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

High school is hard enough when you’re an American student, but what is it like when you are a refugee? Not only do refugee students have all the same challenges that Americans have – making friends, fitting in, keeping up in school, peer pressure, etc., but they have a whole other set of challenges to deal with as newcomers to this country.

The JFS Counseling Center has a program called International KidSuccess, which helps refugee and immigrant students adjust to life in their new land by providing mental health services in the school. Services include adjustment groups, consultation services, and psychological education. Our therapists also provide teacher training, parent education, and information and referral. The main goal of this program is to facilitate cultural adjustment and address social-emotional needs.

Our International KidSuccess therapists conduct quarterly cultural trainings for teachers and other school staff members to educate them about some of the specific challenges that students from certain countries experience and how best to work with these students. Recently, several students came to one of the trainings to share their stories, which was very enlightening for the educators. Below are a few excerpts from these stories that we hope will shed a little light to the variety of challenges these students are experiencing. The International KidSuccess program is working hard to help the kids and educators understand each other and make the transition to school in this country easier for everyone!

“Jules” came to America in 2008 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo via a refugee camp in the Central African Republic. His family fled the Congo because Junior’s father was assassinated for his political beliefs and government position. Jules and his family moved from the Congo when he was just seven years old and they spent the next seven years in a refugee camp. He is very happy to be in America because life is so different from where he grew up.

He wants to encourage his American teachers to learn more about the different cultures of foreign students and respect the differences, which will lessen some of the misunderstandings he has experienced. Teachers need to know that students learn in groups in different countries. Jules doesn’t like being segregated because of his English, which makes it difficult for him to get to know students in other classes. He wishes he could continue his English studies, but be integrated into other mainstream classes. He wants to graduate and go to college to pursue a career helping others.

“Aminah” was able to come to America from war-torn Iraq because her father worked with an American company and her family was able to escape. She is a Sunni Muslim and was persecuted because of her family’s religion. Because her father worked with Americans, the family was further ostracized as traitors. They were under the constant threat of being kidnapped or killed.

The Sunni and Shia Muslims are in constant conflict. You can tell if a person is Sunni or Shia based on their name. When she was in school, Aminah’s teacher didn’t give her full credit for her work simply because of her name. When her mother came to school to ask why, the teacher encouraged her to change her daughter’s name.

Aminah is very happy in the U.S. and likes her school, but there are some significant differences that have required some getting used to. For example, in Iraq, teachers came to her class while in the U.S., students rotate to various classes. She feels that tests and class work was much harder in Iraq. Another big difference is that after 6th grade, boys and girls are separated in Iraq and she is adjusting to the co-ed environment. She studied English in Iraq for five years, which has helped her immensely. Her biggest challenge has been making friends in America.

Aminah feels that teachers in America should not compare students as much as they do. She also feels that it would be helpful if teachers could learn a little bit about her culture. She hopes to go to college and study dentistry.

“Kiya” came to America from Ethiopia in 2006, after spending two years in a Kenyan refugee camp. Her father was active in politics because he wanted to bring new freedom for Ethiopians and ended up in prison. She is one of 18 children in her family. Kiya is Oromo, an Ethiopian ethnic group—the largest in the country—that constitutes more than 30% of the population. According to Kiya, if you are Oromo, you don’t get to go to school or have opportunities in life. Only the Amharic language is used in schools, and many Oromo can’t speak it.

Kiya was surprised and happy when they came to America and had the opportunity to attend school for the first time in her life. It has been especially difficult and confusing for her to learn the culture. She remains very thankful for her family because they were always there for her through very difficult times.

Attending American schools has been both rewarding and challenging for Kiya. She is impressed with how her teachers motivate and advise students. The hardest thing for her has been learning English. She has also had difficulty starting in the 7th grade when she has never attended school before. She likes the diversity of people at her school and likes that she can talk to her teachers and choose her own classes.

Kiya wishes her teachers would be more sensitive to her culture. For example, when she first arrived, she always looked down and her teachers thought she was not listening, but in her culture this is a sign of respect. She hopes to go to college and study business and one day return to Ethiopia to help her people.

