Jacob Ioffe
Ioffe joined international youth conference
Jacob Ioffe, president of the Drew Corson AZA #2329, joined the North American Delegation to the AJT International Conference from November 13 to 20 in Ukraine.
An arm of the Joint Distribution Committee, AJT, which stands for Active Jewish Teens, is BBYO’s partner youth group in the former Soviet Union.
The North American Delegation joined Jewish teens, staff and educators from Belarus, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and other countries.
More than 400 Jewish teens were at the conference, the largest yet for AJT.
A junior at duPont Manual High School, Jacob was this year’s winner of Jewish Community of Louisville’s Stacy Marks Nisenbaum Award, which recognizes commitment to BBYO growth as well as broader school and community engagement.
The delegation visited Kiev during the conference before moving on to Kharkov with AJT members to celebrate “the largest renaissance of Jewish life worldwide.”
Michael Fraade
JOFEE director speaks at Green Heart Launch
The J’s JOFEE director, Michael Fraade, spoke about sustainability work and the importance of building community partnerships Thursday, October 26, at the Green Heart Project launch event at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage.
The Green Heart Project is a five-year study that will produce scientific data demonstrating the impact of tree coverage on neighborhood health. The project is co-sponsored by the University of Louisville, the Nature Conservancy, the Institute for Healthy Air, Water, and Soil, and other local and national partners.
Researchers will spend a year collecting data on air quality and human health in four South Louisville neighborhoods, then plant approximately 8,000 trees, increasing the area’s tree canopy by about 15 percent and monitoring how it changes air quality and health biometrics over the subsequent four years.
Fraade is one of the Institute for Healthy Air, Water, and Soil’s health ambassadors, who work to make Louisville a healthier city through collaboration, shared strategies and outreach.
A major goal of the ambassadors is to expand the understanding of health to include the holistic well-being of individuals and communities, including notions such as spiritual, financial and psychological health in addition to physical and nutritional health.
Fraade used the talmudic statement that every city is supposed to have a vegetable garden to demonstrate the rabbis’ commitment to health. He also talked about The J’s partnerships with New Roots, St. Margaret Mary Church, the Urban League, and other organizations with health ambassadors to highlight the importance of collaboration.
Joanie Lustig
Lustig joins Keller-Williams real estate firm
Joanie Kohn Lustig, a licensed real estate agent, has joined the Natalie in your Neighborhood team of Keller Williams Louisville Real Estate.
Before joining the agency, Lustig worked in physician recruitment for KentuckyOne Health for more than 20 years.
Her new office is at 1401 Bardstown Road, suite 101.
Louisiana company acquires Almost Family
Almost Family, a Louisville-based home health care provider, has been acquired by Louisiana-based LHC Group, one of its competitors, for $836 million, Insider Louisville has reported.
The acquisition takes the form of an all-stock deal, according to the online news magazine.
Wiliam Yarmuth, brother of U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, is the chairman and CEO of Almost Family.