![\"Ira](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/LOG07024-Ira-Grann-with-Daughter-Renee-Haire-KO-1024x683.png\")
Ira Grann with daughter, Renee Haire, at River Garden<\/p>\nRiver Garden Hebrew Home has felt like home to generations of Jane Grann\u2019s family. She and her relatives have worked and volunteered there since the 1980s, and her husband Ira currently enjoys the benefits of the community\u2019s memory care program.<\/p>\n
River Garden has been a trusted mainstay in her life as long as she can remember, Grann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother-in-law Mae worked so many volunteer hours at River Garden they had to create a new type of pin to honor her service,\u201d Grann said.<\/p>\n
Mae later transitioned from super volunteer to resident in River Garden\u2019s long-term care program, as did her husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always had our Shabbat dinners together there,\u201d Grann said. \u201cMy mother-in-law\u2019s favorite photo was one taken from the window in her room of her great grandchildren playing in the courtyard. River Garden is such a special place to my family. It is like a second home to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ladies Hebrew Sheltering Aid Society, now known as the River Garden Auxiliary, established River Garden in 1946 in the Riverside area to provide care, dignity and support to older adults in the Jewish community. In 1989, it moved to its current Mandarin campus, where it has evolved to provide older adults of all faiths a continuum of care, including long-term and memory care, rehabilitation and adult day services.<\/p>\n
The center is also home to more than 100 seniors living in its elegant, maintenance-free independent living community, The Coves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are proud to be the only faith-based not-for-profit senior services community in Jacksonville that has stood the test of time,\u201d CEO Mauri Mizrahi said. \u201cThe key to our longevity is the people, and consistently offering unmatched, compassionate carethat focuses on the whole person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ira Grann with daughter, Renee Haire, at River Garden<\/p>\n
![\"Jane](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_0162-683x1024.png\")
Jane Grann\u2019s grandchildren taken at River Garden playground<\/p>\n
River Garden continues to serve and be served by Grann\u2019s family. Grann\u2019s youngest daughter, Renee Haire, worked at The Coves as a Life Enrichment aide about 10 years ago. Jane Grann followed in the footsteps of her mother-in-law and father-in-law and has been serving as a volunteer there since 2023.<\/p>\n
Yet what has been most meaningful to Grann of late is how River Garden has been there for her husband, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer\u2019s in 2017. She initially relied on River Garden\u2019s Adult Day Program to provide him with a safe, engaging environment. As his condition progressed, she moved him to the residential memory care program. She says it\u2019s the staff that makes the place so special.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe employees are fabulous, second to none. They\u2019re the reason that River Garden is ranked No. 1 in Florida, and in the top 10 nationally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grann is looking forward to being there on the Mandarin campus when the organization celebrates its 80th anniversary on March 22. While her family\u2019s story is exceptionally intertwined with River Garden\u2019s enduring history, there are many more resident families excited to commemorate the occasion, along with the staff, volunteers and members of the community.<\/p>\n
The event will be held on the campus at 11401 Old St. Augustine Road from 3\u20136 p.m. on March 22. It will feature activities for the whole family, including music, kosher barbecue, a petting zoo and face painting, as well as shopping opportunities at the gift shop and vintage sale operated by the River Garden Auxiliary.<\/p>\n
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RIVER GARDEN, VISIT RIVERGARDEN.ORG<\/a> OR CALL 904.260.1818.<\/p>\n
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