ABOUT THE DOROT ORGANIZATION

• Since 1976, DOROT has provided thousands of seniors with food, friendship, and opportunities for educational and cultural enrichment. DOROT's professional staff in conjunction with its volunteer corps of work together to enhance seniors' lives and to bring the generations together.

• Every year, DOROT's 32 programs serve more than 10,000 seniors and their caregivers who live on Manhattan's East and Upper West Sides. DOROT's telephone services are also available to seniors and volunteers throughout the Greater New York Metropolitan Area.

DOROT's mission is to achieve three goals :

• Enhance the lives of older people through a dynamic partnership of volunteers, professionals and the elderly.
• Foster beneficial relationships between the generations.
• Provide education and leadership in developing volunteer-based programs for seniors, locally, nationally and internationally.

HISTORY OF THE DOROT ORGANIZATION

DOROT was founded in 1976 by a group of university students who visited homebound elders on Manhattan's Upper West Side. From this grassroots movement, DOROT developed 32 different programs which provide food, housing, education and companionship to over 10,000 seniors and those who care for them each year.

VOLUNTEERS

DOROT is a professional service organization that is built around, and depends upon, volunteers. Volunteers provide the talent and energy that keep the organization vital and thriving. They contribute almost 50,000 hours of service a year and are an integral part of the day to day work performed.

As DOROT evolved over the years to meet the growing needs and numbers of elders, their basic philosophy and approach remained fundamentally the same. The organization values the importance of the individual and they continue to address individual needs. They reach out to elders in person or on the telephone. They visit them in their homes. They bring them together for parties and other special occasions, such as concerts and exhibits. They escort them on a variety of errands and appointments. And they do it all with volunteers.

DOROT maintains a dedicated professional staff of almost 50, to develop programs, provide professional services, perform leadership and administrative duties. In addition this core staff is tasked with recruiting, screening, training, supervising, and supporting the volunteers.

Most volunteers provide direct services to elders while some work closely with staff and are involved in every aspect of planning, implementing and evaluating programs. Still others assist with office work, set policy and guide the organization as members of the Board of Directors.  Officers of the DOROT Board of Directors include Paula Stamler Resnick, Philip Silverman, Anne E. Heyman, Joel D. Kazis, Samuel Merrin, Jeffrey Landau, and Barbara I. Ellis.  Certain members of the board of directors also work in conjunction with the Advisory Council and the DOROT Merrin Institute.

The Merrin Institute

Beyond the Merrin Institute, DOROT has very flexible opportunities. Some of the volunteers are interested in occasional or one-time participation, while others make a daily or weekly commitment. Volunteers represent all walks of life, occupations and interests, come to DOROT from hundreds of schools, corporations, associations, and religious organizations, or through personal referrals from other volunteers. They serve in groups, as families, or individually.

DOROT has very flexible opportunities: some of the volunteers are interested in occasional or one-time participation, while others make a daily or weekly commitment. Volunteers represent all walks of life, occupations and interests, come to DOROT from hundreds of schools, corporations, associations, and religious organizations, or through personal referrals from other volunteers. They serve in groups, as families, or individually.

DOROT volunteers span the generations from toddlers to nonagenarians. Many DOROT volunteers tend to remain within the organization for many years. DOROT reports that the volunteers stay because they identify closely with the mission and values, they are challenged to learn new skills, they receive training and support from staff, they know how much they are appreciated, and they feel that they are part of a caring, vibrant community.

VOLUNTEER EFFORTS ABROAD

The DOROT Fellowship in Israel (DFI) is intended for American Jews who exhibit both extraordinary dedication and outstanding capacity to serve the Jewish People and to contribute to the improvement of the human condition. Four major components make up the DFI: weekly seminars, engagement with/volunteer service to the community, Hebrew studies, and Jewish studies,. Fellows pursue the academic and volunteer components concurrently and each represents a half-time commitment (approximately).