FEDERATION NEWS - The Jewish Georgian

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Page 36 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN July-August 2012 JF&CS NEWS AWARDS ABOUND. Recently, two senior staff members of Jewish Family & Career Services of Atlanta received prestigious awards in the Jewish community. Chief Executive Officer Gary Miller came home from the Association of Jewish Family & Children’s Agencies (AJFCA) 40th Annual Conference, in Houston, at the end of April with the 2012 AJFCA Distinguished Service Award. In June, Chief Operating Officer Rick Aranson received the Marilyn Shubin Professional Staff Development Award, from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Miller came to JF&CS Atlanta in 1991, following a successful career in social services in his native Montreal. Under his leadership, JF&CS has expanded from nine to more than 40 human service programs. The JF&CS budget has grown from $1.2 million to more than $13.5 million. In 1997, Miller oversaw the merger of two agencies, Jewish Family Services and Jewish Vocational Services, into a new entity, Jewish Family & Career Services. Today, due in large part to his expertise and vision, JF&CS Atlanta is a premier human service organization, serving more than 30,000 individuals in both the Jewish and general communities. It is recognized for innovative programs and management, and it has become one of the most highly respected members of the AJFCA, an umbrella organization with 145 member agencies across North America. Aranson joined JF&CS in 2004, after practicing law and working in the technology sector. As COO, he oversees the agency’s programs and services in order to ensure their maximum impact and effectiveness. He has forged collaborative relationships that have had a tremendous impact on the organization’s ability to serve clients in different ways. For example, he led the negotiations between the Ben Massell Dental Clinic and Saint Joseph’s Mercy Care Services that resulted in expanded overall health services to the clinic’s patients. He is tenacious about program planning and evaluation, as well as in identifying resources and relationships that support the greater good of the clients JF&CS serves. JF&CS Chief Operating Officer Rick Aranson (left) and Chief Executive Officer Gary Miller MUSICARES VISITS BMDC. Music filled the seats (if not the air) at the Ben Massell Dental Clinic, February 22, when members of MusiCares streamed in and out during the day. MusiCares, a national organization established by The Recording Academy, best known for the GRAMMY Awards, landed a partnership with the BMDC in 2009, to provide uninsured music professionals with free dental screenings, teeth cleanings, and complete x-rays. Dental care is considered a major gap in public health, and both MusiCares and the BMDC continue to work to address this need. Danny Smith hadn’t been to the dentist in seven years. The self-taught musician, whose last job was making $18 an hour at a cable company, has lived off unemployment for a year. Newly married, he doesn’t know how he’ll pay his rent next month. “This place is a Godsend,” said the 28year-old Danny. “I had holes in my teeth when I came here. The dentists there fixed me up.” This is the second time the BMDC has set aside a day for MusiCares, which provides a revenue stream for the clinic, unlike the rest of the population that come to the BMDC. Those served by the clinic do not have the means to pay for dental care. Established in 1989, MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for local members of the music industry in Notes from an old dinosaur BY Balfoura Friend Levine I must admit it—I am a dinosaur! My camera still has film in it, this article was written on my trusty IBM Selectric III typewriter, I don’t comprendez ‘puters, and have no idea what to do with the cell phone that my children gave me to use whenever I drive. (They say that, in case of the “God forbids,” I can dial 911). I enjoy using the treadmill in our exercise room here at the Renaissance, and the boredom is alleviated by my little boombox that I plug in, as I’m hopefully burning a few calories each time. I have a bunch of cassettes (yes, I still use those that I’ve accumulated over the years) and listen to golden oldies to kill time. Yesterday, I heard the nasal tones of Willie Nelson singing “Blue Skies.” Wow, that took me back to my childhood in China, where my times of need. The organization collaborates with industry and health-related nonprofit organizations throughout the country to ensure the most appropriate, comprehensive, and vital services are provided to its clients. A SPECIAL GRADUATION STORY. Meet Eren. Eren recently achieved a major milestone, one so many students aspire to during their educational careers: graduating from college. