FEBRUARY 3 • 2022 | 15

J

ewish women across Metro 
Detroit have been using 
Facebook groups to share 
advice and local resources for years 
now. They’ve found camaraderie 
and much, much more in the online 
groups, which have increasingly 
become a powerful community hub. 
In a world made otherwise smaller by 
the pandemic’s restrictions on gath-
ering over the past few years, these 
groups have continued to thrive, with 
the constant hum of participation from 
women posting questions and getting 
answers as they navigate all aspects 
of their daily lives. 
The women-only spaces mean 
there are plenty of people to relate 
to who are going through similar 
things, says Lindsay Cox, one of the 
administrators for Jewish Moms Of 
Metro Detroit, a private Facebook 
group with 2,900 members.
“It’s a place to bond with other 
Jewish moms, a place to connect,” 
Cox says of the moms group started 
in early 2017 by Farmington Hills 
resident Lindsay Mall. 
Cox, a Farmington Hills-based mom 
of two, says she’s made friends from 
the group and loves that everyone’s 
nearby. “They’re here, they’re within 
20 minutes driving if 
you need something,” 
she says. 
It’s also been a 
very helpful place to 
get advice on area 
doctors, play spaces, 
schools, babysitters 
and more. 
“I’m in other groups 
where there are 
people from all over 
the world, but this is 
even better because 
there are resources 
here you can use,” 

she says. “And people’s 
businesses have grown 
from it so much.”
So, too, it’s been 
a space for women 
seeking special 
education-focused 
resources for their 
kids, navigating difficult 
marriages or running 
short on furniture or 
funds. The community 
is there for them, she 
says.
Especially during 
the pandemic, as 
moms juggle COVID 
concerns, work and 
childcare, it’s been 
a safe space to vent 
and seek support, Cox 
explains. “It’s really 
helped people feel like 
they have a place to 
go and talk about similar 
issues.”
Lauren Cohen, who runs Free 
Exchange for Jewish Women of Metro 
Detroit, a private Facebook group 
with 3,300 members, doesn’t like 
throwing things away. Her passion for 
being environmentally conscious and 
her desire to help make 
the community stronger 
led the Lathrup Village-
based mom to start, in 
2018, the group, which 
now sees 50-160 posts 
a day. 
“The mitzvah of helping 
each other has spread 
like wildfire, and I think 
people feel really good 
about it,” she says. “I 
think people just feel so 
good to give to other 
people in the community.” 
Some three-plus years 

later, the group, which is open to all 
Jewish women, is thriving. Her admin 
team — which includes three other 
area women — has never met all 
together in person, but they work in 
tandem to oversee people’s offers 
of items and referrals, their asks and 
their messages of gratitude. “This is a 
passion that we do,” Cohen says. “It’s 
a labor of love.”
Cohen’s search for baby gates 
sparked a close friendship. “She had 
a whole bunch for me,” Cohen recalls. 
“I came over, and we connected.” 
The group has turned up friends 
she sees regularly and friends she 
talks to only on Facebook, including 
some who pass down items for her 
3-year-old daughter. “I think really 
great connections have been found 
and made through the group, which 
was one of our goals,” she explains.

Women’s Groups Online

KAREN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Cox family: Lindsay, Nathan, Sydney and Jason. 

BY KATIE ANTON PHOTOGRAPHY 2019

Lauren Cohen and her daughter 
Kinneret
continued on page 17

