Be sure to log in with your username and password to have access to 'member only' features of our website.

What's Happening?
For more information and to register go to:


Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events

SCROLL TO SEE MORE

To post activities on our Calendar, contact
Activities Coordinator
or fill out this
2023 Activity Form

Only Members of GNPS can post an activity
on our calendar

To request funds for your activity/event
Activity Funding Request Form






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E-Blast and IMPORTANT GNPS INFO 
IMPORTANT GNPS INFO AND E-BLASTS


For the safety of all members, please be fully vaccinated and take a Covid test if you are not feeling well. 

 

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CURRENT E-BLAST


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MEMBER CHECK-IN INFORMATION
Good Neighbors of Park Slope is offering to connect you with another member who also wants a regular check in. 
GNPS will make the initial connection, and after that it will be a mutual relationship between members 
who call/text/email one another on a regular basis, with no further GNPS responsibility.
Please fill out this survey and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Member Check-In Information

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A group of members has prepared information to help other groups start an organization like ours, which gives history of the organization. It is 
available here: 
Starting an Aging-in-Place Organization.





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UPCOMING GUEST SPEAKERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND NEW EVENTS
UPCOMING GUEST SPEAKERS, PRESENTATIONS, AND WORKSHOPS

(This section may include events that may not have been included in last e-blast and activities with 

available registration slots)



Presentations & Special Events



Sages and Seekers Informational Presentation - 11/29/2023
Wreathmaking Workshop at the Old Stone House! - 12/2/2023
Brooklyn Museum: Tour of Egyptian Collection - 12/8/2023
For All Apt Dwellers: Intro to an Important Climate Law - 12/12/2023


 
Monthly Meetings and Activities Open To All Members
  

Activities Committee Mtg - 12/7/2023
Learning about GNPS and its website - 12/12/2023
Advocacy Committee Meeting - 12/20/2023



 
GAMES GAMES GAMES

In-Person Pinochle - 12/6/2023
In-Person Scrabble Club - 12/14/2023
In-Person Canasta - 12/19/2023
Every Tuesday Evening: Texas Holdem Online
Every Wednesday: In Person Bridge for Experienced Players
Every Friday: Weekly Balance Class
Every Tuesday: Walking with our Dogs









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IMPORTANT COMMUNITY INFORMATION
IMPORTANT COMMUNITY INFORMATION





OMNI is now available for reduced fare customers!

Learn More Here



  Park Slope Library Events

Park Slope Library Calendar
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7TH AVENUE SENIOR CENTER (PSCSA) PROGRAMS OPEN TO GNPS MEMBERS
7TH AVENUE SENIOR CENTER (PSCSA) PROGRAMS OPEN TO GNPS MEMBERS
Park Slope Center for Successful Aging 
invites Good Neighbors of Park Slope
to participate in ALL activities!

See what is available on a recent PSCSA schedule:

PSCSA Schedule



For the most up-to-date information
become a member of PSCSA and receive their weekly schedule.

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SPECIAL WEBSITE FEATURE: MEET OUR MEMBER!

Meet Alyce Kaufman
(by Ruth Gastel)


Alyce head
(For previous member profiles: Meet Our Members)  



 
😁To access the joke of the day at the bottom of this page
you must be logged into the website as a member😄




Celebrating our new elevator!

elevator pols
elevator jasmine


Art Show Opening Dancewave

Art Show Participating Artists: Adriana Baker...Cynthia Clark...Janice Jacob...Joyce Jed...Becky Plattus...Deborah Wheaton...Joseph Zarba



Each in-person group of Good Neighbors of Park Slope 

should feel free to set its own policy regarding Covid precautions,

with regard to vaccination policy, prior testing and masking.

 

Free Covid Tests Available

https://special.usps.com/testkits
As of November 20, 2023, residential households in the U.S. are eligible for another order of #4 free at-home tests from USPS.com. Here's what you need to know about your order:

  • Each order includes #4 individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests (COVIDTests.gov has more details about at-home tests, including extended shelf life and updated expiration dates)
  • If an order has not been placed for your address since the program reopened on September 25, 2023, you can place# 2 orders now
  • Orders will ship free starting the week of November 27, 2023

Expiration Dates Extended

Tests may show “expired” dates on the box, but FDA has extended those dates; see the full list of extended expiration dates.


THE GOOD NEIGHBORS OF PARK SLOPE 
8th ANNUAL MEETING
WAS TERRIFIC!


