The Charlotte Jewish News - August 2009 - Page 27
JFS Offers Workshops, Support Groups and Parenting
Discussion Groups
1. Nosh & Network Provides
Help for Job Seekers
Jewish Family Services Nosh &
Network series continues to be a
popular and valuable
program for those mem
bers of our community
who are in the job mar
ket. Professional experts
in the vocational field,
including Harvey Smith,
a certified Business
Coach and owner of
Carolina Business
Coach, Ira Bass,
President of IB Media,
Betsy Olinger, Business
Coach and owner of
Marketing-U, Jeff Turk,
owner of Omega Search, David
Pinkley, founder and managing
director of The Resume Sage and
Steve Eanes, president of
Changing Matters LLC have gen
erously donated their time and tal
ents. They have presented such
job-related topics as creating win
ning resumes, marketing yourself,
identifying your strengths, using
social technology effectively, pro
jecting the right image, finding
your dream job and overall strate
gies to help you create a game
plan for success.
All Nosh & Network work
shops are free and are held at the
Levine Jewish Community Center
from 11:30 AM-1 PM. Everyone
is welcome. Bring a dairy bag
lunch, your questions and get
ready to take charge of your job
search.
For more information on
upcoming programs, contact Stacy
Baum at stacy.baum@jfschar-
lotte.org and visit the JFS website
at jfscharlotte.org
In addition to the Nosh &
Network workshops, JFS and
Temple Israel also co-sponsor a
monthly Job Support Group the
third Thursday of each month at
6-7:30 PM. For more informa
tion, contact stacy.baum@jfschar-
lotte.org.
2. Back to (Pre) School/JFS
Parenting Place Fall Parenting
Discussion Groups
Back to school typically brings
an array of exciting activity -
shopping for school clothes and
supplies, picking out backpacks
and lunch boxes. It can also be a
time of sfress for kids and parents,
especially if your child is starting
preschool for the first time.
Choosing the right program to
ensure a positive first experience
and a happy school year becomes
a priority for every parent. The
same is equally true for parents
with young children returning to
preschool.
JFS Parenting Place in conjunc
tion with the Levine-Sklut Judaic
Library and Resource Center is
offering a fall series of monthly
Parenting Discussion Groups
focused on early childhood devel
opment for parents. Free babysit
ting is available. The facilitators
are professional and licensed clini
cians presenting such timely top
ics as Playful Parenting: Building
Close Connections and
Encouraging Confidence, Social
and Emotional Skills, Getting
Your Child to Listen, When
Should I Be Concerned - Review
of Early Childhood Red Flags and
Stress Reduction Techniques for
Young Children (and Their
Parents).
Stop by, enjoy a cup of coffee
and conversation around parenting
issues. The workshops are infor
mal, free and informative.
Parenting Groups will begin in
early September and continue
through spring. For more informa
tion, contact Talli Dippold at 704-
944-6780 or tdippold@shalom-
charlotte.org or visit our website at
jfscharlotte.org.
3. Caregivers Support Group
While growing older is just
another part of the life cycle
process, unfortunately the later
years can become lonely and diffi
cult for many seniors and sfressful
for family members trying to care
for them. A chaotic economic envi
ronment adds to the emotional and
financial challenges of care giving.
Yet for caregivers, taking care of
themselves is just as vital as taking
care of your loved ones. If you are
in this situation, we invite you to
join the JFS Caregiver Support
Group. Here you will get tips for
staying well, meet new friends
who understand the caregiver role
and relax in a comfortable and
welcoming environment. The
group is free. Everyone is invited.
Please join us.
The next Caregivers Support
Group will be August 10 at 6:30
PM at the Jewish Family Services
office in Shalom Park. For more
information, contact Bea Gibbs or
Nicole Vagnone at 704-364-6594
or bea.gibbs@jfscharlotte.org or
nicole.vagnone@jfschar-
lotte.org. ^
Nosh and Network
Thirty Black and Jewish Teen Freedom Riders in Charlotte to Explore
Race Relations
Samantha Bressman, Gabrielis Newell, Sarah Homberg, Greg Armstrong,
Camille Harris, and Isabel Nathan were among the students on Operation
Understanding
A delegation of 30 Black and
Jewish high school students from
Operation Understanding DC
arrived in Charlotte on Tuesday,
July 7, as they traveled on their
three-week summer journey to
meet with movement leaders and
foot soldiers, see places of impor
tance to the African American and
Jewish communities and proudly
continue the legacy of the
Freedom Riders. The students -
14 African Americans and 16 Jews
- met with community activists
and 1960 sit-in leaders B.B.