-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

Last month, many generous individuals, organizations, and corporations collected holiday gifts for JFS clients. Through our Bright Holidays program, 432 individuals received hand-picked gifts such as clothing, toys, electronics, sports equipment, and other items on their wish lists. This is a significant increase from last year’s total of 308!

The gifts came from 65 individuals, groups, and businesses or organizations, which was also a large increase from 37 last year. Thank you to all the individuals and the following organizations for their generosity: Graland Country Day School, Cherry Creek High School, El Jebel Shrine, Greenwood Elementary School Book Club, Havurah Mosaic, Meritage Energy Company, Holland and Hart, Allied Jewish Federation, Denver Westin, and the Operation Santa Claus program at Lockheed Martin.

In addition, the Sisterhood of Temple Emanuel collected toys and gift cards from the Sunday school students that we distributed to 132 of SHALOM Denver's TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) clients at a holiday party. UMB Bank also provided 50 $10 gift cards to Target and King Soopers for these families to buy additional gifts.

Many JFS staff members also contributed gifts for this party and adopted families for Bright Holidays. "It always amazes me that our staff members are the first to contribute gifts for this program!" says Yana Vishnitsky, JFS president and CEO. "Even though nonprofit employees are not known for making a lot of money, they continue to exceed my expectations with their generosity!"

We appreciate everyone's compassion to make the holidays brighter for those in need! Ralitsa Ranova, JFS International KidSuccess school-based therapist, said, "I had the chance to see great joy in the eyes of my clients when they got their gifts." There are countless stories we wish we could share about how thankful all the families were for the outpouring of support from so many in the community.

Shelley Kolman, JFS Family Safety Net administrative assistant who helped with the Bright Holidays program, said, "Many people referred other family members and friends to adopt. We had one individual recruit five families to adopt people for the program, who then each adopted several families of all sizes including one family of 12. I was blown away by all the new donors that came forward this year!"

And last, but not least, thank you to Westword for donating 554 pounds of food and $250 in gift cards for clients of the Weinberg Food Pantry through their annual holiday drive!

 

Thank you to Andrea Stillman (pictured above) and all our volunteers who helped organize all the gifts!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

 

Honorees Harvey and Sue Allon, JFS President & CEO Yana Vishnitsky, and Honorees Ken and Rebecca Gart

As we promised in last week's blog post, here is the update about Reel Hope you've all been waiting for...

On December 8, Jewish Family Service supporters headed downtown to the fabulous Ellie Caulkins Opera House for Reel Hope 2011, the agency’s annual film benefit. More than 500 attendees celebrated with honorees Harvey and Sue Allon and Ken and Rebecca Gart and enjoyed the U.S premiere of the spy thriller, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Attendees sipped on “Vodka Reels,” the signature cocktail for the event, before enjoying a delicious boxed dinner prepared by Kevin Taylor, popcorn, and candy.

Thank you to event co-chairs Debra Duke and Kerry Shelanski, event advisor Carla Bartell, and emcee Lisa Belkov-Snyder for their roles in making the event a success! Thanks to the hard work of our outstanding co-chairs, committee, honorees, and staff, the event was a huge success! A big thank you to an anonymous donor who generously provided a $25,000 match, allowing us to raise additional funds during the event. In the end, Reel Hope grossed $435,000. Our heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful community-minded individuals and organizations that support the agency through this event - check out the list of sponsors!


Board Chair Alan Mayer addresses the crowd and shows the electronic tribute journal

Check out more event photos by Chris Schneider! View the heartfelt video, The Chain Reaction of Good, which was shown at the event. You can also take a peek at the electronic tribute journal and see all the wonderful accolades our well-deserving honorees received.

If you attended Reel Hope, thank you for your support. We'd love to hear your feedback! Please leave comments below.

Please save the date for our next fundraiser, the JFS Executive Luncheon on May 8!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

What an incredible week of support we've had! On Tuesday, December 6, supporters generously donated to Jewish Family Service through Colorado Gives Day. Colorado Gives Day is an initiative to increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving within a 24-hour period (which turned out to be 36 hours because of website glitches). Coloradans gave more than $12 million to 900 nonprofits and we were fortunate to receive more than $15,000 of that money to support our programs and services! And thank you to Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill for partnering with us on this day to help us raise awareness and money.

