jews d in the ‘We Need To Talk’ Federation launches its youth mental health initiative. JACKIE HEADAPOHL MANAGING EDITOR T mental health coordinator. he Jewish Federation of Metro Donors who have contributed to Detroit is formally launching its youth mental health initiative “We the youth mental health initiative, to date, include The Jewish Fund, the Need To Talk” this month. Its website, D. Dan and Betty Kahn Foundation, the cornerstone of the initiative, is avail- Jewish Federation, the Deutsch Fund, able at www.jewishdetroit.org/weneed- the Hermelin-Davidson Center for totalk and will provide resources for Congregational Excellence, Norm and both teens and parents, articles, crisis Susie Pappas, and Howard and Jean information and videos featuring teens Dubin. telling their stories and mental health In January, the JN began publishing a professionals providing advice. series of stories on teen mental health “We need to have a community-wide that will continue throughout the year. conversation about youth mental ill- (Read related stories on pages 12 and 26 ness, and that’s what the ‘We Need to Talk’ campaign is aimed at starting,” said in this issue.) Todd Krieger, Federation’s senior direc- A NEED FOR A COMMUNITY APPROACH tor of planning and agency relations. “Perhaps the ultimate irony is that those The catalyst for Federation’s teen mental suffering from mental illness feel as health efforts was the community study though they are all alone. The reality is done in 2016 by the Jewish Fund, which that nearly everyone is working through revealed that teenagers in the Jewish a mental health challenge. community were struggling By bringing the discussion with mental health challeng- about mental illness out es such as sadness, depres- of the dark and into the sion and anxiety at very high light, we can destigmatize levels. mental health the topic, make it normal “We read the survey, to discuss and help more and it was like our youth people become comfort- were screaming for help,” able asking for help.” Federation CEO Scott In addition to the Kaufman said. “Whether it website, Federation and was anxiety around academ- its partner agencies and ics or stress or social media consultants throughout issues, it was a problem the community are training 850 Jewish beyond what anyone may have guessed.” professionals on Safe Talk suicide pre- Kaufman said he is grateful the com- vention; helping to develop a curriculum munity has come together to address on teen mental health for b’nai mitzvah these problems. “This is a collective students; and have hired Julie Fisher, an effort and it’s aimed at bringing all of us educational consultant, to develop cus- together to maximize impact, efficien- tomized mental health programming for cies and effectiveness. Almost everything Jewish day schools. Federation also has that we’re doing has been collaborative hired Amy Wayne, MPH, who will work and user-centric.” on the initiative as Federation’s youth According to Eric Adelman, executive teen 22 May 24 • 2018 jn n tlight o spo director of Kadima, a mental health ser- vice provider, “Most teens’ mental health challenges are mild to moderate and can be helped with education and awareness and by helping them build resiliency to work through anxiety and depression. Unequivocally, however, some teens are going to have an acute crisis or a chronic crisis that, God forbid, could lead to sui- cide, if there is no intervention.” The Jewish community is sensitive to the topic of suicide and knows some- thing must be done, according to Perry Ohren, CEO of Jewish Family Service. “For Federation to come in and convene all of us to work collectively and use its access to resources to solve the big, broad issues and prevent the real trage- dy or crisis from ever occurring has been very important.” SPEAKING TO EVERYONE On the “We Need To Talk” website, many of the young people sharing their stories on video come from UMatter, a Friendship Circle program led by Rabbi Yarden Blumstein that focuses on empowering teens to shatter the stigmas surrounding mental health. The “We Need to Talk” site is launch- ing with seven videos and more will be added regularly, Krieger said. The pilot video for “We Need To Talk” featuring teens from UMatter has garnered more than 50,000 views on YouTube. “We’re trying to provide information tailored toward young people and par- ents and give them the resources they need in a format they’re comfortable with,” Krieger said. “For example, some people might want to go to larger community pro- grams while others might prefer to meet at someone’s home for a short parlor meeting to hear an expert talk about parenting issues. The website is only one piece of our effort to get information out to the community.” These parlor meetings, lasting up to 90 minutes or so, are being calling “FRED” (Focus on Resources, Education and Dialogue) Talks. Community mem- bers can request a FRED Talk in their home to which they would invite about 10 of their friends. Federation brings in an expert to address a parenting or mental health issue and provides criti- cal information for attendees. “Whether it’s managing your child’s stress, setting appropriate expectations or learning to identify a child who may need help, we’ll bring the expert and the food and pro- vide great information in a short period of time,” Krieger said. The first FRED Talk about 21st- century parenting with Julie Fisher was held last month in Huntington Woods, Krieger said. A second FRED Talk fea- turing Erica Saum from Jewish Family Service, who spoke on suicide preven- tion and awareness, was held May 16 in West Bloomfield. “Mental health issues don’t differ- entiate whether you’re tall or short or Orthodox or Reform. People from all spectrums of the community are strug- gling with some sort of mental health issue,” Kaufman said. “People going through this feel completely alone, but the reality is that everyone else is strug- gling with it, too. Whether you know it or not, you’re really part of a larger group and there should be comfort in that.” • Visit We Need To Talk at www.jewishdetroit.org/ weneedtotalk. To request a FRED Talk, contact Amy Wayne, MPH, at awayne@jfmd.org or (248) 203-1483.