JGA July-August 09 - The Jewish Georgian

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Page 16 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN July-August 2009 Denial From page 15 dependency counselor, says that, “Because the residents are Jewish, they build a bond quicker. If they are able to bond well, then they’re more likely to be there for each other.” Jason, a former resident who is now a successful attorney says that, Brett Goldenberg “having one positive thing in common was a powerful thing. Because we related so well to each other, it got to the point that I felt that I had a family of 8 or 12 people to help me.” “Repairing the spirit,” or Tikkun Hanefesh is a Jewish way of stating the obvious spiritual goal of most 12-step programs. Another reason for JRH success is that 12-step programs are steeped in Jewish Talmudic teachings. Accepting a higher power over your life. Taking inventories of your weaknesses and strengths, correcting character defects, making amends to those harmed are some of the powerful concepts we all acknowledge during the high-holidays. As Jews in recovery, it’s easy to understand why JRH residents relate so well to doing mitzvoth to help others. How effective is the Jewish Recovery Houses’ treatment model? Enormously effective. The most widely accepted form of treatment, AA-style support groups, which 56% of all people grappling with addiction use, has a five-year sobriety rate that ranges from 10-12%. That means that of all the people going to AA meetings, only 15% remain sober after five years. The Jewish Recovery House’s 5-year sobriety rate has been clinically gauged at 40-56%. Because this style of helping people is not non-denominational, it is unable to accept government or insurance support. Thus, the JRH in Baltimore depends on charitable gifts. That’s a big challenge when you consider that the Chronicles of Philanthropy says that charitable giving is down 15.9% in the last year due to our struggling economy. BRINGING JEWISH RECOVERY HOUSES TO ATLANTA In Atlanta, we are starting an effort to establish a Jewish Recovery House using Baltimore’s model. We have sought out guidance from JRH’s board of directors, as well as its professional leaders, which include Michael Rokos, a well-respected expert in faith-based recovery. Our goal is to open the Atlanta Jewish Recovery House by the end of 2010. Currently, our efforts revolve around forming our advisory board, which already has six prominent businessmen to help formulate our fundraising and organizational effort, clergy to help gain broader awareness and acceptance of the problem here in Atlanta and some of our community’s respected psychiatrists specializing in drug and alcohol addiction to oversee operational and programmatic development. Operationally, the focus will be on fundraising to purchase the house, hire appropriate staff and launch the recruitment effort. Our fundraising effort is in its formative stages but we have already received a $100,000 matching gift challenge. Have you or someone you know been touched by alcohol or drug abuse? Our advisory board will meet again on Sunday, August 30. We urge anyone interested to attend. Please call either Jeff Diamond at 770-402-5664 or Marc Weinstein at 404- 303-4982, and we will give you the details. Because of her experiences at the Jewish Recovery Houses, Rachel has reunited with her family. “I never dreamed that my relationship with my Mom and Dad could be as good as it is! More importantly, thanks to Jewish Recovery Houses, I am back to the person I was meant to be.” Imagine bringing these kinds of results for 10% of our community. With your help we can repair the world. About the Authors: Mark Weinstein, Executive Vice President of firstPRO, Inc, and Jeff Diamond, Managing Director of Bear Stearns, a division of J.P. Morgan, both serve on the Atlanta Jewish Recovery Houses’ Advisory Board and are both visionaries in bringing the faith-based sober living model to Atlanta. Both Mark and Jeff also serve on the board of directors of the Jewish Recovery Houses of Baltimore. Sensations TheraFun opens doors to the Amit Program for summer fun N ewly opened Sensations TheraFun, a multi-sensory activi- ty center, recently held a special day of summer fun for kids and families who utilize services through The Amit Program. As kids took advantage of all the many activities throughout the warehouse-sized facility, parents joined in feeding their inner child by ziplining into the ball pit, while kids scaled the rock climbing wall, jumped on the two trampolines, climbed in the parachute swing, maneuvered through the obstacle courses, enjoyed the multicolored lights in the sensory room, did arts and crafts, and even played board games for a few minutes of cooling off. Sensations TheraFun offers a wide range of services to families to satisfy the sensory needs of their children. It gives parents, kids, and therapists an additional place for therapy, outside of the therapist’s office, that is fun for kids and their families. Sensations TheraFun is a great place for kids, ranging from those currently in therapy to typical kids in search of a great place to play. Open to all ages and physical abilities, Sensations also offers private rooms for therapists to meet with patients, after-school and summer groups, meeting space for the community, a large kitchen for cooking camps, and a floortime room. The retail store offers products any family can benefit from, including books, therapeutic tools, and more. The Amit Program is the central resource in the Jewish community for special education, ensuring that each child is able to reach his or her individual potential, while learning in a Jewish environment. With the help of Amit, children with learning and developmental disabilities have the opportunity to learn alongside their peers, while receiving the individu- Rachel Jay, daughter of Jan and Gregory Jay, enjoys squeezing through the rollers at the Amit Sensations TheraFun Play Day. alized attention they need to succeed academically. “Amit wants to offer programming to their students and families throughout the summer, and what better way than to come experience all that this new facility has to offer,” says Karen Paz, director of programming and development for Amit. “One of our many goals is to offer children with special needs the ability to have some of the same experiences that their mainstream friends have, but in a completely supportive environment. Some of my greatest joys stem from watching kids with CP or other physical challenges enjoying the ziplines in our special apparatuses that will allow them to participate in ways they had only dreamed of previously,” says Jay Perkins, owner of Sensations. The play day was a win-win-win for Sensations, Amit, and all those who participated. For more information on The Amit Program and Sensations TheraFun, visit www.amitatlanta.org and www.sensationstherafun.com.
