JFS Perspectives

We hope you have been reading The Story of Beautiful Girl that we told you about last month as part of Jewish Disability Awareness Month and are getting excited for Jewish Disabilities Awareness Day next Sunday, February 12 from 2 to 5 at the JCC! This day promises to be fun, informative, and inspirational. We can't wait to see you there!

Learn more about this event from the flyer below and check out the full schedule.

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

 

The Jewish Disabilities Network (JDN), a program of Jewish Family Service, will host the fourth annual Jewish Disabilities Awareness Day event on Sunday, February 12 featuring Rachel Simon, award-winning author of The Story of Beautiful Girl.

Simon's new book is a fictional account of Lynnie and Homan, residents of the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, who fall in love. Simon guides us on a 40-year journey where people with disabilities were housed in massive institutions and were mistreated and abused, to our own time, where people have a much greater opportunity to live, work, learn, play, love and worship as they choose. 

 

In preparation for this event, people from across the country are encouraged to read and discuss The Story of Beautiful Girl through a national Jewish Disability Awareness Month (JDAM) project, “JDAM Reads.”

JDAM challenges us to think about why it is so important to understand that all people have something to contribute to their communities. The act of reading allows adults and children to think critically, to develop attitudes of awareness and empathy, and to embrace Jewish values. 

A discussion guide was developed specifically to encourage readers to explore the presence of Jewish values and concepts in Simon's novel. The guide will enhance the conversations that we hope will take place in your organization, with your family, and in your book club. Download your free copy of the JDAM Reads! discussion guide.

This book is featured at Tattered Cover Book Store in January and February and will be sold at a discounted price.

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

Join us for Jewish Disabilities Awareness Day this Sunday, February 27 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center, 350 S. Dahlia St. This event is the cornerstone of the metro Denver Jewish community celebration of National Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month, promoting understanding and inclusion in community life for Jewish people with disabilities. The goal of the day, which focuses on “finding ability in disability,” is to increase awareness in both the Jewish and general community around the abilities, goals, and contributions of people with disabilities.

If you're not convinced, here are a Top 10 List of why you should attend!


 
10. You might learn something and you’ll have fun doing it.

9. Work with other participants on the Hiddur Mitzvah art project to create a custom piece of Gary Rosenthal Judaica that will be on display after the event.

8. Get inspired by Ken Gordon, former Colorado Senate majority leader, who will speak about his decision to become a legal guardian for a child with autism to whom he is not related.

7. It’s a Jewish event, so of course there will be food!

6. Hear the touching account of how disability and silence shape a life from Dr. Anne Gross, author of “The Polio Journals: Lessons from My Mother.”

5. Hear about the success of the ARC Thrift Store model from Lloyd Lewis and self-advocate, Lori Espinoza, in a presentation entitled “the Heroes of Thrift.”

4. Learn more about Josh Blue, a Denver-based comedian with cerebral palsy and winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, as he shares his story in “Conversations with Josh Blue.”

3. View art and other achievements by community members with disabilities, including the Circle of Light Photo Project in the Singer Gallery.

2. Focus on the abilities of people with disabilities!

And the Number One Reason to Attend is...

1. It’s free and open to the public! And did we mention Josh Blue will be there?

We hope to see you there!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

In addition to the activities listed in the poster above, participants can view the Circle of Light Photo Project in the Singer Gallery. This powerful exhibit shows photographs taken by cornea and sclera transplant recipients who captured the things they were most grateful to be able to see through their restored vision.

Learn more about Jewish Disabilities Awareness Day...

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department