Health & Fitness
WELLNESS
a
'Community As Family'
Psychologist urges all metro residents
to aid central-city Detroiters.
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December 30 • 2010
Di
S
he may have been preaching
to the choir, but that didn't
make Dr. Sonya Friedman's
vision of "Community as Family" any
less poignant.
Americans seem to have lost the
big picture of helping those beyond
their small circle of family and
friends, the Bloomfield Hills-based
psychologist, author, educator and
journalist said.
Friedman was a featured speaker
at the Dec. 2 annual meeting of
Detroit Central City Community
Mental Health, Inc. The event drew
an audience of nearly 200 to Detroit's
Westin Book Cadillac Hotel.
For 40 years the nonprofit agency,
based in midtown, has provided
ongoing mental health, housing and
substance abuse services to area
residents as well as those being dis-
charged from crisis centers, psychiat-
ric hospitals, prisons and jails or who
reside in adult foster care homes.
The irony, Friedman said, is that
in the case of far-off disasters,
Americans are often the first to give
help. She noted that following the
earthquakes in Haiti, offers of aid
were so numerous they had to be
placed on a waiting list.
"What about when the need is
here?" she asked. "Any waiting lists
in Detroit? We seem to be failing the
very community that we live in. What
kind of an example are we passing
down to the next generation?"
Friedman described the blue box
in the house in which she grew up
where coins "only for charity" were
deposited. "Your ethical legacy is to
give your children a sense of charity:'
she said.
Making A Difference
"Cash is fine she says. "But there are
also other ways to make a personal
contribution to your community —
to Detroit. Volunteerism is a grass-
roots action.
"I have been working since I was
14 years old. Making money is easy
— making a difference takes a lot
more work. And maybe that's why
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22
Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News
"Detroit's
problems
belong to
each of us."
- Dr. Sonya Friedman
there are so few people to do it."
The December holidays, Friedman
reminded, can be marked by depres-
sion. "There's a very sure way to get
people out of bed; they need to get
up and do something for others. Go
to a soup kitchen. Detroit's problems
belong to each of us.
"We can make life
better for ourselves
by making life better
for others:'
"You have a
woman in your
midst who should
be one of the 'CNN
Heroes," said
Irva Faber-
Friedman who used
Bermudez
to host the award-
winning CNN program, "Sonya Live."
She was referring to Irva Faber-
Bermudez, president and chief exec-
utive officer (CEO) of Detroit Central
City, who was featured in a past issue
of the Detroit Jewish News.
For instance, Friedman noted, the
national rate of recidivism for those
serving jail time is 47 percent. For
former prisoners in the DCC pro-
gram, just 7 percent are locked up
again.
"You cannot imagine what she is
saving the city of Detroit in terms of
costs:' Friedman said. "Irva is amaz-
ing. She's right in the trenches."
"Today is the first day of
Chanukah," Friedman told the group,
giving a synopsis of the holiday's
story.
"I'm hoping that each of us can
light a candle in this room today,
carrying the flame to make Detroit
more livable and to inspire our chil-
dren and grandchildren."