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Marshall University, in West Virginia. That isn’t all, though; he did it with honors, graduating cum laude. That accomplishment would be a huge feat for anyone. But Eren has Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disability considered to be on the autism spectrum. Asperger’s adds an extra challenge when navigating complex social situations, something that is difficult even for neurotypical college students away from home for the first time. Eren graduates with honors Eren began using Jewish Family & Career Service’s Tools for Independence (TFI) more than two and a half years ago. When he would come home from Marshall during school breaks, he would work with a direct support professional from the Zimmerman-Horowitz Independent Living Program and share his college triumphs and challenges with his support network. “Eren is just amazing, and we are so proud of him,” said Rena Harris, ZH-ILP program manager. The ZH-ILP staff works with Eren to be more independent, and it provides social father had bought a gramophone, and “Blue Skies” was among the tunes on those big old 78 record platters. That company making those old phonographs, as we call them now, was RCA Victor, with the logo of a dog, listening to “His Master’s Voice.” It did not run on electricity; we had to wind it up every few minutes. But it was pure magic for this six-year-old. There was even more magic a year or two later, when my father brought home a box, plugged a wire into probably the only outlet in the entire house, and—voila!—a man’s voice came out, saying something about the day’s news. Papa was ecstatic, I’m sure, but the magic was all mine. I do have some CDs and play all those support for him through things like TFI’s club for adults with Asperger’s. “The support we give is to help him be more independent, along with a lot of social support. Right now, he is looking for both a job and to move into his own place. He is getting ready to start the next chapter of his life.” TFI WORKS CLEANING SERVICE. Is the dust and dirt in your workplace getting you down? Get your office expertly cleaned by enthusiastic TeamWORKS participants. TeamWORKS, a program of Tools for Independence, now provides cleaning services to businesses in the Atlanta area. The program operates 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, and services can be provided to businesses on a daily or weekly basis. The team comprises four TFI clients and a staff member, who assists with supervision and transportation. TFI WORKS crew “This is a great program for our clients, because it teaches them valuable employment skills,” says Rachel Miller, director of TFI WORKS. “Plus, this is paid work, so they have an opportunity to build up their own business.” Is confidentiality an issue? TeamWORKS honors confidentiality of all files. And service is provided during the day. References are available upon request. Current happy customers include WYZE Radio and Therapy Works. Contact Rachel Miller, at 770-677- 9450 or rmiller@jfcs-atlanta.org, for more information. wonderful tunes we call golden oldies, and I listen to them on another player in my apartment. Of course, they are outdated, too, what with smartphones, iPods, and all the other whatchamacallits on the market now, that every teenager uses to tweet, twiddle, or take pictures, be on Facebook or whatever else the young folks do to, with, and for, these days. I told you I was a dinosaur. Believe me, I can’t even name some of the modern marvels around me. Perhaps in my next life; but, by that time, all the above stuff will be obsolete. And then what? I’m too old and tired to even think about it. In fact, a little nap would feel just right now. In the meantime, God Bless America.
July-August 2012 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 37 The romance of Israeli trains By Lynne and Tom Keating The El Al flight from Toronto cut through the sunrise and landed at about 7:00 a.m., at Ben Gurion Airport, Wednesday, October 26, 2011. We collected our bags, cleared passport control and customs, visited the restrooms and an ATM, and then purchased a Winter 2011-12 Train Time Table at the ticket office. An escalator took us down to the track, where we boarded #148 to Savidor Center, one of four stations in Tel Aviv. This was Lynne’s third, Tom’s initial, and our first shared trip to Israel. The rail experience from the airport lived up to a guide book description: “The most straightforward method of getting from Ben Gurion airport to Tel Aviv is by train.” We love trains. Why should Israel be different? After two days of beach walks, exploring street markets, and living and reliving Tel Aviv and Jaffa’s attractions, we stood on Platform 4, waiting for our second train. Trip notes remind us that for 22 new Israeli shekels (NIS) each, we boarded Train 6519 at precisely 11:44 a.m. and headed eastward to Jerusalem. Several more Israelis climbed on at the quick stops at the HaShalom and HaHagana stations. We whisked through stations listed in the schedule book and reached Lod two minutes after noon. With the rhythmic clacking of wheels on the track and an occasional whoo of a whistle, we looked from two seats in row 15 through somewhat dirty windows at the marvels moving past: a caravan of twenty camels, refineries, turtledoves, cattle egrets, tawny mounds of earth, and green agricultural fields. Walking through the cars, we saw military personnel with yarmulkes and guns, sleeping youngsters, readers of Lonely Planet guidebooks, students with earplugs—and no dining car. The lion-skin color of the rolling hills reminded us of northern New Mexico, while the drooping willows at the creek’s edge, the Bedouins picking olives and other fruits off trees, and the sheep in stone compounds offered distinct scenes of Erev Israel. We traveled east through Ramla, Bet Shemesh, rolling topography, and