DeLaine and J. Charles Jones;
toured the Levine Museum of the
New South; learned about
Charlotte’s Jewish community;
and explored the Shalom Park
campus.
Charlotte has been an inspiring
stop on the student’s journey since
2003. Andrew Frank, a member
of the 2008 class, explains, “J.
Charles Jones talked about how,
even though he was college stu
dent at the time, he still made a
difference in the Civil Rights
Movement. He told us that it is
young people like us that can real
ly create change, and that has
influenced me to promote social
justice in our society.”
The 30 students from
Washington, D.C. are part of
Operation Understanding DC
(OUDC), a 14-year-old education
al leadership development pro
gram whose mission is as simple
as it is vital: to bridge racial, reli
gious and cultural divisions that
exist among individuals by engag
ing youth in a constructive dia
logue that leads to increased
understanding. “With the election
of Barack Obama and recent
tragedy at the United State
Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Americans renewed a dialogue
about the topics of race, of being
inclusive of all religious beliefs
and of the value of voicing diverse
opinions,” says Rachael Feldman,
Executive Director of OUDC.
“Since 1995, OUDC’s participants
have been fearlessly at the van
guard of what has now become
our national discourse. Our stu
dents fulfill the dream of the civil
rights pioneers who came before
them, and, more importantly, they
forge their own groundbreaking
paths toward greater social jus
tice.”
Before reaching Charlotte, the
students and four group leaders
explored New York City and
Greensboro, NC. From Charlotte,
they traveled by bus to ten cities in
four states including Atlanta, GA;
Birmingham, Montgomery and
Selma, AL; Meridian, Jackson,
and the Mississippi Delta; and
Memphis, TN. The group returned
to DC by plane on Thursday, July
23.
In the months following the
journey, our young leaders will
take an active role sharing the
ideas and lessons they learned in
OUDC by facilitating prejudice
awareness and reduction work
shops throughout the community.
The reasons the teens had for
joining this group varied. “I go to
a Jewish day school,” explained
Samantha Bressman, 17, “and I’m
in a ‘bubble.’ I wanted to meet
new people and make new friends.
And I know there’s more that I can
do.”
Gabrielle Newell, 17, is bi-
racial and wanted to know more
about both her heritages. “I hope I
can gain skills that will help erad
icate both racism and anti-
Semitism.”
“My parents were activists for
civil rights,” Isabel Nathan said. “I
was raised to be an activist. This is
the organization for that,” con
cluded the 16-year-old.
Since 1995, OUDC has
empowered more than 360
Washington-area youth to speak
out against racism, anti-Semitism
and all forms of discrimination.
Our graduates are the OUDC pro
gram director and program
instructor, children’s and victims’
rights advocates, labor and com
munity organizers, teachers, cre
ators of university freshman orien
tation diversity programs, tutors of
elementary and middle school stu
dents, and much more. All will tell
you that OUDC had a vital impact
on their commitment to creating a
stronger, more just community.
OUDC uses a two-community
model to give students the oppor
tunity to explore African
American and Jewish cultures,
religions and histories in-depth.
By focusing on these two groups,
who have had such similar univer
sal histories of being subjugated,
feared and maligned, students
graduate from the year-long pro
gram with a true understanding
and appreciation of both commu
nities. OUDC’s comprehensive
education enables its students to
be effective ambassadors for all
forms of diversity.
Operation Understanding DC is
open to Black and Jewish high
school juniors in the DC mefropol-
itan area who have demonsfrated a
sense of responsibility, leadership
potential and a “change the world”
attitude. ^
The teens from Operation Understanding showed their leaders that "they
got game ” in addition to intelligence and compassion.
The teens got some much deserved down time playing on the fields and bas
ketball court of the LJCC and Camp Mindy.