JCS Connect is a series of virtual sessions that informs and educates community members about critical issues in our community and the work, JCS is doing to help combat these challenges.
On November 7th, JCS held a one-hour, in-depth conversation discussing Adoption. In honor of National Adoption Month, JCS’ Adoption Options Coordinator and adoptive mother, Carol Wild, with guest speaker Beth Capron, MSW, LCSW, from Adoption RI, came together for a community discussion on the rewards and challenges of adopting an older child.
Beth is the Adoption & Permanency Services Department Manager at Adoption RI. Beth has 30 years of experience working directly with waiting and adoptive children, youth, and families, helping keep them hopeful as they wait and supporting them throughout the permanency process. She is passionate about delivering trauma-informed, adoption-competent, quality services and believes that everyone deserves permanency no matter their age.
To listen to this session in full, click here.
Resources from this Session:
Parenting Teenager
Considering foster care and adoption
Interested in adoption but want to hear from other families?
Join us in person at Faces of Adoption at the JCC.
November 30th, 2023, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
We are thrilled to welcome members of the adoption triad—an adoptive family, a birth mother, and an adult adoptee. They will share their heartfelt adoption stories, offering a glimpse into their unique perspectives on what life looked like throughout their adoption journey.
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain insights, ask questions, and connect with others who share your interest in adoption. Click here to RSVP and secure your spot
Below you will find past JCS Connect Sessions:
Happiness Quotient (Guest Speaker: Caroline Gangji, Executive Director of The Village Common of Rhode Island)
Interventions for Fall Prevention (Guest Speaker: Pablo Rodriguez, DPT, CMTPT, CCI of Bay State Physical Therapy)
Challenges in Affordable Housing (Guest Speaker: Jim Nyberg, Executive Director of LeadingAge RI)
Aging in Place (Guest Speaker: Corinne Calise Russo, LCSW)
Food Disparities (Guest Speakers: Andrew Schiff, CEO of the RI Community Food Bank)
The Yoyo of Covid and its Impact on Mental Health (Guest Speaker: Beth Lamarre, Director of NAMI Rhode Island)
Moral Injury and Distress in the Behavioral Health Professions
with Frederic Reamer, Ph.D
Frederic Reamer, is a professor in the graduate program at the Rhode Island College School of Social Work, where he has been on the faculty since 1983. His teachings and research focus on professional ethics, criminal justice, mental health, health care, and public policy. Reamer received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and has served as a social worker in correctional and mental health settings. He served on the State of Rhode Island Parole Board from 1992 to 2016.
Furthermore, Reamer chaired the national task force that wrote the NASW Code of Ethics. In addition to local lectures, Reamer has lectured nationally and internationally in India, China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and various European nations. JCS was excited to welcome Rick as 2023’s guest speaker on Moral Injury and Distress in the Behavioral Health Professions!
About This Lecture:
Behavioral health professionals are no strangers to ethical dilemmas, from the routine to the extraordinary. When practitioners witness, perpetrate or fail to prevent acts that violate their beliefs, the harm they experience is called moral distress or injury. Moreover, moral distress and injury may trigger several symptoms and emotions that adversely affect the practitioner. These adverse effects are so debilitating that some practitioners will consider leaving the profession they love.
In this presentation, Dr. Frederic Reamer highlights common challenges in behavioral health, and explores rich opportunities for posttraumatic growth, compassion satisfaction, and resilience. Dr. Reamer also discusses the role of moral courage in the behavioral health professions, along with options for much-needed organizational and policy changes to prevent moral harm.
Click here to listen to the full lecture.
This year’s presenter, Loren G. Intolubbe-Chmil, Ph.D., is an educator and activist who has worked in a variety of education and community-based setting for over 30 years. Dr. Intolubbe-Chmil develops and facilitates sessions with a focus on the themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion; indigenous perspectives; culturally responsive practice; and transformative teaching, learning, and assessment.
