Hundreds of senior citizens visited parks and open public locations all around Modi’in and Shoham on Sunday, as part of a pilot for the “Safe Space” program, led by local authorities.
The program seeks to provide citizens aged 65 and over an hour of safe, sterile space outdoors, alone or with a caretaker, amid the lockdown and social distancing dictated by the spread of the coronavirus.
As part of the experimental program, city inspectors will be placed in local parks for set hours each day, and will ensure that no one below the age of 65 enters the area.
Additionally, they will also make sure visitors adhere to Health Ministry’s instructions and keep a distance of at least 2 meters away from one another.
The program was conceived after many senior citizens from various cities complained about the hardships of isolation and the loneliness caused by the long quarantine forced upon them by the coronavirus outbreak.
“They pulled us out of the grave,” says Anna Yisraelov, who visited the Gan Yuval park in Modi’in after a long bout of quarantine.
“It is not easy being at home, and all the more so for people like me who live alone. I am a strong woman with a loving family, but this is a breath of fresh air, it gives us light.”
While some of the park’s older visitors enjoyed knitting, reading, and talking, Anna seized the opportunity to work out in the sunshine.
“We work out and talk,” says Anna, “each one of us recounts what they have been through. It’s fun talking face to face and not through the Zoom app.”
Margalit Levi, an 88-year-old woman, also says the initiative to open public locations for senior citizens has done her good.
"We’re keeping our distance as per the instructions and still having fun,” she says.
“It is the best alternative since they shut down our club, and while we work out, we also get to exercise our brains. It just warms the heart.”
Serka Malachi, who led exercise session in Shoham, says the initiative has had a widespread, positive impact.
“I even picked up my phone and told more people,” she says.
“ We decided to have a Memorial Day ceremony in two days,” Malachi adds. “There are bereaved families among us and we will invite them to come since they cannot go to the cemeteries.”
Modi'in Mayor Haim Bibas says the pilot has been a resounding success.
“We look forward to receiving the full cooperation of the Health Ministry and the police. We must volunteer as to allow senior citizens to feel safe," he says.
The head of the Shoham Regional Council, Eitan Petigro, says the initiative was the brainchild of two local residents.
“They suggested that a safe space be created close to their residence, where they can walk around for a couple of hours and then head back home," says Petigro. "The question was how to minimize the risk of infection when it comes to babies and children.”
Despite the enthusiasm for the initiative, some believe the issue is more complicated than it seems.
“On one hand, senior citizens need time to ease the mental hardships presented by quarantine,” says Prof. Yuval Palgi, the head of the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences at Haifa University.
"On the other, many feel that they are being stereotyped, like they are fragile and sickly.”
Palgi says that many people did not realize they were considered old until the coronavirus struck.
“To many such a program is patronizing and only serves to separate the old from the rest of the population," he says.
"I’ve heard some people say they are being treated like dogs who need to be taken out for a walk in the park.”