the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo and arrived in less than two hours at our destination—the new, clean, modern Malha station. We were in the City of David. Departure schedule at Malha Station in Jerusalem Despite an Atlanta rabbi’s critique that, “The trains are OK, just so slow,” we firmly hold to the adage that train time is like no other. Train buffs rarely ask or answer the question: “How long did it take?” Rather, we began to prepare for our Georgia Jewish friends asking incredulously, “What trains in Israel?” We disembarked from our second adventure, gave thanks, hailed a cab to The Little House of Bakah (our delightful bed and breakfast recommended by another Atlanta rabbi), and then walked to the Western Wall for our first Sabbath in Yireh Shalem. A week later, on our 86-kilometer return trip to Tel Aviv, the northern windows became our portals to the same scenes in the Soreq Valley, which never tired us, especially when, from our car, we could see the engine winding west toward Tel Aviv, along the deep river bed. Window view of train curving through countryside to Tel Aviv We yearned for a handy copy of the 5th edition of Baedeker’s Palestine and Syria 1912, yet we knew we could read this unique account when we returned home, in the special collections area of Emory’s Woodruff Library. Instead, we used The Guide to Israel (1964) by Zev Vilnay and remembered Martin Gilbert’s description of the “narrow gauge, single-track railway” from its 1892 beginning, when the Jaffa-Jerusalem line was started by the Jewish and Ottoman financier Joseph Navon. Years before our adventure, Rabbi “Alphabet” Browne, of The Temple, had reported on these same plans in the Jewish South. We read and reminisced about the pilgrims, settlers, missionaries, and tourists who had taken this same ride in the Yishuv. A friend and former Temple member, Fran Hunter, who made aliyah and now lived in Netanya, encouraged us to ride the train to Haifa and then take buses to Safed, Tiberius, and back to Jerusalem. So we boarded a double-decker in Tel Aviv, with one suitcase. Our car had neither a luggage rack nor any overhead space, Unique volunteer opportunity in Israel Volunteers for Israel is planning a Southeast (eight-state) Regional trip to Israel, November 4-22. VFI has been a vibrant force in bringing Jews and Christians to Israel, to experience an adventure of a lifetime. This 30-year-old program is open to healthy individuals, ages 18-80, who are seeking something different. VFI participants volunteer in a safe job environment on an Israeli Army base, working, eating, and living on the base Sunday-Thursday, to give Israel and her soldiers a helping hand. Volunteers can travel locally on their own on weekends or join special activities planned for the group, including walking tours, shopping, and sightseeing in Tel Aviv or other Israeli cities on the first weekend. On the second weekend, volunteers can register for a 2-day bus tour with a licensed tour guide in the area south of Tel Aviv, including Sderot; Kibbutz Yad Mordechai; Ben Gurion’s desert home; and the Black Arrow memorial, where participants will pay their respects to General Aaron Davidi, founder of VFI; and more. On Friday night (erev Shabbat), there will be an overnight stop and Shabbat dinner at the Beduoin Hospitality Center, in the Negev Desert. The registration fee for this trip is $90. Participants will make their own flight arrangements and will meet early Sunday morning, November 4, at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv. For the second weekend activities, there will be an additional charge of approximately $320 (depending on the number of people going), to cover two overnights, two breakfasts, Shabbat dinner, licensed guide, bus, and gratuities. This program ends on Thanksgiving— November 22—but it is possible to do two weeks on the program and the weekend which forced us to leave the rolling Samsonite behind our seats on the first floor. When we first glimpsed the turquoise water, we excitedly climbed upstairs to enjoy our ticketed view of the Mediterranean for 46.50 NIS. Coastal view from train window The romantic and historical scenery sped by. We returned aglow to our seats, startled to find our luggage gone. Imagine two American tourists, like schlumps, leaving luggage unattended on an Israeli train. Luckily, Judah, an attendant in the HaShaman station, in Haifa, helped us reboard back to Binyamin. We had no time to study its Rothschildean roots, as we jumped off, ran to a train side office, grabbed our bag—which must have been searched and x-rayed, since no one slowed us down—and, within three minutes, stepped onto the northbound train for a third and last look at the beaches from Dor to Atlit. All’s well that ends well. With better insights, after six train rides, including two free ones, Israel and its trains beckon us to return. Next year in Jerusalem—to ride the light rail. The Keatings, Lynne, a writer, and Tom, an educator, are members of The Temple. tour and still be back in time for turkey and all the trimmings. There will be a meeting in late August for local participants. For information, visit www.vfi-usa.org, then call Sharon Sleeper, 404-378-8692, Alan Mintz, 770-522-8960, Tim Anderson 404-441-1176, or Leon Rechtman, 770-328-4573.
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