AMBERLEY VILLAGE, Ohio — When Chris Perry pulls into Mazal Rosenblatt's driveway, he grabs a broom. He brushes off the snow from her entrance ramp and knocks on the door.
Perry visits once a week. Sometimes more.
“I look at her as sort of like my grandmother,” Perry said. “I thought this was going to be a 30-minute deal, and it ended up being two hours.”
Perry is a police officer. For decades he worked at the Cincinnati Police Department. Now, he’s the senior resource officer for the Amberley Village Police Department. It’s a new job that is exactly what it sounds like — keep older adults from getting isolated.
Check on them. Change a light bulb. Build relationships.
“It’s amazing. Some days I feel like I’m going to wake up and it’s going to be a dream,” Perry said. “Because this wasn’t the kind of police work I had done.”
When Perry retired from Cincinnati, he had no intention of working anywhere else. Then, this opportunity came up. It exists because one in three older adults in America are isolated, according to new research from the University of Michigan.
And that isolation can have a crippling impact.
Perry's position is funded by the Jewish Home of Cincinnati, an organization that once ran assisted-living facilities and now advocates and funds programs for seniors.
“It’s easy for people to fall off the grid,” said Nina Perlove, the organization's executive director.
The idea for Perry’s position came from a discussion with the village’s police chief, who told her officers just don’t have time to spend with older adults. Perry can.
And he met Mazal Rosenblatt after her husband of 62 years died earlier this year.
“Solitude is rough for seniors,” he said. “So I like to make sure she knows someone is around.”
On a recent morning, Perry drives to see her.
“It’s going to be a 12-hour day. And I’m excited,” he said. “I’m emotionally invested in Mazal’s life, and I will do whatever I possibly can for her.”
Inside, Rosenblatt made soup. Then, she pours him coffee with whipped cream and cinnamon.
“If you didn’t take it, I would be mad,” she said, wagging a finger at him.
She’s not joking. Last week, she made bread.
“I guess I ran into trouble because I felt alone,” Rosenblatt said, describing her relationship with Perry. “He means a lot to me. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“I never wanted to be old,” she tells him.
“Me either,” Perry responded.
They both laugh.
At another house nearby, Perry checks out the microwave. The light kept blinking. Before he left, the couple told Perry they had a light bulb that needed to be changed in their bedroom. This might not sound like a big deal, but it is.
And Perry knows this better than most.
He lost his mom to dementia. It’s part of the reason he finds so much meaning in his new work.
“I’m really happy that I’m here,” he said. “And when I say here, I mean these people’s house.”
At Rosenblatt’s home, Perry begins to get emotional.
“This is what I wanted my whole career,” he tells her. “To make an impact.”
When he leaves, he gives her a hug. And he promises to come back for the soup.
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If you or a family member needs assistance in Amberley Village, you can reach out to Officer Perry by email: Cperry@amberleyvillage.org. Or call the station’s non-emergency line at 513-531-2050.
In addition, the Jewish Home of Cincinnati helps families outside the village. You don’t have to be Jewish to qualify.
