12 | MAY 20 • 2021
care of their mental health.
• 67% feel they can adequately
recognize the symptoms of
mental illness and signs of cri-
sis in themselves and others.
• 74% report they know tips and
strategies to take care of their
mental health, and 63 percent
of youth report they have the
skills to support their friends
with their mental health.
• 69% of respondents reported
they know where to go for
mental health support, and
54% reported they do not feel
alone in managing their mental
health. Seven out of 10 young
people who have needed men-
tal health support report they
were able to access a social
worker, therapist or another
mental health practitioner.
WHO RESPONDED?
The Federation distributed the
survey to 19,000 members of the
Detroit Jewish community and
received 742 respondents com-
prised of 85 Jewish youth, 202
Jewish parents, 127 professionals
who work with Jewish youth, and
others in the Jewish community.
Most respondents live in the
suburbs of Detroit, where most of
the Michigan Jewish community
is concentrated.
Schnaar acknowledges the
survey had its limitations due to
challenges connecting to more
respondents because of the pan-
demic. She added the Federation
also would have liked more
inclusion.
“We had hoped to garner a
bigger representation from the
Orthodox community as well
as Jews in Detroit who are less
engaged in congregations, Jewish
schools, camps or youth groups,
”
Scnaar said. “Still, the pandemic
created a big impetus to conduct
a survey like this right now. We
know there is an increased need
for awareness, outreach and
education surrounding mental
health, and we wanted to make
sure we were understanding it
so we and our partnering agen-
cies and mental health profes-
sionals had the information so
they could respond adequately.
During and after the pandemic,
we want parents and profession-
als to be able to talk openly with
young people about their mental
health.
”
According to the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control, one in five
American children either pres-
ently or at some point in their
lives will be diagnosed with a
mental health condition.
The Federation began to delve
into youth mental health begin-
ning with a needs assessment
survey in 2016. Since its 2018
launch of We Need to Talk, the
Federation made efforts in reduc-
ing the stigma of mental illness
through education, storytelling
and outreach. It has provided
mental health and suicide alert-
ness training for teachers, youth
group professionals and camp
staff, and provided salary sup-
port for additional school social
workers and a child psychiatrist
through Jewish Family Service of
Metropolitan Detroit.
As of April 2021, more than
5,000 community members have
attended a We Need to Talk event,
and nearly 1,000 community
professionals have been trained
to better support young people’s
mental health needs.
Schnaar said the Federation
also collaborates with other
youth professionals across the
country in the B’nai Brith Youth
Organization as well as the
Atlanta Jewish Mental Health
Foundation to share resources
and findings.
T
he Orthodox Jewish
community came out in
a big way this month,
supporting a bond to facilitate
necessary repairs to Oak Park
school district buildings.
Oak Park school
district voters
overall approved
a $54.4 million,
30-year bond issue,
with 79.6% voting
yes.
The funding
will allow the district to fix
various infrastructure needs
and updates to existing school
buildings — plumbing and
electrical upgrades, replacing
damaged windows, doors, ceil-
ings, floors and roofing, and
more.
Solomon Radner, an
Orthodox Oak Park city coun-
cil member, explained the
support of the bond aligns
with the community’s highest
priorities.
“The reason we supported it
as a community is simply that
education is — if it’s not the
single most important thing we
should jointly and universally
care about, I’m not sure what
is,” Radner said.
“There are children who are
our neighbors, and they need
to be able to learn in a safe
environment and one that’s
conducive to learning,” Radner
added. “We’re talking about
broken windows, wires that
are hanging, HVAC where it’s
cold in the winter and hot in
the summer. These are very
important things that children
need to be able to learn. If they
don’t have these very basic
needs in their schools, they’re
at a disadvantage, and it’s just
unfair to them.”
Radner helped draft a letter
in support of the bond and got
20 other community members
to sign on in support.
“We sent it around and we
wanted to get some people to
sign it who we thought repre-
sented as many people as possi-
ble so that when our neighbors
and friends would see it, there
would be somebody on the list
they could call and ask, ‘Hey,
why should we care about this,’
and then get as much support
as possible,” Radner said.
The bond directly affects
only public schools, which,
by and large, the Orthodox
community in Oak Park does
not attend. Radner believes the
support, regardless of that fact,
represents the values of the
Orthodox community in Oak
Park and the Jewish people in
general.
“I think it says that we rec-
ognize as a greater community,
what’s good for our neighbors
is good for us,” Radner said.
“If our neighbors are getting
opportunities to succeed, that’s
good for the entire communi-
ty.”
Solomon
Radner
The bond will fund infrastructure needs
and updates to existing school buildings.
Orthodox Jewish
Community
Supports Oak
Park Millage
DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER
continued from page 10
OUR COMMUNITY