Health & Fitness

All About Helping

Organization offers support to families of ill children.

Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News

A

ndrea Gordon wants
the Metro Detroit
Jewish community,
in which she grew up, to know
about Chai Lifeline, a national
organization that helps families
dealing with the serious illness
of a child.
Gordon, a single mom who
lives in suburban Chicago, has
experienced firsthand the sup-
port of Chai Lifeline's Midwest
branch throughout her 15-year-
old daughter Ellen's six years of
illness.
"In 2001, Ellen was diagnosed
with lupus and, immediately
after, Chai Lifeline entered our
lives;' said Gordon, a computer
consultant out of Southfield
High School with undergraduate
and graduate degrees from the
"I get so excited once I come to the camp," says Liliya Bromberg, center, of Oak Park.
University of Michigan. "They
have been with us all the way"
Last year, after an adverse reaction to
has also helped 30 families in Michigan,
hospitals where we have visited, presented
medication, Ellen spent nine weeks in a
according to regional director Sharon
and shared families, Schwartz said.
pediatric intensive care unit and six more
Schwartz, who travels to the Detroit area
"When a child is born or diagnosed
weeks at a rehabilitation institute, Gordon
with a case worker to meet newly diag-
with a serious illness, the entire fam-
said.
nosed families.
ily feels the pain;' Schwartz said. "Chai
"When Ellen has been in the hospital,
The roster includes families from
Lifeline provides crucial emotional, social
Chai Lifeline has brought me kosher meals Birmingham, Southfield, Ann Arbor,
and financial help that enables the fam-
so that I could eat something other than
Ypsilanti, Oak Park, Bloomfield Hills, West ily to cope with the crises and long-term
hospital food. They have also sent volun-
Bloomfield, Waterford and Bay City with
repercussions of life-threatening or seri-
teers to sleep in Ellen's hospital room so
children who either are in crisis or with
ous chronic illnesses.
that I could go home and know that she
major chronic illnesses. They range in age
"We feel strongly that when a child is
wasn't alone;' Gordon said.
from infancy to upper teens.
affected, his family, schools and syna-
"While the doctors saved Ellen's life,
Locally, Beaumont Hospital in Royal
gogue are affected;' Schwartz said. "It's not
Chai Lifeline saved mine."
Oak, Children's Hospital of Michigan and
a religious organization, but we do focus
Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, and C.S.
on families that are Jewish," she said.
Hospital Outreach
Mott Children's Hospital and University
"We're going to have a Chanukah party,
The Midwest branch, based in Chicago,
Hospital in Ann Arbor are the primary
not a Christmas party, and we're going to

About Chai Lifeline
Chai Lifeline, a nonprofit organization
helping Jewish families, was founded
in 1986 in New York by Rabbi Simcha
Scholar with the idea of "fighting ill-
ness with love."
It began with a summer camp for
children suffering from cancer. The
camp provided resources, staff and
an environment designed to meet the
young cancer patients' special needs.
And it provided their beleaguered
families with a needed respite.
The response indicated a tremen-
dous need for such services all year
round, not only for cancer victims but
for children suffering from all types of
serious illnesses.

Today, Chai Lifeline is an interna-
tional organization with four regional
branches in the United States and
associate branch-
es in Israel and
Europe. All are
dedicated to eas-
ing the burden of
illness on the child and the family.
Services, tailored to each family's
needs, include providing case manage-
ment, medical referrals, psychosocial
support and patient advocacy in the
hospital to finding a "Big Brother" or
"Big Sister" who can form a special
one-on-one relationship.
Holiday parties, family days, sup-
portive weekend retreats and a Disney

World trip for children in the throes of
their illness and treatment are part of
the program.
Camp Simcha,
for youngsters with
cancer and other life-
threatening illnesses,
plus Camp Simcha
Special, for children with serious
chronic and genetic illnesses, annually
serve 400 seriously ill children.
Chai Lifeline provides all services
at no cost to its families and operates
solely on private donations.
As a registered, tax exempt, not-for-
profit organization, it holds the top
four-star rating from Charity Navigator,
which evaluates non-profits on the

provide kosher meals:'
she said. "No family pays
for anything, but there
are definitely families
that give back."

Jewish Connection

Chai Lifeline will help any
family no matter whether
they are secular or reli-
gious, Gordon added. "No
one has ever said to me,
`You must be Orthodox.'"
"Every family has its
own needs:' Schwartz
said. "Chai Lifeline makes
every attempt to fill
them."
With the Gordons,
finding a Big Sister
for Ellen was a prior-
ity "because I only have
cats:' Ellen said. For
another family, Schwartz
said, giving attention
to siblings who may be
inadvertently shunted
aside during the intense time of caring
for a critically ill sister or brother may be
critical.
Arranging tutoring for a child too ill to
attend school but well enough to do school
work is another one of Chai Lifeline's ser-
vices.
Medically staffed summer camps and
trips to Disney World in Orlando and to
Israel are experiences these children could
not otherwise have.
"They have provided a wonderful camp
where Ellen can experience an overnight
camping experience without me worrying
about her physical or emotional needs:'

Chai on page B7

basis of organizational efficiency and
capacity.
Currently, Chai Lifeline Midwest
is seeking people who might be
interested in adopting one of their
Metro Detroit children or families for
Chanukah or in sponsoring a local child
on an upcoming February trip to Israel.
They also need volunteers to donate
time or resources year-round.
For more information, contact
Midwest Regional Director Sharon
Schwartz at (847) 763-1818 or
Midwest@chailifeline.org , or visit the
organization's Web site at
www.chailifeline.org .

- Information provided by Chai Lifeline

January 17 . 2008

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