A few dear friends took me out for dinner for my birthday this past spring. While eating dessert, one in the group directed everyone to say a few words to me. I was expecting the standard 'happy birthday' and attendant good wishes. To my surprise, my friends shared some deeply felt sentiments and observations about me in how they each have known me over the years. I learned that I am seen as one who never gives up on a friend, admired for being capable and organized, and complimented for being a good cook and an accomplished parent.

It was late 2010, and Kahdeem Denton was ashamed to smile. At 14, his self-esteem hit the floor and he avoided talking whenever possible because of a severe overbite and large gap between his front teeth. Kahdeem needed braces but sadly his family could not afford them.
Then one day, his mom saw a news program about the Ben Massell Dental Clinic (BMDC) and she called for an appointment. Because demand far outweighs supply at the clinic, Kahdeem spent 16 months on the waiting list. He finally started the process in March 2012.

We recently had the opportunity to answer the following question for a national dental journal: Do dentists have a moral duty to provide charity care?

Does anyone have a moral duty to provide charity? Maybe people don’t have an obligation to give charitably. But turn the question around. If someone has the means to give, shouldn’t he or she? We believe the answer is yes — especially when it comes to healthcare services. Helping those in need is central to the mission of health care providers.

No matter what your age, volunteering in your community has untold benefits. A commitment to giving back is one of the most precious gifts you can give the next generation. When you start volunteering at a young age, there’s even more time for the benefits to accumulate.

When it comes to volunteering, Ann Kay is a shining star. She and her family have a well-known reputation for selflessly giving all they can to help better the lives of others. JF&CS is thankful to have such a jewel as an active volunteer. Ann recently sat down with our marketing team to chat about her volunteer work and what it means to her.

Overall health and risk of degenerative disease are inseparably linked to dietary practice. We treat these diseases with medication, which has side effects. We suppress symptoms and don't get to the root cause of the problem. But as Hippocrates, the father of medicine and healing said, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."

This year we celebrate the first night of Passover on Monday, April 14. Passover commemorates our people's exodus from Egypt, the journey from slavery to freedom. Of all of the Jewish holidays, Passover alone is distinguished by special dietary requirements, namely that we are prohibited from eating or even owning hametz. Hametz is defined as any mixture of flour and water that has been allowed to ferment for more than 18 minutes. The most obvious examples are bread and pasta, but grains and legumes are included as well (because they 'puff up', or act like leavened foods) and are prohibited on Passover.

I remember the feelings vividly — my daughter was six years old at the time and she was in a warm, nurturing independent school environment. The student-teacher ratio was small, my wife and I regularly volunteered in the classroom and my daughter had been with many of her classmates for years. One day, I chose to linger in the doorway and watch the class begin their day. The teachers gathered the kids in a circle and began their routines when I saw it – my daughter was tussling with another child and, while I couldn’t make out the words, the expressions on their faces didn’t look happy.

A new theory, introduced by Dr. Martin Seligman in the book “Flourish – a visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being,” is reframing the concept of counseling.

Dr. Seligman, a thought leader and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, believes there should be a greater focus on positive psychology experiences in order to best give individuals the opportunity for growth. Often, people will seek counseling only when they are experiencing something negative or think they need help. Positive psychology aims to change the perspective and focus on helping someone live a better version of his/her life.

“Keep your hands to yourself” are words that we’ve all heard as children, and they are ingrained in us as adults. Touching, (whether intentionally inappropriate or not) can lead to a host of negative results, accusations of harassment, transmission of diseases and the like. So we make conscious efforts to be hands off.

You’ve probably noticed how many people experience where they are through the screen of their cell phone or tablet as they videotape their child’s recital, a concert or a tourist destination. It does make sense to snap a photo or take a brief video for perpetuity. Yet those who relinquish the full-body experience are missing out, because they are not fully present.

In the United States, “local” is in. Think about it – we’re dining at restaurants serving ingredients from local farms and purveyors, we’re creating coworking communities for budding entrepreneurs to launch businesses in our cities, and, in the global sense of “local,” we are supporting a resurgence in manufacturing of goods that are produced in the United States.

In contrast to the Jewish New Year we celebrate in the fall, the secular New Year can seem a bit anti-climactic. We might celebrate it by going out to a party or fancy dinner, and then spend the first day of the New Year sleeping and lazing around. And yet, as we ‘turn the page’ to a new calendar year, we are also habituated to the practice of New Year’s resolutions. Resolve to eat better, lose weight, and exercise more are among the common determinations people make at this time.