This lecture, “Enhancing Practice for Healthy Communities in Response for Societal Violence” is intended to push beyond the counterproductive rhetoric and binaries, to engage with the systemic factors that contribute to the culture of violence, and to acknowledge that the same systemic patterns of behavior that drive oppression also underpin socialized violent tendencies, such as mass shooting.
Objectives:
- Understand the systemic influence that compels violent actions and the ways in which these intersect with professional practice.
- Utilize the Ecological system Model to examine the spheres of influence that socialize humans toward violence.
- Apply the complementary framework of trauma-informed care and culturally responsive practice to enhance the capacity of practitioners in response to violence in society.
- Map professional ethics to the issue of societal violence and identify how those ethics can be applied in response to the complexity of societal violence.
To register via mail, please print the
brochure and send its attached form, along with payment to Jewish Collaborative Services of Rhode Island, 1165 North Main St., Providence, RI 02904.
For many years, Coordinator of Kosher Nutrition for Jewish Collaborative Services Neal Drobnis and his team provided seniors, in their homes or at the Dwares JCC or Temple Sinai, delicious and nutritious lunches to enjoy five days a week. That’s continued even since COVID-19 hit, though in different formats.
When Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo imposed strict pandemic-related restrictions, Neal was out-of-town on vacation celebrating his birthday. Nevertheless, Dwares JCC Site Manager for Kosher Nutrition Elaine Shapiro and volunteers immediately swung into action to continue to provide meals to those in need while adhering to state mandates.
Deb Blazer’s Accounting for Taste catering company prepares the Kosher Meals on Wheels hot lunches in Temple and Kosher kitchen and Freda Baer’s Ahava Catering prepares cold meals at the Providence Hebrew Day School for Blackstone Health.
Neal, Elaine, and Site Associate Maxine Wolfson coordinate the volunteers who deliver Kosher Meals on Wheels meals to about 30 individuals at their homes, as they did even before COVID-19. “Rather than daily, we now deliver two meals each on Mondays and Wednesdays and one meal on Fridays, so everyone still gets five full meals each week,” said Neal. “That reduces exposure to COVID-19 for our volunteers and the meals’ recipients.”
On the same schedule, these same volunteers also deliver the Blackstone Health-sponsored cold meals to another 40 or so seniors, from East Greenwich to Pawtucket and Rumford to North Providence. “I am so grateful to Sam Abrams, Laura Strauss, and Billy Rose for helping us deliver meals time and time again whenever we ask for their help,” said Neal.
“Life is wonderful because you keep us supplied with lunches,” Maxine Cohen wrote to Neal in an email she agreed to share with JCS readers. “No one has to worry about us.” Maxine and her husband, Avram, recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
“We are a community that cares about people,” said Neal. “We want things to get better so that people can come back.” That’s why, from the very earliest days, volunteers called the 150 individuals, whose phone numbers Neal had, to check in with them and assess their needs. “Early on, everyone was on edge and happy to get the phone calls,” said Neal, noting that those individuals who were getting out more didn’t need calls. Neal also regularly distributes – by mail and email – a newsletter that updates folks about upcoming virtual events and suggestions for ways to stay in touch.
“Thank you for getting me on Zoom this morning,” wrote Beverly Paris to Neal in an email she agreed to share. “Rabbi (Alvan) Kaunfer was very nice and the Torah readings were very informative… I look forward to getting your emails.”
Even with communal gatherings on hold, Neal is working night and day to keep people engaged. Zoom has been a lifeline for yoga classes, book discussions, virtual tours of museums and Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam, as well as presentations by JCS’s Jewish Eldercare of Rhode Island Program Coordinator Susie Adler and local rabbis.
“In some measure, you are enabling us to maintain our independent way of life. Your programs are wonderful,” wrote Maxine Cohen. “It is wonderful to be intellectually challenged. No one humors us and places us on the inactive shelf.”
While the Jewish Community Center is open now, no senior centers are open. “We’re not going to re-open the Kosher Senior Café – which served lunches five days a week and included an entertainment or education component – until the Rhode Island Office of Healthy Aging gives us approval to do so,” said Neal. “I can’t imagine that senior centers will open until there is a vaccine.”
