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Page 14-THE NEWS-February, 1987 Jewish Family Services V«iur FediTatinn Dollars Al Work HKKE — Student Loans — Jewish Family Services is again proud to announce that we will do the screening for interest-free educational loans for college students. These loans are provided by Jewish Children’s Service of Atlanta as part of a regional pro gram. During the school year 1986/87, six Charlotte students were awarded student loans and one was award ed a scholarship. The following are guidelines that determine eligibility: 1. Applicant and family must have been residents of the Charlotte community for at leq^t one year. 2. The money is to be used toward tuition and expenses for college or post-secondary training. 3. Preference is given to students attending state schools, although others have been approved. 4. Applicant must be accepted by a recognized school. 5. Loans are granted on an annual basis for full-time students and paid bi-annually. 6. Financial need must be established. Must apply for other funding sources. 7. Applicant must agree to provide a progress report of the student, status of the grades and adjustment to school annually. Jewish Family Services will be accepting these applica tions from Mar. 9 to May 15. Complete applications must be in Atlanta by May 29. For further information or to acquire an application packet, please call Goldie Weinreb, 366-5007. Interfaith Couples Social On February 22. from 4-6 p.m., Jewish Family Services will sponsor an interfaith couples social at Shalom Park. This will be an opportunity for interfaith couples to meet and plan future events. For further information call Phoebe or David Amante, 333-8050 or Adrienne Rosenberg, 366-5007. Yad Vashem- The Hall of Mirrors, nearly completed, is a memorial to the one million Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. The core of the chamber is a six- sided room entirely covered with mirrors. In the center of this room is a system of prisms, and in its heart is a memorial light. The prisms and mirrors will refract and reflect the light myriad times. The visitor, entering this chamber through a rough-hewn underground passage, no doubt will be over whelmed by this ethereal, sur realistic atmosphere. He or she will walk around the chamber on a series of darken ed elevated walkways, but sur rounded at all points by the reflected light and hundreds of smaller memorial lights, suspended as though in space. Safdie acknowledged that his is an unprecedented ap proach to designing memorials, which is usually considered a conservative and staid area of architecture. The entranceway deliberate ly made use of an existing cave entrance in order to create the impression of entering into the bowels of the the earth. The passage beyond the entrance is flanked by huge unpolished rocks. As the visitor enters he or she hears, faintly, the sounds of children singing the songs of the Holocaust. (cont’d from page 1) The visitor walks first into a triangular room where he is surrounded by authentic photos of children taken dur ing the Holocaust years. The faces smile, cry, scream, ponder. Above all. they are real, human, Jewish — the faces of a million young lives that were snuffed out. From there, the visitor moves, through gloomy darkness, into the six-sided room, now prepared spiritual ly for the harrowing ex perience of the lights and mirrors. The visitor then emerges through a funnel-shaped exit, to a hilltop, surveying the vista of Jerusalem. The valley project is less than novel. Dug and hewn out of the landscape south of the Yad Vashem main buildings, its motif is a col ossal wall of commemoration — probably the largest in the world — bearing the names of the 5,000 Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust. The wall will be cut from raw stone — in the ragged shape of the map of Europe. The area of the valley site is to be some six acres, and work on it is expected to last several more years. It is the concept of Israeli landscape architectural firm Yahalom- Tsur, which won a competition in which several notable Israeli and overseas planners participated. Thoughts From Adrienne By Adrienne Rosenberg JFS Directory The beginning of another year means an opportunity to look back and reflect on the previous twelve months. What kind of year it has been; what was accomplished; what was learned; what wishes had not happened are typical thoughts. This is true not on ly in the life of an individual but also of the history of an agency. In thinking through what occurred in 1986 for Jewish Social Services (now known as Jewish Family Ser vices) and what is hoped for and planned in 1987, there are many facts and ac complishments I would like the Charlotte Jewish com munity to know: • Perhaps the most eventful happening was our move to Shalom Park. With this move came the challenge of running a counseling agency in a total community environment. Set ting standards and educating staff and lay leaders at Shalom Park as to our unique requirements and professional needs have been ongoing ever since. Unfortunately, this has meant the discomfort of some of our clients, for which we apologize. • A more positive result of moving into Shalom Park has been our visibility. We see this in the increased number of drop-ins (people who walk in to our area without appoint ments) asking for help. • There were a total of 956 cases carried in the agency in 1986. The monthly average was 80 cases. Of these, 69 cases were opened during the year; 66 were closed. • There were 3,338 telephone calls by or into the agency in '86. The majority of these calls were about counsel