I just returned from the first Jewish Leadership Institute on Disabilities and Inclusion, held December 1^st – 5^th at the Pearlstone Center outside of Baltimore, MD. It was an incredible gathering of 25 Jewish disability and communal leaders—leaders from the disability field, individuals with disabilities and family members.   We spent more than 12 hours each day learning about the importance of self-determination, individualized person-centered planning and the rights of individuals to determine where they live, with whom they live and how they spend their time. We as Jews understand, and experience through our history, what happens when individuals are dehumanized and their rights are taken away. That still happens for many people with disabilities.

An anomaly in the Jewish calendar has resulted in the first day of Chanukah coinciding with Thanksgiving Day. Foodies are going wild, concocting delicacies combining the trademark foods of each holiday, and a few mom-and-pop entrepreneurs are selling “menurky’s” and t-shirts. Songsters are blending Chanukah favorites and Thanksgiving ballads in preparation for regaling their guests and for their own amusement.

The fact is that you - not your boss nor your company - are in charge of your career. Many people wait to think of a job or career change when they are forced into it. Here are some warning signs that will help guide you into being proactive about your career versus reactive.

With all of the celebrations it brings, the holiday season is the happiest time of year for many people. But it is important to remember that for numerous older adults, the holidays may not bring the same pleasant feelings as they did in the past. This time of year can be quite challenging for older adults and can even be painful. That said, there are a few things you can do this year to help make sure the holidays are pleasurable for everyone in your life.

Soon we will be reading the Torah portion of Vayishlach. It is a portion filled with events of triumph as well as failure. We learn the stories of Jacob wrestling with G-d and his reuniting with his brother. We also learn about the rape of Jacob’s only daughter, Dinah. Though Jacob can prevail or at least hold his own in wrestling with G-d and engaging with his brother Esau, he appears unable to control the physically violent behaviors of his sons. He cannot empathize or express compassion toward his daughter after she was raped. This is a story about a family in crisis due to a sexual assault. Revenge, violence and mayhem follow. Two of the sons go on a murderous rampage while the other brothers take women and children as slaves. Violence begets more violence.

Abby Rosenthal’s career has taken her to many places. The native New Yorker has lived in various cities across the country and worked for prestigious organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control, City of Detroit Health Department and the University of Michigan. Before beginning a career in public health, Abby was a physical therapist and had the opportunity to work closely with older adults. She also was a caregiver for both of her parents as they were aging and used her professional knowledge to provide them with the best possible care. When she decided to retire two and a half years ago, she knew she wanted to make sure her expertise would be put to good use. Once she heard about Aviv Older Adult Services – Tools for Aging, she gave JF&CS a call to find out how she could become involved.

Since 2001, The Rainbow Center, in partnership with Jewish Family & Career Services of Atlanta, has served the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons living in metro Atlanta. Now in its second decade, The Rainbow Center will expand and split its mission into two separate programs beginning November 1, 2013.

By the time you finish reading this blog, around 13 women in the United States will be assaulted or beaten. In the next 24 hours more than three women will be murdered by their husbands or boyfriends. Within the next year up to 10 million children will witness domestic violence of some kind. So once you finish reading this blog and go about your day, you should take time to think about the 9,500 women in our country that will have been assaulted or beaten by the time you wake up the next morning.

Born and raised in Houston, Lauren Harris moved to Atlanta in 1997 to attend Emory University. Shortly after graduation she began her doctorate studies at UGA in industrial/organizational psychology, and during that time she also got married. At this point, she knew a little about JF&CS because she had attended Havinagala. But, it was after her husband came home from the Community of Caring luncheon in 2006 and learning about a number of her friends’ involvement that Lauren started to become involved with the organization.

Coming from every stage in life, volunteers are undoubtedly the heart and soul of our organization. They can bring a variety of ideas to JF&CS, regardless of their personal volunteer experience. Board members Bob Bachrach and Jonathan Ginburg couldn’t be more perfect examples. While they both bring invaluable knowledge to JF&CS, they are at different points in their lives while sharing the same passion for volunteering and giving back to their community.

ArtWORKS is back preparing for the “Go Wild” art show which will be held at The Art Institute of Atlanta – Decatur on December 5^th, 2013. With more than 50 acrylic-on-canvas works in development, including massive banners depicting wild animals, our clients are as busy as they are excited about this gala event. Clients chose the “Go Wild” theme to honor one of our Tools for Independence TeamWORKS’ partners, ZooAtlanta. Our clients regularly volunteer to support the educational programs sponsored by ZooAtlanta, and recognizing ZooAtlanta through the show creates the opportunity for our clients to give back to the community that supports them. Last year’s show generated more than$2,000 in earnings for the program and our clients, and we are looking forward to setting a new bar at the 2013 show!

Everyone loves the carefree pace of summer, but with the start of school around the corner, it’s time to ease back into the daily routine. There’s no doubt that the shift from summer to fall is the hardest of all, so we hope these top 10 tips will make your transition a little simpler!