To get more information about volunteering or participating in Zoom programming, call Neal at 401.331-1244.
“Nothing is as we used to know it in any industry, given the pandemic. But JCS is not a retail business; the Phyllis Siperstein Tamarisk Assisted Living Facility’s ‘customers’ are families and their relationships. Maximizing those while the buzzwords of the day are ‘isolation’ and ‘quarantine’ is no easy feat,” said JCS Board Member Doug Emanuel. “I continue to be proud of Tamarisk’s efforts to adapt to the ever-changing COVID-19-related regulations.”
Routines and plans changed for everyone after Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo took action to minimize the spread of the pandemic. In mid-March, Tamarisk residents could no longer welcome their friends and family to visit; gather to play canasta, bridge, or mah-jongg; and eat or pray communally. Nevertheless, the “new normal” – life in the COVID pandemic – did not deter Tamarisk’s Director of Resident Programming, Jo-Ann Marzilli, from engaging residents with myriad offerings.
Jo-Ann created a “take what you like” store, which was stocked with trivia books, brainteasers, wordplay, crossword, adult coloring books, colored pencils, and decks of card, that were free for the taking. Jo-Ann explained, “We wanted to provide residents with entertaining items while they were restricted to their rooms.
Two to three Tamarisk residents win at our weekly Lotto games; and the winners enjoy the prizes, including gift certificates to Tamarisk’s Country Store, scarves, and Bear Claw backscratchers. Jo-Ann continues to issue a weekly newsletter to residents that are chock-full of relevant information about current birthdays, holidays, new programs, and a current events calendar.
“We are fortunate to have Bob Schoenberg, one of our Friday night service leaders, who has been conducting a Friday night service by phone for our residents every week, since the pandemic shut down communal gatherings,” said Jo-Ann.
And though visitors could not come for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, Jo-Ann and her staff provided women with cards and ribboned vases of pink roses and the men with “Best Dad in the World” buttons, respectively. “We didn’t let a holiday go by without trying to make it special for the residents; we distributed flags for Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) and the Fourth of July.
Tamarisk’s Chef Deb Blazer and kitchen staff have gone above and beyond to make meals special while residents ate in their rooms; residents get a personal menu for each meal and delicious afternoon snacks. Our dining room reopened in mid-July with two residents at each table; while most residents are delighted that the dining room is open, a few residents have opted to continue having meals delivered to their rooms.
Jo-Ann provided residents with information about how to “visit” world-class museums online, including the National Gallery of Art, the Guggenheim and Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum; and live-stream cams of the San Diego Zoo; skylines, beaches, and sights around the world. Theater buffs could access Disney on Broadway’s 25th-anniversary fundraising concert and Lincoln Center’s digital offerings.
Dedicated to keeping the residents happy and engaged, while still maintaining the essential protocols to keeping Tamarisk residents safe from the coronavirus, the ever-upbeat Jo-Ann established three “Sharing is Caring Boards,” which were posted throughout the facility. “These are for you [Tamarisk residents, relatives and staff] to share your thoughts, notes, poems, artwork, or even a secret message,” she wrote in introducing them. “They are yours to post whatever positive and uplifting messages you would like to share. (Please, nothing negative.)”
Jo-Ann added, “I could not do these programs without the help of my co-managers, staff, and the residents who give their time to run programs. Once Governor Raimondo began to ease restrictions, we began offering more programs for small groups – of no more than five people at a time – such as Bingo, Scrabble, and painting classes.” Residents must remain masked and stay six feet apart, and supplies are either discarded after an individual’s use or cleaned and sanitized, as are the meeting rooms.
In accordance with state regulations, Tamarisk began permitting family visits. “We are so happy that these visits are going so smoothly,” said Jo-Ann. “Unlike in the past, individuals must schedule their visits, which are limited to 45 minutes, and people meet at one of two designated venues, one inside and one outside of Tamarisk. Visitors are screened with COVID-related questions, must be masked, and remain six feet apart from the Tamarisk resident they are visiting.”
