22 | NOVEMBER 28 • 2019 Jews in the D Father and son fi nd hope and purpose through Friendship House. Meet Josh & Joey TWENTY-FIVE YEARS Father and son, Joey and Josh Roberts, were introduced to the Daniel B. Sobel Friendship House when Joey’s wife began a battle with cancer in 2008. “Josh was in law school when my wife got sick,” Joey said. “He started self-medicating to help deal with her nine-year battle with cancer. Self-medicat- ing turned into a drug addic- tion.” The Roberts family became regulars at Friendship House over the next few years. Joey and his wife attended Al-Anon meetings, and Josh attended recovery meetings and Jewish support groups there. “Friendship House was such a blessing,” Joey said. “Many years Josh was in and out of recovery and rehabilitation centers. Because of Friendship House, he was able to fi nish law school.” Three years ago, Josh’s mother died, and he sank to his lowest point. He moved to a nine-month Jewish recovery program in California that changed his life. Coming home to his support system at Friendship House, he was able to continue to integrate his Judaism and his recovery. “It wasn’t until my mom passed away that I fi nally got it together,” Josh said. “Through everything, I’ve been involved with Friendship House. I went to Shabbat dinners, Thursday recovery meetings and retreats. They’ve become a family.” Josh is celebrating three years of recovery in February. He now leads the Thursday night recovery meeting that started his journey. Since his wife’s passing, Joey is a regular volunteer at Friendship House, cooking weekly Shabbat meals and taking his therapy dog on his visits to hospice patients and the homebound. “I see my wife smiling through Josh’s face every day. He stands tall and is proud of himself,” Joey said. “Through the negative of addiction, we found Friendship House. And through my wife’s death, Josh found recovery.” Get involved, go to friendshipcircle.org/ foreverfriendship Adopt a Family for the Holidays The holidays are a wonderful time of year and most of us look forward to them with great anticipation. But the same can’ t be said for families struggling to make ends meet or older adults living far from loved ones or community members facing a mental health crisis, according to Jewish Family Service. But you can make a differ- ence by participating in JFS’ Adopt a Family program. You can give people in need not only a gift to unwrap, but the knowledge that someone is thinking about them during this time of year. Shop for an individual or family, purchase gift cards or make a general donation to the program. Forms to sign up are available on jfsdetroit.org. Drop-off week is Dec. 9-13 at the JFS office in West Bloomfield. JFS is partnering with Toyology. Mention JFS when shopping at any of Toyology’ s four locations until Dec. 8 and they’ ll donate 20 percent of purchases made to support the Adopt a Family program. Questions? Contact Lindsay Leder at (248) 592-2309 or lleder@jfsdetroit.org. Ultimate Indoor Recess The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, in partnership with JFamily, is planning the “Ultimate Indoor Recess,” an afternoon of family fun from 12:30-3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8, at On the Dunes, 2055 Haggerty Road, in Commerce Township. Fowling, golf and putt- putt simulators, axe throw- ing (for adults), Star Trax, unlimited arcade games and a dodge ball tournament are just some of the fun things in store for this awesome family afternoon for kids of all ages. Cost is $45 per family. An $18 donation to Federation per family is required to attend this event. No addi- tional gift is required for cur- rent donors. Questions? Contact Karen Kaplan at kaplan@jfmd.org or (248) 203-1453. MI MARKETING SERVICES Detroit Dog Rescue Gets a Lotta Love Success: 96.3 WDVD-FM’ s Blaine Fowler Morning Show conducted its second suc- cessful annual radiothon for Detroit Dog Rescue and raised more than $60,000 once again for Detroit’ s only no-kill dog foster and adoption shelter founded by Jewish community member Kristina Rinaldi.