When one begins a career, he or she may expect to eventually become an expert in his or her given field. But what that person might not expect is how an expertise can lead to the discovery of philanthropic causes that become passions. For Dr. Dan Appelrouth, a native of Key West who has been living in Atlanta since 1977, this is exactly what happened. He moved here to begin his career as a rheumatologist. After practicing for many years, he found he had a passion: feeding the hungry and caring for those in need.

Thank you to our friends at Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta for featuring such a moving story about being a family caregiver in their weekly email:

The last thing I expected when my family made the move to Atlanta from Miami was that in a few short years, I would become a caregiver. Moreover, I would have never guessed that I would be a caregiver for my husband, who at the time of our move, was a strong and vivacious person.

When people come to JF&CS seeking volunteer opportunities, they often have in mind a specific cause or interest in which they want to focus their volunteerism. Sometimes it is a program or division of JF&CS and sometimes not. For some it is supporting and “growing” the agency as a whole. Debbie Derby and Ted Taylor both have found that their professions have provided them with the expertise they feel enables them to best help “build” JF&CS—literally.

Each year JF&CS conducts the Annual Campaign, which raises unrestricted funds to help those in need right here in our own community. Donors who generously contribute to the campaign are a very large reason the work JF&CS does is a reality. This year, it is truly an honor to have the campaign chaired by two very active supporters: Beth Arogeti and Ellen Chalef. Both of these remarkable women have already dedicated countless hours to the organization, and for this we are exceedingly proud to highlight them as our volunteers of the month.

Statistics show 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 daily for the next 16 years. That’s the age that traditionally has marked someone as an “older adult.” When you hear that term, what comes to mind? Granted, people age differently than they used to. Still, the term often evokes images of elderly people needing care, medications, doctors, nursing homes, hospice and so forth. While those are the things and the people that keep their bodies healthy, there is something that can keep their minds healthy: companionship.

M. Queen Bailey-Brooks, LCSW, describes herself as a “born social worker.” Originally from Baltimore, she has been living and volunteering in Atlanta since 1995. To Queen, volunteering is not just something she enjoys doing on the side, it is her way of living. And while she has lent a hand to numerous organizations that serve various causes, older adults, or as Queen likes to say “my elders,” are her passion.

When it comes to being an all-around kindhearted and dedicated volunteer, Jackie Naggar is truly one of a kind. Originally from Birmingham, Ala., Jackie has been living and giving back in Atlanta for more than 10 years. Professionally, she is an attorney/legal recruiter. While she enjoys spending some of her free time with family and friends, traveling, and hosting her own networking events, volunteering is her absolute passion and joy.

“Well we all need someone we can lean on.” That sentiment as sung by the Rolling Stones is universal no matter the life circumstance. In recovery, it is doubly true as those who have worked so hard to become sober now have to relearn (or sometimes learn for the first time) how to survive everyday life without the artificial coping mechanism of their drug or behavior of choice.

It’s March, and Passover is coming up at the end of the month. When we think of this wonderful holiday, what usually comes to mind? FOOD! So it’s apropos to highlight some volunteer opportunities related to hunger.

On March 10, the Atlanta Community Food Bank holds its annual Hunger Walk at Turner Field. As we do every year, JF&CS and many of our partnering synagogues will be forming teams to walk en masse with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Federation was one of the founding partners and a leading fundraiser for the walk. For the past five years, those walking with Federation made up the largest faith-based fundraising group at the event.

I have lived in Dunwoody since 2005 and have driven by JF&CS around 3,500 times not knowing what it did until earlier this year, when I joined the Tools for Leaders Program. Boy am I glad I did. Not only have I met a tremendous group of individuals, but I have been able to learn about an organization that does so much for the local community. I can honestly say that the more I learn about JF&CS, the more excited I get to participate in this and other programs. JF&CS is the Gold Standard when it comes to nonprofit organizations that make an impact on thousands of individuals’ daily lives.

When Robin Feldman moved to Atlanta 11 years ago, she knew immediately she wanted to get involved with Shalom Bayit, a program of JF&CS’ Counseling Services – Tools for Life division. Shalom Bayit translates from Hebrew to “peace in the home” and provides short - and long-term assistance to those facing physical violence, or emotional or sexual abuse in their families or intimate relationships. Robin had a personal reason for showing interest in this particular division: she herself is a survivor of domestic violence.

Webster’s Dictionary defines advocacy as “the act or process of advocating or supporting a cause or a proposal”. A more meaningful description of advocacy, however, comes from Rabbi Hillel:

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when? (Rabbi Hillel, Ethics of the Fathers 1:14)

So what does advocacy really mean? It is important to stand up for yourself and what you believe in, and it is most important to stand up for fellow members of your community.

