Meet Our Team of Senior Care Professionals

Sheila joined The Selfhelp Home with close to 30 years of experience managing and running senior communities. She describes herself as having a lifelong passion for providing excellence for all seniors entrusted into her care.  Most recently, she served as Administrator/Chief Operating Officer of Montgomery Place in Hyde Park. A native of London, England, Sheila’s family ran a 5-star luxury resort on the English coast. That might be why she says that hospitality is “in her blood.” She is married with four adult children and resides in Peterson Park.

Steve joins The Selfhelp Home with a solid background of 35 years experience working in the field of healthcare accounting. 10 of those years were with a public accounting firm that specialized in healthcare working on various nursing home clients, and that firm is now servicing Selfhelp in their annual audit. The most recent 25 years were with a nursing home management group as their CFO, overseeing as many as 11 facilities. Steve is a licensed CPA in Illinois, lives in Buffalo Grove, and is married with two older sons. Steve enjoys working out, walking his dog Wrigley as often as possible, and traveling.

Sofia began at Selfhelp 27 years ago as an entry-level dietary aid. Her strong work ethic and dedication to Selfhelp drove her to the top. Today, she oversees our dining program, including 40 employees and 700 meals per day. Sofie and her team take great pride in preparing flavorful and traditional homemade kosher meals.

Fern organizes activities for residents at The Selfhelp Home. She is responsible for bringing in over 100 live classical music concerts a year, making Selfhelp a venue for some of the most renowned local musicians. Book clubs, lectures and Tai Chi are other ways she makes sure residents have interesting programs. Fern is also an internationally recognized artist.

The best part about Carmen’s job is experiencing life through the residents. Carmen’s positive energy meets residents on whatever level they are on. She’s passionate about discovering new programs that enhance the life of the residents. Her winning attitude and dedication creates an inviting and warm atmosphere wherever she goes. Carmen is a certified Dementia Care Unit Manager and a Certified Activity Director.

Efrat joined The Selfhelp Home after spending 13 years in government managing marketing and media affairs for the City of Chicago. She is passionate about telling the story of Selfhelp to the outside world and oversees the marketing and community outreach. Efrat has 20 years of experience in marketing and holds a BA in Communications from the University of Illinois in Chicago. She lives in West Rogers Park and has a nine-year-old daughter.

For Sharon, working at Selfhelp has always felt like family from the residents to the staff. Sharon has worked at Selfhelp since 1993. She started out at the front desk as a receptionist and was promoted to Assistant Accounting Manager in 2010. Now, Sharon manages human resources and works on recruiting our dedicated staff. Sharon has 4 daughters and 1 grandson. The Mikel family has a long legacy of dedicated service to the Selfhelp, all of her 4 daughters have worked at SHH at some point in time, and her mother also worked at Selfhelp for 8 years before she started.

Jeryl joined The Selfhelp Home with extensive fundraising experience in the Jewish community, social justice, the arts, and public health. She cut her teeth in philanthropy during her 12 years with the American Jewish Committee, running two programs dealing with inter-religious and inter-ethnic affairs. Prior to joining Selfhelp, Jeryl ran the Chicago region for New Israel Fund for six years. Other experience includes VP of Major Gifts at American Heart Association, Chief Development Officer at Link Unlimited, and Executive Director of Alumni Relations at Columbia College Chicago, where she received her BA in Writing/English. Jeryl is married with two children.

Jonathan’s role is to enrich and grow Jewish learning and engagement at the Home. Jonathan has a background in Jewish communal service, having served as the Assistant Director of the Chicago Chapter of the American Jewish Committee (AJC). Previously, he practiced law in Chicago and earned his J.D. at DePaul College of Law. Jonathan and his wife Dafna live in Skokie with their 10 year old daughter who attends Chicago Jewish Day School.

A native of North Carolina, Benna moved here to attend the University of Chicago as an undergraduate, and has lived in Chicago for the past 10 years. She received her MSW at the University of Michigan School of Social Work where she focused on aging and participated in a geriatric scholarship program. She has worked as a program aide at a day center for adults with dementia, and in several skilled nursing and long-term care facilities as a social worker. She is fluent in Yiddish, loves to travel, and has spent time living in France as a volunteer farmer. She is thrilled to work with The Selfhelp Home team.

