Archives before March 2011

Why is Jewish Disability Awareness Month (JDAM) so important? The celebration, now in its third year in communities across  North America, not only lets everyone in on the wide variety of services available to people with disabilities and their  families (too often a well-kept secret) but, just as important, JDAM raises awareness about this underserved 20 percent of our  children and families.  

Here in Greater Boston, when you read over the Jewish Community Resources for People with Disabilities you’ll be  amazed at how much we already have in place in our community.

And when you meet Marie (This month’s “Voice from the Gates”), you’ll get a glimmer of what, working  together, our communal resources can mean to families who have a member with special needs.

This month also saw a very exciting announcement: the foundation of a new Special Needs and Disabilities Network charged  with elevating special needs services and disabilities advocacy among Jewish communities around the globe.

Slated to be housed at the Jewish Funders Network, the new initiative is charged with assessing the current state of funding of special needs programs in the Jewish community, identifying successes that can be duplicated on a larger scale, and bringing attention to underserved areas that would benefit from additional funding.

Here at Gateways, we’re delighted that our long-time partners Jay Ruderman and Sharon Shapiro of the Ruderman Family  Foundation are the catalysts behind the new network. It grew out of last October’s ADVANCE conference which brought new awareness of the role of special needs advocacy and services within the Jewish world.  ADVANCE, which gathered  together more than 100 key Jewish funders, was convened by the Ruderman Family  Foundation, along with JFN, Jewish Federations of North America and our own Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

We’re also proud of the other Gateways advocates, partners and board members involved in the new network, including  Gateways board member and Vice President of Development Rachel and Larry Chafetz and the Rita J. & Stanley H. Kaplan Family  Foundation, visionary early funders of our innovative Mitzvah Mensches and B’nei Mitzvah training programs.

As JDAM, this month is a priceless opportunity to engage our synagogues, our schools, our agencies, our children and  ourselves in welcoming and serving this important part of the Jewish people.

Even so, for our families and our agencies, and strong supporters like CJP and the Ruderman Family Foundation (See Jay’s powerful op-ed), all 12 months – actually, 13 in the Hebrew calendar this year -- are Jewish Disability Awareness Months too.

Marie Strazzulla is a 25-year-old who loves her job. Mostly because no two days are ever the same.

Some days find Marie in the Gateways: Access to Jewish Education office, stamping, filing, collating or her favorite task: shredding (“It’s heavy work but it’s fun.”).

Other days she’s at Gateways Sunday program, where she’s responsible for serving dozens of students their mid- morning snack.  “I like the kids,” she says. “I know a lot of the teen volunteers from Camp Ramah.”

Like so many other young adults in their first real job, Marie is proud of the new skills she’s learning every day.  And, because she has Down syndrome and lives in the Boston area, Marie was able to receive the kind of community support that both trained the Norwood resident and placed her in the job she now loves.

After high school, Marie enrolled in CHAI Works, a program of Jewish Family & Children’s Service designed to give adults with disabilities the kind of grounding in real-life work settings needed for jobs in either volunteer or paid positions. Then they make the match, finding just the right person for the job.

Last summer, when Gateways approached CHAI Works to help them find someone to work in their Newton office, Marie was ready and the “shidduch” was quickly made.  To help with the adjustment, her job coach came along the first couple of times.

These days, Marie takes care of the office tasks that used to pile up, those chores the staff was always too busy to get around to. And each Sunday the students know Marie will appear in their classroom with a cart laden with tantalizing snacks.   

Marie’s presence has also had a positive impact on Gateways’ staff, reports Executive Director Arlene Remz. “What we didn’t realize in the beginning was that, in order to help Marie be successful, we needed to structure the work and be clear in our expectations, breaking things down step-by-step and making sure we were communicating well. It turned out that this is a skill that makes things better in all the work we do.”

In addition, she adds, “Marie’s success is a very real reminder of Gateways’ goals, the hopes and dreams for independence that we have for our students too.”

Indeed, things have gone so well in the office that, early last fall, Marie was asked to add Sunday program responsibilities to her schedule.

But, as much as Marie’s loves her job, another topic that never fails to elicit unbounded enthusiasm is “I Love Lucy.” It turns out that, not only does Marie own DVDs containing every episode of the 195s hit series (the ones that make her laugh the loudest:Lucy’s grape-stomping, cupcake-manufacturing and candy-testing misadventures), but she’s also a storehouse of little-known Lucy trivia. A sampling:The exterior of the house used in the show was the star’s actual home, on Beverly Hills’ Lexington Street. 

Surprisingly, Marie says her favorite part of her job isn’t serving snack to the children or even the shredding, but just spending time with the Gateways staff. “It’s seeing all you guys and feeling sort of comfortable,” she says with a shy smile. “Everyone here helps me a lot.”

To learn more about CHAI Works, contact Doreen Cummings at (781) 693-5638 or dcummings@jfcsboston.org or visit www.jfcsboston.org.

The Jewish Funders  Network has announced the formation of a peer network of funders dedicated to elevating special needs and disability  advocacy in the Jewish community.

The network is a 2 year initiative funded by the partners and administered by the Jewish Funders Network. An outgrowth  of ADVANCE, the October 2010  conference on special needs held by The Ruderman Family Foundation, JFN, Jewish Federations of North America and  Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the network’s goal is to assess the current state of funding of special  needs programs in the Jewish community, identify successes that can be duplicated on a larger scale, and bring attention to  underserved areas that would benefit from additional funding. The network will feature a dedicated staff director, whose  appointment will be announced at a later date.

Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation said, “It is extremely gratifying to see how the ADVANCE  conference has catalyzed the funding community around special needs issues. There is no question that a consensus is forming to  elevate the whole discussion of special needs programming within the Jewish community, including finding ways to more fully  integrate disabled and special needs individuals and families more fully into Jewish communal life.”

The network’s 14 founding members include, among others:

• The Stanford and Joan Alexander Foundation (TX);
• The Ted Arison Family Foundation (Israel);
• The J.E. & Z.B. Butler Foundation (NY);
• Rachel & Larry Chafetz (MA);
• The Jewish Federations of North America;
• The Karma Foundation (NJ);
• The Rita J. & Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation (NY);
• News Corporation Foundation (NY);
• Pears Foundation (UK);
• The Ruderman Family Foundation (MA and Israel);
• Saul Schottenstein Foundation B (OH); and
• The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Inc. (MD).

Gateways' partner Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, which has done so much to raise awareness of including people with special needs as full participants in Jewish life, said it  all in this week's Jewish Week. In a terrific article titled, "Attention to Disabilities Seen Changing," Jay put his  finger on "a critical mass or consensus that's emerging across the agency spectrum."

Gateways is proud to be in the forefront of that critical mass of programs delivering services to those who've been, until  very recently, left outside the community for way too long. We're able to offer a Jewish education to children with special  needs in a wide variety of educational settings, from day schools to our free-standing Sunday school to bar-bat mitzvah classes  to, beginning this year, many of our local congregational and community schools too.

Stay tuned for February – Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month -- as Gateways brings you easy-to-use resources for home  and class to help make our Jewish traditions more inclusive to all our children.

To see the entire Jewish Week article, click here.

BOSTON (JTA) -- Since the late 1980s the Jewish conversation -- and Jewish funding -- has orbited around the goal of Jewish  continuity. Whether the cause is Jewish peoplehood, intermarriage, education or even Israel, ensuring our Jewish continuity  inevitably grounds the discussion.

But one issue critical to continuity has been missing from the conversation for far too long:supporting our disabled and  special needs populations.

With 14 percent of children in North America having special needs and an even larger percentage of people (young and old)  living with a disability, hundreds of thousands of Jews in North America and around the world must forego Jewish experiences in  order to participate in secular programs -- schools, camps, vocational services and more -- that meet basic developmental needs.

Even in major Jewish markets, families with disabled children struggle to engage in Jewish life. This summer, international  media reported on the Samuels family of New York, who were forced to choose between providing a Jewish education for their  daughter Caily, who was born with Down syndrome, and a secular program that would accommodate her special circumstances.

For a people who value fairness, inclusivity and justice, it's unacceptable that so many of our own are turned away in this  manner. We need to tackle Jewish continuity head-on by ensuring that Jews with special needs have a place to live, learn and  work within our communities.

As we mark the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, I am issuing a challenge to the Jewish community to  embrace special needs as a core part of the continuity conversation, and to take active roles in supporting the needs of the  disabled. We cannot afford to ignore the issue of special needs because it is expensive or complex. It is critical to the  future of our community and deserves to be prioritized.

If Jews with disabilities are turned away from Jewish schools, community centers and synagogues, that means the organized  Jewish community is turning away an integral part of our community -- our children, siblings, parents, friends, neighbors and  colleagues.

But by moving the bar in this one area, and supporting programs that enable Jews with disabilities to participate in all  facets of Jewish life, we can create opportunities for hundreds of thousands of people living with special needs to lead  meaningful and vibrant Jewish lives. I can't think of a more meaningful way to support continuity.

We've seen individual examples of programs that are making a real difference across the United States and internationally:*  San Francisco's Bureau of Jewish Education has helped preschools, synagogues, JCCs and day schools come together with central  agencies to ensure that Jewish learning is available to every student.

• With support from the UJA Federation of New York, the "Reelabilities" film festival has been able to raise  awareness and promote appreciation for those with a range of disabilities.
• In Michigan, the Friendship Circle provides assistance and support to the families of children with special needs.
• Gateways:Access to Jewish Education enables more than 500 special-needs children in Boston to attend local Jewish day  schools, where teachers and administrators are now trained to work with the children.
• Yachad provides Jewish programming and experiences in educational, recreational and social settings throughout the United  States and Canada.
• And in Israel, Israel Unlimited, a partnership of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Israeli government and the Ruderman Family Foundation is engaged in integrating people with  disabilities in the community.

These are all examples of pacesetting organizations making great strides on this issue. However, there are no mechanisms --  particularly in the funding community -- for sharing information and pursuing collaborative endeavors that perpetuate these  regional programs. When and where it exists, support for disabled populations happens in silos, across regions, age groups, and  a great variance of physical and cognitive disorders.

In order to effectively support the needs of our disabled populations, we must break down these barriers, so that shared  learning and collaboration can benefit all.

This month, an international group of Jewish funders and nonprofit leaders convened in New York City to examine the  opportunity gap that exists for disabled Jews, and to inspire collaboration in which private funders, federations and  professionals can actively work together to build a more inclusive community.

The Ruderman Jewish Special Needs Funding Conference was an important step on the path toward building a more inclusive  future, but it will require a greater communal response to make that goal a reality. We must commit to making "special  needs" a priority topic within the larger continuity conversation, and take action to bring all people with disabilities  back into the folds of Jewish life.