July-August 2009 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 17 Milestones amid the keepsakes ome days, I get the “urge to purge,” but so much good stuff has been Ssquirreled away over the years that I find more goodies to keep rather than toss. Here’s a clipping, yellowed with age— a birth announcement from the North China Daily News: “On July 12, 1925, at St. Marie’s Hospital, Shanghai, to Mr. and Mrs. J. Friend, a daughter.” By golly, that’s me! The hospital was run by the French Catholic nuns and located in the French Concession, or Frenchtown as we called it, miles away from where we lived. I regret now that I never asked my parents why I wasn’t delivered at our general hospital, also run by Catholic nuns, but located closer to our house in Hongkew. Years later, in the 1930s and ‘40s, Hongkew became the famous ghetto for the thousands of European refugees who fled to China and were lucky to have missed the Holocaust by a whisker, so to speak. Another milestone: My kindergarten report shows, among other remarks, “Balfoura is rather shy about taking part in dramatization...is a well-behaved girl, both in the classroom and on the playground...excellent work in reading and phonetics.” Then prizes and commendations in years to follow, a prefect in my senior year, but no honors in gym or sports—I was a puny, sickly geek! In my old scrapbook, I have the ticket stub for my 1947 trip on the General B. Gordon ocean liner, bringing me to the United States. Attached to the ticket is the Shanghai Quarantine Service certificate showing I received the necessary vaccinations to board the ship. Framed on my wall is a most precious, 15” x 18” (real sheepskin, y’all), 1950 University of Georgia diploma. Artium in Journalismo Baccaclaurei, dated X June Annoque Domini MCML. A proud milestone.... And there are more: the 1953 invitation to my wedding to Hans R. Mayer, in Savannah—I became an American citizen later that year, a major milestone; our first child, Sandra Mayer, born in 1954 in Eastman, the first grandchild for my parents, Frieda and Jacob Friend, and a huge milestone for all of us. Most checks I’ve shredded, but one that I’ve saved, for $50, is dated March 26, 1956. It is made out to Bernard Jacobson, the mohel who drove in from Savannah to perform the bris for our son, Ronnie Mayer, at our new home in Hawkinsville. My husband, Hans, taught me how to make German potato salad, to serve with the luncheon for our family and guests that day. Our family doctor, who delivered Ronnie, was invited to the bris, and he later told me that he was quite impressed, witnessing this ritual for the first time. I also found a 1962 bulletin from the Fitzgerald Hebrew Congregation, where our small-town Middle Georgia Jewish families worshipped and socialized. Noted BY Balfoura Friend Levine in the bulletin: “ A Mazel Tov to Mr. & Mrs. Hans Mayer of Hawkinsville, on the birth of daughter Laurie Kay.” My youngest, Laurie Mayer Coffey, is now 47 and mother of 11-year-old Tom. In front of me is a yellowed copy of The Jerusalem Post, September 18, 1978. The banner headline screams out, “Pact for Peace at Camp David.” My daughter Sandy and I are on board El Al, winging our way to our odyssey in Israel. Besides meeting my paternal cousins for the first time, I recall holding my breath at my first sight of the Western Wall (which I always think of as the Wailing Wall) and then touching the actual stones, where thousands of years ago one of our ancestors may have stood as well. If this trip wasn’t a mind-shattering milestone, I don’t know what else it could be. Another biggie, in November 1992, was my trip to Russia with the Friendship Force and the first time meeting my mother’s family. Hugs, kisses, and tears of joy in celebrating that milestone. And then there was the summer of 1996, when Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics. I am stroking the beautiful silk scarf, part of my dress uniform as envoy to the Republic of Moldova (formerly the Moldavian SSR) team in the Paralympic Games, which followed the Olympic Games. I gulped down tears as I marched with the Moldovan standard bearer and the nine-member team in both the opening and closing ceremonies—another milestone. During the decades of my adult life, there have also been sad milestones. I have obituaries of my parents, my husbands, and some dear friends, as time winged its way through the years. Then many more joyous milestones: the childrens’ marriages; my presence in 1984 at the birth of my first grandchild, Erica (who is now in law school; how time flies), followed in four years by the awesome and unforgettable experience of actually watching the birthing of her younger brother, Scott. He is now in his second year at UGA. Wow! I’m not claiming originality in reciting personal milestones. I am, however, genuinely amazed to find all these old cards, photos, and documents of those interesting and life-altering times and events in my life. One thing I’ve noticed: Throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, I was referred to as Mrs. Hans Mayer (I signed the check to the mohel that way, too), as though I were only a half-part of my husband. I guess most married women were so addressed then. We are now taught to have our own credit cards and bank accounts. I’m not a rabid feminist, but I think it’s about time we have our own personal identities. And that, too, is a huge milestone. Each birthday is a milestone of sorts, and I have passed 84 such markers in my lifetime. Which interesting celebrations are yet to come? I’m ready—bring them on!
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