“I was delighted to have been able to visit a Tamarisk resident on July 10 after a four-month hiatus, given COVID-related restrictions,” said Doug. “I was impressed with staff members’ efforts to accommodate visitors; in fact, even before visits were permitted, staff did their best when available to arrange for Zoom and/or FaceTime calls between residents and their family members. Without those welcomed opportunities, Tamarisk residents and their families and friends would have remained even more socially distant than the rest of us.”
“In my nearly 10 years as program director here, I’ve had to discard the old ways of interacting and find new ways to developing activities and programs to engage with, and fulfill the needs of, residents,” said Jo-Ann. “I hope I have helped them in some way to get through these COVID-19 challenges. My goal is – and always has been – to try and make the residents happy, as they are my family.”
Accessing delicious, varied, and fresh-from-the-farm produce isn’t easy for many food pantries’ recipients, but it’s the summertime norm now at The Louis & Goldie Chester Full Plate Kosher Food Pantry (Kosher Food Pantry), one of Jewish Collaborative Services’ most popular programs. That is thanks to the efforts of Kosher Food Pantry Program Coordinator Marcie Ingber, who began volunteering last year at McCoy Community Farm. The one-acre farm in Warren, RI relies on volunteers to plant and harvest vegetables and then distribute that produce to area food pantries.
Last year, Marcie helped to harvest produce every week at McCoy Community Farm and brought those vegetables back to the Kosher Food Pantry. “Due to COVID-19, the Kosher Food Pantry has changed its schedule. It has – and will continue to be – open every other week for grocery pick up. The pantry has reached out to the Jewish community for assistance with harvesting and delivering the produce to the pantry for us,” said Marcie. “I volunteer at the farm every other Wednesday.”
The Rhode Island Community Food Bank provides basic produce – such as potatoes, onions, and carrots – to the Kosher Food Pantry.
“Getting a variety of farm-fresh produce is huge, and it saves our customers from having to spend their limited grocery budgets on fresh produce, which is typically expensive,” said Marcie. “They love the fresh produce, which includes – depending on the month – eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, corn, and butternut squash.”
New volunteers Cynthia Scheinberg and her daughter, Gavi Klein, have been volunteering once a week at McCoy Farm since mid-July. Of seeing the jprov list serv that Marcie had posted, Cynthia said, “It was such a fortuitous thing; I’d been thinking about how I could do more to support food security.” Calling it a travesty that we have hungry people in this country, she added, “I love to garden and I wanted to do something outside. When we got to the farm, there was such a lovely group of like-minded people. I love seeing everyone and seeing the task of the day; it couldn’t be a better match for us.”
The harvest is sufficiently bountiful that everyone using the Kosher Food Pantry will get something. “One week, in mid-July, I had about 25 boxes of zucchini and squash, so everyone was able to take as much as they wanted; other times, I have to limit the quantities or pre-bag them.” In addition, the RI Community Food Bank occasionally provides food pantries, including the Kosher Food Pantry, with Gotham Greens’ organic lettuce, basil, and herbs, which our customers love.
Demand for the Kosher Food Pantry is up, since COVID-19, said Marcie. Since the virus, some 145 households/families get food from the Kosher Food Pantry each month, up from an average of 120 households/families. While Jewish households are entitled to access the Kosher Food Pantry twice every month, non-Jewish individuals or families are permitted emergency access only once, due to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank’s member agency guidelines.
“I am so pleased that we were able to remain open throughout COVID-19 to provide essential nutrition to food-insecure families in our community,” said Marcie. “We are grateful to Cynthia Scheinberg and her daughter Gavi and our other volunteers who have offered their time to harvest and deliver produce for us every other week.”
Want to volunteer to harvest produce in a safe and socially distanced fashion? Contact Marcie Ingber at 401.331.1244, ext. 365 or Marcie@jfsri.org
