After more than 10 years of working primarily in medical facilities, Lev Leytzan: The Heart of Therapeutic Clowning, Inc. is expanding its boundaries by bringing therapeutic medical clowning into the homes of those in need.
In partnership with Bikur Cholim of Far Rockaway and the Five Towns, Lev Leytzan’s newest program, Lev Leytzan’s Medical Clowns on Rounds, will offer services to patients in our community, including homebound elderly people as well as children that have been recently discharged from the hospital. In addition to their regularly scheduled hospital rounds, clowns will be available for home visits in Far Rockaway, the Five Towns, and Brooklyn weekly beginning in early February.
We “are excited to partner with the Lev Leytzan clowns,” said Marilyn Wolowitz, co-president of Bikur Cholim. Amongst our many services offered, “this new venture with Lev Leytzan will enhance the special mitzvah of visiting the homebound in our community by improving their well-being with laughter and joy.”
Sponsored by Brach’s, the Good People Fund, Metropolitan Jewish Health System, White Plains Linen, and Ossie’s Fish, “Clowns on Rounds” is based on Lev Leytzan’s already successful ElderHearts program, which was launched in 2010. The ElderHearts reach out to patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias with interactive experiences designed to help them reconnect with the world and alleviate loneliness and isolation. So too, the Clowns on Rounds team will reach out to patients who may feel lonely or secluded.
“We are proud to sponsor Lev Leytzan and thrilled to bring moments of happiness to our patient populations—whether pediatric patients or elderly dementia patients—during times of pain and illness,” said Toby Weiss, Vice President of MJHS. “Laughter and therapeutic clowning is a perfect complement to the creative arts and music therapy support services our patients benefit from.”
“The concept is to ‘give back’ to our local community,” added Neal Goldberg, Ph.D., founder and executive director of Lev Leytzan. “Clowns on Rounds will allow us to extend our services outside of medical facilities to recuperating children after their hospital discharge and homebound elderly throughout the year. Old-fashioned home visits will allow us to bring magical moments to those who are isolated or challenged with their recovery.”
If you or someone you know would like to sponsor the Clowns on Rounds initiative, or if you would like to purchase Purim cards, please call 516-612-3264 or visit www.levleytzan.org.
Lev Leytzan: The Heart of Therapeutic Clowning, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, headquartered in Lawrence, New York. Founded in 2004, its mission is to train ambitious youth and adults in the art of medical/therapeutic clowning so that they may help heal others with doses of laughter, joy, and empowerment. In concert with medical personnel, their therapeutic clowns engage the medically ill and residents at hospitals, nursing homes, senior centers, and private homes both in the U.S. and abroad. v