Liza is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator (LNHA) and Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with a broad spectrum of work experience, ranging from medical social worker positions at Chicago hospitals to work she completed in Cambodia, Ecuador and the UK. Liza is passionate about assisting at-risk populations, particularly older adults and refugees. She is a graduate of Cornell University (Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration) and New York University (Master of Social Work). Liza is a curious, lifelong learner with a bit of an adventurous streak – recent trips include Guatemala and Gabon (Central Africa). Liza first joined Selfhelp in 2017 as the Director of Healthcare Admissions, working with patients and families making the transition from the hospital to our healthcare floors. She quickly found herself emotionally invested in Selfhelp, wanting it to be the best facility possible for all its residents. Liza’s enthusiasm for Selfhelp and the industry led her to take the Federal and State Nursing Home Administrator exams, becoming the Healthcare Administrator in February 2019.

Laura Zellhofer joined The Selfhelp Home in May of 2018. She had been a Retirement Counselor at Montgomery Place in Hyde Park for 12 years prior to joining our team. Laura attended the University of Chicago and earned her Master’s Degree in Psychology. She also attended Northwestern University and the University of Pennsylvania. Laura was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa., but has made Chicago her permanent home for the past 35 years. She is married to a retired physician and they have two dogs, Samantha and Shelly. Her strength is in fostering long lasting partnerships with her clients to enable them to make a smooth transition from their home to our community.

Joy is responsible for coordinating the plan of care for our short-term patients, overseeing assessments, and ensuring compliance with Medicare. Joy works with the interdisciplinary team at Selfhelp (that includes nursing, rehab, activities, dietary and social services) to create a patient-centered plan, and ensures every patient’s care plan is followed through. Joy has become an important part of the healthcare department. Joy has previously held other roles at Selfhelp, such as acting Director of Nursing.

Pio joined the team as the first male nurse at The Selfhelp Home. He started out part-time on the 11pm-7am shift and today he assists the Director of Nursing with hiring and training staff. Pio supervises all of the nurses and CNA’s, ensuring the highest quality of care is being delivered to the patients and residents in both the Health and Rehabilitation Center and on our long-term healthcare floors. Pio lives in the neighbored, has an impressive shoe collection, and has a passion for fixing hearing aids and eyeglasses.

Raclyn leads our Skilled Nursing team and our post-acute Health & Rehabilitation Center, and is committed to quality care for each and every resident. She has 15 years of leadership and management experience working in senior care and nursing. Raclyn has a Bachelor’s of Science in nursing from the Philippines. Racyln is a Wound Care Specialist, certified in infection control and has experience in restorative nursing. Most of the time, Raclyn can be found right on the nursing floor giving our residents direct care.

David grew up in a small country town in Ohio. Upon graduation from school, he lived and worked in Columbus, Ohio. Later, David became a traveling therapist, which took him to California, and lived there for three years. David lived in San Diego and San Francisco, and has been working in sub-acute facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home health therapy and outpatient therapy. His hobbies are volleyball, fitness/weight lifting, friend time, and sports leagues.

Elizabeth joins our team as an experienced Director of Admissions in healthcare. She has a Bachelors in social work from Northeastern Illinois University and has six years of experience working in a skilled nursing facility. She is passionate about helping patients and their family transition to a comfortable homelike setting such as The Selfhelp Home. Elizabeth lives in Portage Park with her partner, Cynthia, and enjoys reading current events, listening to music and spending time with family.

Arielle Lewis joined the Selfhelp family with 5 years experience in aging services. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Public Health with focus of gerontology and a minor in Jewish Studies. Arielle lives in Lakeview with her husband and daughter where she enjoys hosting big Shabbat dinners!

Ivory Rodriguez leads our assisted living team as the Director of Assisted Living. She joined The Selfhelp family 12 years ago – as an overnight aid on the assisted living floor and has been promoted to several different roles since then, including Assisted Living coordinator and a nurse in our skilled nursing unit. Ivory has managed care plans and is also a certified Restorative Nurse as well as a certified Wound Nurse. She has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Kaplan University and a Licensed Practical Nurse from Northwestern Institute of Health and Technology. Ivory is currently attending Chamberlain College of Nursing for her bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) and lives in Chicago with her husband and two children, David and Mia.