OCTOBER 6 • 2022 | 25

her field placement at New 
Oakland Child Adolescent 
Services and the John D. 
Dingell VA Hospital. After 
graduation, Klein worked for 
ALS of Michigan as a patient 
services coordinator and St. 
John Providence-Ascension 
Eastwood Clinics as an outpa-
tient therapist.
“I worked with various 
mental health disorders, pro-
viding therapy and substance 
abuse treatment to patients 
who were on federal pretri-
al, probation or parole,
” she 
explains. 
While working at Eastwood 
Clinics, Klein also took a leave 
of absence to study at Neve 
Yerushalayim in Jerusalem, the 
oldest and largest college for 
Jewish women in the world. 
“There I learned so much and 
grew as an individual and a 
Jew,
” Klein says. “I met a lot of 
great Jewish women from dif-
ferent countries, and I still talk 
to many of them.
”
Following her Israel stud-
ies and time with Eastwood 
Clinics, Klein went on to 
work for the Detroit Police 
Department Victim Assistance 
Program, where she provided 
crisis intervention, one-on-one 
therapy and group therapy to 
victms of domestic violence, 
sexual assault and secondary 
victims of homicide.

RETURNING HOME
However, around that time, 
Oak Park School District was 
hiring a general education 
social worker. The role was set 
to work with at-risk children 
and provide crisis intervention 
to the schools. As an Oak Park 
native, Klein felt compelled to 
apply for the job
Klein received an offer and 
began to do important work. 
“I provided one-on-one sup-
port, facilitated groups, led 
the crisis team, managed 504 

plans, put on school-wide 
initiatives and also sat on the 
Oak Park Youth Assistance 
Board,
” she says.
With a career that positive-
ly impacts many lives, Klein 
truly loves what she does. Like 
any job, it’s both rewarding 
and challenging. “The most 
rewarding part of social work 
is empowering individuals to 
be their best selves, while help-
ing them through challenging 
times,
” she says. “The most 
challenging part of social work 
is that you’re not able to help 
everyone and you don’t always 
know if you’re making a dif-
ference in that person’s life.
”
Outside of work, Klein loves 
spending time with her hus-
band, Aryeh Klein, and twin 
toddlers Meira Chana and 
Shlomo Aharon. “My twins 
were one-pounders born at 25 
weeks,
” she says. “They’re truly 
blessings.
”
Although Klein feels bitter-
sweet about recently resigning 
from her role with the Oak 
Park School District, she’s 
excited to embark on a new 
career path with Jewish Family 
Service, where she was recent-
ly hired as a social worker for 
Hillel of Metro Detroit.
It’s a natural segway from 
one set of roots to another. 
“I’m transitioning into 
a role that is similar to my 
school social work role, but 
this time I’m working with 
college students,
” she says. “My 
job will consist of providing 
Jewish college students one-
on-one support, facilitating 
groups and helping with 
community mental health 
initiatives.
”
Klein believes her new role 
is like “returning home.
”
“Hillel of Metro Detroit is a 
place that helped me start my 
Jewish journey,
” she says, “and 
helped me get to where I’m at 
today.
” 

Photo: Pari Dukovic

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rachelpadphd@gmail.com | 248-325-8068

a recent graduate of the 
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Upon completion of her 
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She is skilled in working with 
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Dr. Rachel Pad,

