Community members Sam and Danielle Levine recently made a charitable gift to Village Shalom to increase campus security by installing license plate readers.
License plate reader systems combine high-speed cameras and number-plate recognition technology to read vehicle registration plates and create location data. The data can alert local authorities as to the location of a vehicle associated with a possible criminal investigation. This form of increased campus security had been on Village Shalom’s wish list for some time, but was not feasible until the Levines made it possible through their gift.
The Kansas City Jewish community and Village Shalom have been important to the Levines for many years. Danielle Levine’s late parents, Holocaust survivors Mina and Abe Nisenkier, met in 1945 at a cantina in a displaced persons camp after the war. Mina Nisenkier’s mother’s sister’s husband knew someone in Kansas City, so they decided to move their young family.
“From the very beginning, the Jewish community really embraced our family. My parents became part of the ‘New Americans Club,’ who really became their best friends,” Danielle Levine said.
Later in life, widowed and needing more care, Nisenkier moved to Village Shalom.
“It’s really a wonderful facility,” Levine said. “It was always so clean and beautiful, and the care my mother received was amazing. Village Shalom holds a place in my heart for the authentic and caring way the staff cared for my mother. They brought people in to really work with the memory support residents, and entertainers, too. We are pleased to support Village Shalom.”
In response to the shootings at Village Shalom and the Jewish Community Campus in April 2014, Village Shalom worked directly with the Overland Park Police Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Community Security Director Chuck Green to elevate its campus security. As a result of the collaborative efforts, multiple improvements were made, but the recommended installation of a license plate reader system remained out of reach financially.
Village Shalom serves residents and families of all faiths and backgrounds, but as the only Jewish-sponsored retirement community within 200 miles of Greater Kansas City, the organization is aware of inherent risks.
“Our singular focus is the health, safety and wellbeing of the residents who call Village Shalom their home,” said Simon Abrahms, president of Village Shalom. “With the crime rate in Kansas City and antisemitism both on the rise, the need to mitigate risk and provide the safest environment possible is imperative. We are extremely grateful to the Levines for this very generous gift.”
Because of the Levines’ donation, Village Shalom now has inbound and outbound license plate reader technology at each of its three campus entry points. The gift helps to increase the safety of the facility’s 263 permanent residents; an estimated 526 family members who visit their loved ones; Village Shalom’s 244 staff members; and more than 150 volunteers.
“The protection and security of our community’s elders and children are very important to me,” Sam Levine said. “Danielle and I are honored to have been able to impact Village Shalom in this way.
“Plus, my thought is that when we live there someday, I’ll be able to track when and how often our children come to visit,” he joked.