Then, last night we had our annual film benefit, Reel Hope 2011 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Thank you to all the people who attended and generously donated money during the event!

 

Since we're exhausted from a long day yesterday, we will provide a full re-cap and photos from the event soon. Here are a few photos we snapped while we were setting up to tide you over...

Stuffing and setting up bags for the event. In case you were wondering, this is what 550 bags looks like!

The signature drink of the evening.

Kari proudly displaying her duratran featuring the honorees, Harvey and Sue Allon and Ken and Rebecca Gart!

The red carpet is ready for the guests to arrive!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

Thanksgiving Day in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings, and holiday meals. A time of turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. A time for Indian corn, holiday parades, and giant balloons.

There are many ways to celebrate and express thanks at Thanksgiving. Even in difficult times, there are always things for which to be grateful such as:

Please leave comments about what you are thankful for on this holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

 

'Tis the season for food...lots and lots and lots of food! While most of us are looking forward to enjoying a nice holiday meal next week, some will have to go without. In an effort to make sure that doesn't happen for our Weinberg Food Pantry clients, we asked for your help...and you didn't let us down! We are happy to report that we met our monetary goal. Thank you to all those who contributed! This will help us distribute food for Thanksgiving meals to more than 100 families next Wednesday.

In addition, we are working hard to keep the Pantry shelves stocked through the winter holidays with some help from our volunteers. Earlier this month, 14 employees from CenturyLink spent four hours turning thousands of pears into pear sauce at the LDS Cannery for our Weinberg Food Pantry. Jessica Paul, Family Safety Net coordinator, says, "The CenturyLink employees have a day each year where they go out and volunteer, and several of them picked JFS and hope to do it next year."

 

And then this week, Cooking Matters came to demonstrate how to make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins using the pear sauce as a substitute for oil. Our Pantry clients got to sample these muffins and take a bag of the ingredients that included the recipe!

In other Food Pantry news...

Thanks to Steven and Sheila Higgins, who own a well-organized store full of tabletop games and supplies called Total Escape Games. On November 5, they hosted and helped organize a special game day and food drive for JFS, with the proceeds and canned food going to the Weinberg Food Pantry. They were able to collect 60 pounds of food and raised $372 in donations, which also included a generous personal donation.

Thanks to everyone for supporting the local community and helping us in the fight to end hunger!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

 

On Sunday, November 6, Jewish Family Service (JFS) participated in the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly (GA) Day of Service, in which hundreds of Jewish young professionals conducted hands-on service projects benefiting approximately 20 different charities in the Jewish community and the greater Denver community at-large. JFS hosted two different projects – challah baking with the Jewish Disabilities Network (JDN) at the University of Denver Hillel house and rice bagging at JFS for our refugee mental health clients.

Before volunteers dug in to each project, JFS staff spoke briefly about our agency and showed our most recent video so that participants understood a bit about the organization and who we serve. The volunteers and the agency benefited greatly from both projects!

At the Hillel house, five GA volunteers partnered with five JDN clients and their family members to make challahs that were then served at SHALOM Denver the next day at lunch time, which was a big hit! They also made extra dough for the Group Home to freeze and serve for upcoming Shabbat dinners.

Approximately 40 volunteers bagged 500 pounds of rice at JFS to be distributed to refugee families. When they were finished, they helped sort food to be placed on the Weinberg Food Pantry shelves.

Thank you to all of the dedicated volunteers and staff members who made this day a success!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department

One of JFS's good friends, Laurie Greene, turned 66 on November 2nd! He was one of the first residents of the JFS Group Home and still lives there 28 years later. Laurie also works at SHALOM Denver and volunteers at JFS every Friday. He is truly a valued member of our family and we can't thank him enough for everything he does for our organization!

In honor of his birthday, we want to share some old photos that we recently found of Laurie and his family from 1982 when the Group Home first opened. Enjoy!

LAURIE THEN...






Laurie with his mom, Helen


Laurie with his parents, Monty and Helen in front of the Group Home

LAURIE NOW...


Laurie enjoying a Bronco game


Laurie with Arnie Kover, JFS director of disability and employment services


Getting ready for a helicopter ride!

Happy Birthday, Laurie from your friends at Jewish Family Service!

-Alaina Green and Kari Alpen, JFS Marketing Department