The Charlotte
JEWISH
Vol. 42, No. 7
Elul 5780-Tishrei 5781
September 2020
The Pandemic’s Second Wave: JFS Responds
to Mental Health Crisis
According to the National
Institute of Mental Health
(NAMI), 1 in 5 Americans has a
mental health condition. That’s
more than 40 million Americans,
or put another way, more than
the population of New York and
Florida combined.* Those were
pre-pandemic numbers.
“Statewide data shows symp
toms of depression and anxiety
have tripled amid the pandem
ic...” reports North Carolina’s
Citizen Times in a recent article.
It continues, “In a typical year, 1
in 9 (11%) people report symp
toms of anxiety and depression
disorders in a given week ...
But, for every week since April,
1 in 3 (33%) North Carolinians
have reported these types of
symptoms.”**
These numbers are all too
familiar to Howard Olshansky,
Executive Director of Jewish
Family Services (JFS). Providing
mental health services is a sig
nificant part of the work they do
as part of their emotional health
and well-being services. When
the coronavirus pandemic first
closed their doors last April, JFS
had to quickly pivot and figure
out how to become an “agency
without walls” in order to avoid
disruption of services to current
clients. Olshansky credits JFS
staff for their ability to adjust and
creatively navigate in unknown
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territory. At first, mental
health counselors main
tained continuity with
clients by telephone,
but quickly they worked
out technological chal
lenges and identified a
HIPAA compliant plat
form and began offering
telehealth services.
It wasn’t long before
JFS saw the demand for
their services increase.
Initially past clients,
already vulnerable to
extraordinary pressures,
returned for services.
Before long, however, a second
group began to emerge — indi
viduals who had never received
JFS services but found them
selves struggling with the sud
den fallout of having their lives
turned upside down, seemingly
overnight. With this increased
need for mental health counsel
ing services, JFS received an
emergency allocation from the
Jewish Charlotte Emergency Re
sponse Fund to hire additional
counseling staff. The fund, which
was created by Jewish Feder
ation of Greater Charlotte, has
raised close to $500,000 from
generous donors in our commu
nity. Twelve agencies, includ
ing JFS, have been recipients of
funds to meet critical needs and
stabilize their workforces.
JFS identified yet another
need. Individuals with no previ
ous mental health diagnosis were
struggling to adapt to the new
stressors. Uncertainty about the
future, a sense of isolation, and
disrupted routines combined
with the loss of familiar coping
mechanisms such as gyms or
social gatherings, created an en
tirely new population in need of
support. For these, JFS launched
several initiatives, including a
variety of workshops and online
offerings.
A fourth group who found
themselves in need is one that
JFS has always considered a
priority — seniors. Seniors are
vulnerable to the same stress
ors as everyone else during this
pandemic but are more likely
to suffer from the ef
fects of isolation. Not
only have we been
protecting them from
the risks of exposure
to the coronavirus by
distancing ourselves,
but they also tend to
be less technological
ly savvy or equipped
to stay connected.
Here, too, JFS quick
ly responded. Volun
teers were trained to
maintain home visits
by telephone. With a
grant from the United
Way, they were able to partner
with senior living facilities and
purchase iPads for seniors and
help train them in their use.
In addition to providing ser
vices that address emotional
health and well-being, JFS exists
to provide crisis response. With
rampant job loss and econom
ic fallout, they have seen more
than a 50% rise in the need for
their foodbank services.
Here, again, JFS adapted
to the situation and creat
ed touchless delivery and
curbside pickup. Current
ly, JFS supplies more than
100 bags of groceries per
week.
As we try to function
and silence the incessant
hum of anxiety that is al
ways just below the surface, we
all wish for a return to something
that resembles normal. But not
even the re-opening of business
es nor the end to wearing masks
will signal that the pandemic is
over. Olshansky noted that we
haven’t begun to see the full im
plications of the pandemic. So
far, we have been in crisis mode,
but the long-term recovery pro
cess from the impact on our
economy and mental health will
be ongoing for years to come.
Each fall JFS launches its annual
Family to Family campaign and
is grateful for the past support
of its donors. This year, the need
will be greater than ever. To find
out how you can donate, visit
www.ifscharlotte.org.
*https://naminc.org/the-state-of-men-
tal-health-in-america/
* *w ww.citizen-times.com/story/
news/local/2020/08/05/covid-anxiety-de-
pression-tripled-substance-abuse-up-15-
nc/5547156002/
FC JC Part of $1 Billion
National Legacy Initiative
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Local Jewish organiza
tions have secured in excess
of $26 million in legacy
commitments.
Four hundred local do
nors have made 904 legacy
commitments to support the
Charlotte Jewish communi
ty. These commitments are
part of a collaborative en
dowment building effort that
includes 10 Jewish organiza
tions and congregations, the
Foundation for the Charlotte
Jewish Community (FCJC), and
the Harold Grinspoon Founda
tion’s LIFE & LEGACY ini
tiative, the goal of which is to
FCJC’s Nancy Kipnis receiving the presti
gious Littman Award in 2016.
provide future financial stability
to Jewish organizations.
“We are very honored to be
part of such an amazing initia
tive that has helped to create a
culture of philanthropy here in
Charlotte and throughout the
country,” said Phil Warshauer,
Executive Director of Founda
tion for the Charlotte Jewish
Community. “The success of
our local efforts is a reflection
of the uniqueness of our Jew
ish community. Our com
munity members show great
passion for the long-term sus
tainability of Jewish Charlotte
and its continued evolution.
This initiative has successfully
identified and connected those
passions with our community’s
future needs.”
(Continued page 14)