JF&CS’s Tools for Leaders is an interactive six-session program that brings high potential leaders together in a hands-on learning environment. The goal of the program is to engage volunteers so they can learn about the agency’s programs, network with other like-minded individuals who value the importance of volunteerism, build leadership skills and explore a future path within the agency.

When an individual volunteers for a cause, his or her goal usually is to help effect change in some way. One of the many wonderful things about volunteers is the different ways they can support the same cause.

This month, we’re pleased to highlight two hardworking volunteers – Weda Zoller and Bruce Lindemann, the current and past chairs respectively of the Developmental Disabilities Services - Tools for Independence (TFI) Family Advisory Committee. Both also volunteer at the annual Larry Bregman, M.D., Educational Conference in addition to supporting TFI in other ways. Weda and Bruce got involved because they both have children served by TFI. While that may have been the mutual catalyst for their involvement, they each feel a personal connection and a need to be a part of TFI.

It’s hard to believe a month has passed since the lives of 27 children and adults were taken at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. The residents of that small community are desperately trying to find a new normal. Just last week, the children have returned to classes, albeit in a different building.

“I used to think I had the answers to everything, but now I know life doesn’t always go my way. Feels like I’m caught in the middle, that’s when I realize I’m not a girl, not yet a woman…” ~Britney Spears

Who among us cannot relate to the feelings expressed in the coming-of-age song by Britney Spears ­— the feeling of being right on the cusp of adulthood, the feeling of being so ready to break free from our childhood and the feeling of being secretly terrified of letting our childhood go?

This fall, the inspiring concert-drama Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin was performed at Atlanta Symphony Hall. Created by Conductor Murray Sidlin, the concert featured a full performance of Guiseppe Verdi’s Requiem performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) & Chorus. To call this performance a concert however, would not adequately describe the powerful presentation that took place that night. Interspersed throughout the Requiem, the story of life at Theresienstadt Concentration Camp unfolded with actors, historic Nazi film footage and video interviews with original chorus members.

As the Resource Support Specialist for Aviv Older Adult Services – Tools for Aging, I get a lot of calls about the services and support we offer families. Each one is different, but many callers have common concerns. I try to give as much information as I can while trying to offer support for the caller, and, of course, all calls are confidential. Here are just a few examples of questions with typical answers I offer:

Imagine your life without a car. Imagine that, starting tomorrow, you are a single parent, a recent college grad or a mature worker who has to find another way to get to work. What if public transportation isn’t an option? Suppose you are at work – after a two-hour bus ride – and the school calls to say you need to come and get your child because of illness. How would you get to a medical facility?

Linda Tzoref knew she wanted to give back to the community and had a very distinct idea of how she wanted to do it. So when she called JF&CS more than a year ago to see what potential volunteer opportunities were available, she was very clear about what she sought to do. She enjoys working with senior citizens, and Café Europa was the right place for her to start.

“He always apologized, and sometimes he would even cry because of the bruises he'd made on her arms or legs or her back. He would say that he hated what he'd done, but in the next breath tell her she'd deserved it. That if she'd been more careful, it wouldn't have happened. That if she'd been paying attention or hadn't been so stupid, he wouldn't have lost his temper.” ~Nicholas Sparks

October is a month filled with crisp fall air, crunchy new apples and leaves the colors of fire. October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which sadly, few people are actually aware of.

The Ben Massell Dental Clinic (BMDC) and JF&CS proudly welcomed Dr. Stephen Bankston to the JF&CS Board of Directors this year. A volunteer at the clinic since April 2004, Dr. Bankston also sits on BMDC’s executive committee.

“Dr. (David) Zelby introduced me to the Clinic, and I have been committed ever since,” he says. “My motivation for this commitment is two-fold. The gratitude of the patients and the impact I see and feel from their response is truly inspiring. And this is my personal opportunity to give back to my community.”

You might be surprised at this, but more than 15 percent of teens today meet the criteria for alcohol and drug abuse. And statistics show when kids start early, chances are they will continue as they get older.

There are many in our community who believe Jews are not as susceptible to alcohol abuse and other addictions as the general population. But we are seeing they are! Fortunately, Jewish communities across the country are addressing the problem. Here in Atlanta, the problem of addiction has been made clear by the number of calls we have been fielding from local rabbis and directly from congregants who are struggling with this disease and don’t know where to turn.

Searching for a job is never easy, and is that much more difficult in our current economy. But with patience and hard work, it can be done. JF&CS has helped place hundreds of people in jobs over the past few years. In addition to our job database, we have career counselors who can help guide you through your search as well as a variety of programs and services for job seekers. In the meantime, here are just a few tips for job seekers straight from our job developers.

One year ago, Bradley Erbesfield began volunteering with Career Services – Tools for Employment. He liked volunteering so much that he decided to help out five days a week. Hearing the client success stories gave Bradley the extra motivation.

“It is nice to know that my efforts are helping people,” Bradley said.