ing needs: the second largest was about geriatric concerns. • There were 551 office ap pointments and 217 home visits. • There were 260 informa tion and referral contacts. Ex amples included questions about the Blumenthal Home, adoption cases, home health needs, community resources, and problematic concerns. • Trends in cases continued to be the highest in three key areas: vocational, seniors and their families and counseling; the latter including marital, adolescence, depression, per sonal adjustments and stress. Student loans and financial concerns were also types of cases seen by the agency. • Fees and billing were add ed to the agency in all areas with a sliding fee scale available. As a result, $4,241 was billed and $4,228 was received. There was a total of $638 in donations. Federation gave the agency $56,000. • The bylaws of the agency were changed to conform with the allocations process and to change the name of the agen cy to Jewish Family Services effective Jan. 1, 1987. • Increased community awareness that there are less fortunate Jews in Charlotte was evident, the new Jewish poor being the single-parent family. Food, food coupons, clothing and household items and donations were given the agency to be distributed. More holiday baskets were given by the HaLailah Chapter B’nai B’rith Women than in pre vious years. Temple Israel Sisterhood adopted a “foster family” to help as did the Chai Group of the Jewish Com munity Center for Chanukah. The religious schools and temples gave the agency food and tzedakah this past year. • The majority of referrals this past year were self- referrads rather than from Jewish professionals or other agencies. This is significant in stating that people see the agency as viable and helpful. • There was more outreach with the help of the agency to the homebound and shut-ins. Charlotte Chapter B’nai B’rith now has as one of its projects regular visitation of Jewish persons at local non-Jewish nursing homes. Friendly visitors and Caring Commit tees at both temples have been promoted by us. • Staff this past year con tinued with one full-time pro fessional, also the Director, a 20-hour-a-week professional and a 25-hour-a-week secre tary. Because demands sur passed staff, waiting lists and referrals to other sources resulted. • Four task forces were begun and will be continued to advocate a “voice” and raise consciousness in our Jewish community for the physically disabled, singles, parents of substance abusers . and the intermarried. • Speaking engagements and agency promotions oc curred within most of the Jewish organizations and in stitutions by both professional workers. Jewish Family Life Education on the subjects of coping with aging parents and adjustment to moving were conducted, among others. • A grant was written for an alternative to senior housing for Armstrong House but was not funded; another grant has been written to expand senior services with funding sources being sought in ’87. • Six college students were assisted with student loans in the amount of $6,986. One of our students was awarded a $400 scholarship; all of these were granted through Jewish Children’s Service of Atlanta. I and the committee share the following hopes and plans for the coming year and resolve to help them become reality: • The agency is in the pro cess of contracting with other counseling professionals to ex pand the counseling services. It is also hoped support groups can be added as a result. • By Feb. 1, Jewish Family Services will have its own phone number for incoming calls. Increased secretarial and volunteer time will ensure phone coverage. • A new brochure on the agency’s services will be printed. • New funding sources and additional “angels” and volunteers will be sought. • Increased publicity is planned to inform all levels of the community as to our ser vices and the social needs of its members. We are aware still that many remain unin formed despite our past efforts. It is evident that this is a growing agency with increas ed demand on its present staff and budget. In 1987, both of these issues need to be ex amined and solutions found. Older Workers to Be Honored at Luncheon Older workers will be honored on March 20, when the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Senior Center hosts an awards luncheon to recognize the out standing older worker in Mecklenburg County. Taking place during “Employ the Older Worker Week”, the lun- Swimmer Insurance Agency, Inc. 725 Providence Road Charlotte, N. C. 28207 704/333-6694 cheon provides employers the opportunity to recognize the invaluable contributions workers 55 and over make to their businesses, organizations and communities. Employers are invited to nominate their outstanding older workers. A selection committee will pick the top achiever for the Distinguished Service Award. The only fee to employers is the cost of the luncheon. Employers with over 300 employees may nom inate more than one person. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Senior Center is a not-for- protit organization dedicated to serving the senior citizens of Mecklenburg County. Through its Senior Employ ment Service, individuals 55 and over are offered assistance in finding full and part-time employment. The services, which are free, include assess ment of job skills, training, counseling, job development and placement. For more information on the Older Workers Award Lun cheon. or the Senior Employ ment Service, call the Chariot f»-Mecklenburg Senior Center at 334-3056.
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Feb. 1, 1987, edition 1
14
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