Congratulations to our new Board Members:
Randi Jaffe
Bill Kahn
Ann Marie Kamuf
Margaret Kelly
Jasmine Melzer

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Thank you  Good Neighbors member Jacquelyn Ottman
for a truly inspirational presentation on November 16
on using leftovers and cutting down on food waste!

ottman4


For those who may have missed it 

Click Here
For access to the recorded presentation

Thank you Caitlin Stiene-Forese for the terrific presentation on choosing a Medicare plan.

This time of year is always so confusing for those of us who should be re-evaluating our needs and options and you always give Good Neighbors of Park Slope information that is easy to understand and helpful.








If you missed the presentation on 
Oct 23, 2023
you can find the powerpoint slides
on the calendar page for this event
Medicare Education Event 10/23/2023
or contact Andi at
andi.gnps@gmail.com

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A fun group of Good Neighbors met up at Black Forest
on November 15 for lunch and brews.
Where are we going next?
Beers in Brooklyn - 12/7/2023
And be sure to add your name to the Beers in Brooklyn group on the
Interests Page to be notified first when events are scheduled.

 
link to starting your own

MEET OUR MEMBER

Alyce Kaufman



Alyce Kaufman 2

 

Alyce Kaufman has always been good at connecting with children, first as an entertainer at kids’ parties and then as a social worker and yoga instructor.  


“It all started when I was taking guitar lessons and volunteered to play for the kids at my sons’ school. That went so well that I decided to start a birthday party entertainment business! I was Clownella. I did music, magic, puppets and balloons. I was fairly well paid. My “office” was a 10-word ad in New York magazine. I closed up shop in June so I could spend the summer in Vermont with my family,” Alyce explained. 


Bookings were mostly on weekends and Alyce wanted a more normal family life and a steadier source of income. So she became a case worker at Protective Services for Adults and while she was working there she was awarded a scholarship to Columbia University School of Social Work. 


A few years after graduation, she joined the Administration for Childrens’ Services (ACS), working with parents and children in the foster care system. Along the way she became interested in yoga.


“I took a month off work to learn more about it and became a certified yoga teacher in 1997,” she said. “At first, I offered yoga classes to colleagues twice a week during our lunch hour. The emphasis was on stretching and deep breathing for relaxation and better balance. They loved it.” 


“Then a colleague and I developed a therapeutic program for kids who were waiting for placement in foster care homes,” she said. 


They went weekly to the ACS Children’s Center to give classes to teens and younger children. Over 90% of the children reported they felt better able to cope with their family situation after taking her class. “That was very gratifying,” Alyce noted.


Alyce was born on Coney Island, Brooklyn and has lived with her guidance counsellor husband, Irwin, in Brighton Beach for more than 50 years. They have two sons, one of whom now lives in Japan and the other in Westchester County.


Alyce retired from her social work job in 2008 but, as a volunteer, she has continued to teach the gentle yoga class at Sivananda Yoga Center. She also volunteered at the Payne Whitney Clinic, teaching yoga to psychiatric patients on Tuesdays and leading a prayer and meditation group for inpatients on Thursdays.


How did she come to join Good Neighbors? “I had heard great things about Good Neighbors from a friend. But it wasn’t practical to join the organization because Brighton Beach was too far away from Park Slope to participate in activities which were all ‘in person’ at that time.” Then the Covid pandemic introduced us all to Zoom.    


For Alyce, it has been a godsend. “I joined immediately and was totally in awe of what had been accomplished,” she said. She participated in many groups, including the Art Museum Lovers group. When Irene Porges, who was leading the group, resigned because it was too much of a strain on her voice, Alyce agreed to take over because she didn’t want it to disband. 


“I wasn’t trained in art as Irene was, but I love doing the research, finding the best videos and paintings of the artist we have agreed to study. Somehow, something deep within me responds to the images and color I see as I put together the presentations. There is so much good material on the Internet that it sometimes feels as though we’ve been to an artist’s retrospective.”


“From a Good Neighbors standpoint,” she says, “it’s the next best thing to visiting an exhibit and, in some respects, even better because we can choose which artist we want to see and also enjoy the art without leaving the comfort of our homes.”   


If you would like to join in our activities and have access to all our information, consider becoming a member -- click on our Membership page for more information.


If you are having any difficulty using this site please call us at 917-947-9121
 
 
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