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“It was Hope — being
Hope — who gave me
the motivation and the
go-ahead to start
PublicCity PR.”
the Birmingham/Bloomfield Arts
Center, Community Care Services,
Michigan Women’s Foundation,
Shades of Pink Foundation,
Scleroderma Foundation Michigan
Chapter and the area Agency for
Aging 1-B.
Another aspect of giving — and
something we routinely practice — is
volunteering our time and resources.
Besides my day-to-day job, I’m the
board president of the Crohn’s and
Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA)
Michigan Chapter and spend a lot of
time fundraising and cultivating rela-
tionships.
Lea Luger, director of Yad Ezra,
knows where to find me when they
need us to help with publicity and the
media component of an event. I am
a member of Federation’s Marketing
Committee and work with NEXTGen
Detroit and JVS on the NEXTWork
Planning Committee.
Hope: We’re not the family who
is going to write that four-, five- or
six-figure check. Perhaps someday,
but what we do have for now is a very
particular skill set where we can help
people by lending our skills and con-
nections and giving their organiza-
tions or charitable causes the attention
they need and deserve. Our time and
manpower are things we like to give.
Jason: I’m one to never say no. We
have a young family to raise and a
young business to run, but I believe in
my heart that you make time for what
you want to make time for. We never
tell anyone we’re too busy to help. It
might take us a few days — but we
always try to help when we can. I
think that is a part of our DNA.
“One of the great
benefits of being a
working couple in a
business that we own is
that we can call the shots.”
20 September 1 • 2016
ON GREATEST CHALLENGES
AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Q: As a working couple in business
together, what are some of your great-
est challenges?
Hope: Actually, there are more
advantages than challenges for us.
One of the great benefits of being a
working couple in a business that we
own is we can call the shots. We share
the same demands of careers and
children. Because we work together
toward the same goals, we don’t get
locked into battle with each other
about whose job is more important or
who’s going to miss what meeting to
attend a school play.
Jason: I also think our ability to
work together, respect each other’s
strengths and compromise on an
ongoing basis is an amazing lesson for
our children to see.
Q: What makes you proudest?
Jason: Personally? Having a fam-
ily and the opportunity to raise my
daughters in this community. That’s
been a blessing.
Professionally, two things make me
proud: First, taking that leap of faith
in October 2008 to start the business
and cultivating it to the point now
that people know us and call us. And
second, living our own lives. We’ve
paid our dues, and now we’re starting
to write our own rules. That feels like
a big accomplishment.
*
Vivian Henoch is editor of myjewishdetroit.org,
where a longer version of this story first appeared.
Rabbi Aaron Starr and Hazzan David Propis last year at the Berman Center for
Jewish Education Yad Ezra fundraising event, eRACE Hunger
Teen Mental Health
Shaarey Zedek to host walk/run
for JFS’ Compass for Teens.
Karen Couf-Cohen | Special to the Jewish News
T
he Berman Center for Jewish
Education at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek is working to
combat the stigma of mental illness by
hosting “eRACE Mental Illness and the
Silence,” on Sunday, Sept. 11. The 5K
family run/walk at the Southfield syna-
gogue will benefit Compass for Teens, a
new teen mental health program offered
by Jewish Family Service (JFS).
Participants will run/walk indi-
vidually and as part of teams and, like
last year, will be certified by A2 Race
Management. Registrations and dona-
tions will be handled online at www.
shaareyzedek.org. Last year, the Berman
Center hosted eRace Hunger, raising
more than $10,000 on behalf of Yad Ezra.
“As part of our mission of utilizing
the community to change the world, we
will donate proceeds from the second
annual eRACE fundraising event to sup-
port the anti-stigma campaign for the
JFS Compass for Teens mental health
program,” said Wren Beaulieu Hack,
Berman Center director. This year’s
fundraising goal is $20,000.
According to the National Institute
of Mental Health and the Centers for
Disease Control, one in five teenagers
ages 13-18 suffers from mental illness,
and one in 12 high school teens has
attempted suicide in the past year. While
Jewish families in the throes of a teen
mental health crisis may quietly seek
help wherever they can get it, there has
not been a one-stop shop to provide
guidance on the full spectrum of ser-
vices available in and outside the Detroit
Jewish community. Compass for Teens
hopes to change that.
“Jewish Family Service has always
been in the space of helping people with
whatever hurts them,” said Perry Ohren,
JFS CEO. “What’s new is that now JFS is
putting a stake in the ground to let the
community know we are here; we under-
stand teen mental health issues, and we
can help parents navigate their options.”
Erica Saum, JFS senior director of
family life and wellness, said, “If it makes
sense for JFS to service a client, we will;
but if we aren’t the right fit, we will
navigate them to other options, such as
Kadima, Common Ground, private set-
tings or other facilities.”
To lay the financial foundation for
the teen mental health program, JFS
approached the Jewish Fund (created
in 1997 from the proceeds of the sale of
Sinai Hospital to DMC) and pitched the
program. JFS received a two-year grant
to provide mental health tools and sup-
port to teens and their families with the
goal of suicide prevention.
JFS will devote resources to building
an anti-stigma campaign for the local
Jewish community. Mental Health First
Aid workshops will be offered to area
communal agencies and synagogues
to reduce prejudice and discrimination
associated with mental health and sub-
stance use.
JFS will use evidence-based pro-
grams, such as ASIST (Applied Suicide
Intervention Skills Training) and safe-
TALK, that educate those in contact
with teens to identify someone at risk
and link them to lifesaving services.
Recruitment efforts will be made to
develop a teen advisory committee.
Rabbi Yoni Dahlen, Shaarey Zedek’s
new rabbi, has offered personal perspec-
tives on mental illness from the bimah.
“We know there’s nothing we can
say that will stop mental illness, but
by focusing on doing ‘eRACE Mental
Illness and the Silence,’ we hope to erase
the stigma and taboo,” he said. “We are
proud we are not upholding the status
quo of sweeping mental illness under
the rug.”
*
The 5K family run/walk begins at 11 a.m. Sunday,
Sept. 11, at Shaarey Zedek, 27375 Bell Road,
Southfield. Register or donate at bit.ly/2btlGBY.