18 | NOVEMBER 24 • 2022 

T

here’s nothing like feeling the 
support of a loving community 
during a significant period in one’s 
life. Rivkah Kahlani of West Bloomfield 
experienced this firsthand in March when 
her second child, Leah Devorah, was born.
“I have terrible pregnancies. I have 
perinatal depression and feel this hazy 
cloud over me the entire time,” Kahlani 
said. 
A few days after her daughter’s birth, a 
woman she’d never met was at her door, 

holding out a small black bag.
“I’m an ambassador for Bikur Cholim’s 
new Maternal Wellness Initiative (MWI),” 
the woman said. “Here’s a gift for you and 
here’s my number. Please call me if you 
have any questions or need any help. I’ll 
call you to check in in about a week.”
Kahlani said, “It felt like an olive branch, 
just knowing that someone was specifically 
there for me. Obviously, it couldn’t cure 
my clinical depression, but knowing that 
someone had my back was a very special 
feeling. I’m so amazed that something like 
this exists.”
The MWI started in January 2022 and 
was the brainchild of Silka Rothenberg, a 
psychologist and mom of two from Oak 
Park. In 2019, only one year after she’d 
moved to Detroit with her family, she gave 
birth to her daughter. 
“The Detroit community is so wonderful 
and welcoming, and it’s growing 
tremendously,” Rothenberg said. “People 
reached out and offered me help after my 
baby’s birth, but it made me think of the 
many newcomers who don’t have family 
or a support system. I realized it would be 
beneficial to have an inbuilt program for all 
new moms.”
She reached out to suggest such a 
program to Naomi Apt, director of 
development for Bikur Cholim of Detroit, 
a local organization that assists families 
experiencing medical issues.
Incredibly, Bikur Cholim had just 
received an anonymous donation 
specifically earmarked to help new 
mothers. The time was ripe. Rothenberg 
approached Leslie Ungar of Southfield, 
who eagerly agreed to be involved in this 
groundbreaking program in Detroit. 

DEVELOPING THE PROGRAM
The three looked at other communities 
with such a program for inspiration. They 
also received a financial grant from Jewish 
Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan 
Detroit, which helped fund the launch of 
the program. 
In November 2021, they sent call outs 
to the community asking for women to 
volunteer. Many women of a variety of 

OUR COMMUNITY

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER 

Rivkah 
Kahlani and 
her daughter

Bikur Cholim’s new Maternal Wellness 
 Initiative supports new moms.

Women 
 Helping 
Women

