16 | FEBRUARY 18 • 2021
camp, Special Needs offers
year-round social groups, yoga
classes and Drums Alive fitness
classes. About 20 JARC homes
bring residents of all ages to a
Thursday Night Social Group.
Even during the pandemic,
Zoltowski and her team made
sure their participants stayed
active.
“We’ve tried to support all of
our families. All of the parents
have my cell phone, we have
a Facebook group; I did some
Zoom calls with campers who
were having trouble under-
standing why we couldn’t have
camp last summer,
” she says.
“We even held a socially
distant Sunday Funday in my
backyard last summer, with lots
of different activities. And we
have Break Camp coming up in
March. We try to be a resource
for families as much as we can.
”
New in 2019, Zoltowski part-
nered with Jewish Senior Life,
which provided a furnished
apartment at Meer Apartments
to help young adults practice
independent living skills in
a safe and supervised envi-
ronment. Participants were
able to practice skills ranging
from finding their apartment
to washing clothes, changing
sheets and preparing food.
“It’s a place where we can go
to learn to do things hands-on,
for students of all abilities.
”
In celebration of JDAIM,
the Special Needs Department
hosted a virtual and interactive
Magic Show fundraiser on Feb.
11 — all participants needed
was a deck of cards at home to
participate in some of the magic
tricks. The show was inter-
spersed with videos of families
telling how the department has
benefitted them.
“It was our chance to see our
families, and have them see us,
while showing the community
what we’re all about and high-
lighting what our families and
our staff love about our pro-
gram.
”
OPENING THE DOORS
Also available through the JCC,
Opening the Doors (OTD) has
a mission of providing every
student the chance to receive a
fully inclusive Jewish education
— even during the pandemic.
This year, 1,200 students ages
2½-17 are benefitting from it.
To accomplish this, OTD
provides all 26 Metro Detroit
Jewish preschools, day schools
and congregations with master
special educators, who pro-
vide support to parents, offer
strategies to teachers and lead
workshops.
Additionally, OTD offers
para-educators in early child-
hood classrooms who provide
short-term intervention for
high-risk students. OTD
makes it possible for spe-
cial needs students to be in
schools with other students
and siblings. While students
increase confidence and build
Jewish identity, barriers are
broken down between their
peers, who are then learning
acceptance, diversity and tol-
erance. And all of this is pro-
vided free of charge.
OTD also provides an enor-
mous variety of programming
for families, madrichim leader-
ship for religious school teens,
conferences with speakers,
workshops and professional
development open to the com-
munity. Maiseloff often partners
with community resources such
as JVS, JARC and Friendship
Circle, mental health profes-
sionals and more.
During the pandemic,
Maiseloff and her team are
working more diligently, know-
ing how difficult this time is for
some of the students to under-
stand and cope.
“Since August, at the start of
the school year, Opening the
Doors has been proud to have
the capacity and support to
continue to provide an array
of high quality, diversified
programs and services, in col-
laboration with educational and
health organizations,
” she says.
“
Although our number of
students receiving support
is lower this year, our
professional development
classes have continued. We
provide educators with more
strategies to be more effective in
providing virtual and in-person
learning as well as resources for
understanding and supporting
children with anxiety and/or
mental health concerns and
self-care techniques for them.
Our community-wide disability
and advocacy conferences, book
and movie events have also
continued throughout this year.
”
To celebrate JDAIM,
Opening the Doors is offering
a variety of programs in
February. Programs include
a Madrichim Leadership
Training for teens; an
Enhanced Learning Initiative
for teachers; speakers including
authors and disability
experts and more. For more
information, visit jccdet.org.
This story first appeared in
myjewishdetroit.org.
Young adults practice
independent living skills
in a safe and supervised
environment at Meer
Apartments in West
Bloomfield.
LIZZ CARDWELL
LIZZ CARDWELL
Since the 1960s,
Thursday Night
Social Group
has provided a
wide variety of
opportunities for
social interaction
on and off campus.
continued from page 15
OUR COMMUNITY