Summer 2014 Boulder Matters

BOULDER Matters Volume 24, No. 2 • SUMMER 2014

Boulder JFS Welcomes New Staff Members!

The Boulder JFS staff recently doubled in size. Please help us welcome Emily Andrews, development associate, and Jodi Ansell, care manager, to our team.

Emily Andrews joined Boulder JFS in April.

As part-time development associate, she is responsible for planning our fundraiser, Reel Hope Boulder; getting to know the community; cultivating donors; and working with our staff to educate the community to support the growth of the Boulder program. Emily has a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management and brings more than 15 years of nonprofit experience in development, strategic planning, and program development. She and her husband, Brian Ross, have two children, Ruby (8) and Grayson (4), and have lived in Boulder since 2000. Emily says, “There has been only limited formal fundraising in Boulder for Jewish Family Service, so I am excited for the opportunity to build on current relationships and form new ones with potential donors. I also look forward to creating a vision for the future of Boulder JFS.” Jodi Ansell has been on the Boulder JFS Advisory Committee since October 2012 and was recently hired as a part-time care manager.

She will provide services to seniors, people

with chronic illness, and their caregivers. Jodi will offer support and assistance to individuals and families. Her extensive experience and knowledge will be invaluable in providing information and referrals to helpful community resources. A Colorado native, Jodi has been a social worker in Denver and Boulder for 25 years.

For the past seven years, she worked for the City of Boulder as a senior resource specialist and was a resident service coordinator at senior housing sites for Boulder County for 12 years prior to that.

Jodi and her husband, Larry, have two college-aged children, Amanda and Jonathan. “I’m thrilled to be serving the Boulder community and joining the JFS team,” says Jodi.

“Since I have served on the advisory committee, I have a sense of how this new position came about and the direction Boulder JFS is going.

Even though I’m just starting my job here, I feel like I have a bit of a head start!”

Boulder JFS, a program of Jewish Family Service of Colorado (JFS), provides Boulder-area Jewish seniors, their families, adults with disabilities, and individuals in crisis with services to enhance their quality of life and connect them to Jewish values, traditions, and community. JFS believes in strengthening the community by providing vital services to people in need. Founded in 1872, JFS is a nonsectarian, nonprofit human services agency serving metro Denver and Boulder.

Emily Andrews

Jodi Ansell

Boulder Matters is published quarterly

by Jewish Family Service of Colorado, 3201 S. Tamarac Dr., Denver CO 80231 www.jewishfamilyservice.org

PROGRAM Spotlight

L’Dor V’Dor

Inspired by the idea of getting University of Colorado

(CU) Hillel students to be of service to JFS clients, the L’Dor V’Dor (from generation to generation) program was born more than 15 years ago. Hillel students provide Shabbat dinners twice a month to Boulder JFS community members. The program is completely student-run; they buy the groceries, cook the food, pack it, and deliver it to people’s homes.

This past school year, Hillel students prepared and delivered more than 120 Shabbat meals to seniors and people with disabilities! Thank you to all the CU Hillel students who helped make this program a reality.

Gabby Hawkins, a junior and Hillel board member who has been part of the program since January, says, “I love seeing the smiles on the Hillel student Gabby seniors’ faces when we get there. It is Hawkins delivers a meal. an amazing experience!” She adds, “I enjoy interacting with the clients and hopefully making their Shabbat better with a meal and a smile.” Not only do the students deliver the meals, but they stay and chat a bit before they leave, which the seniors really appreciate.

“The meals are wonderful and the students who deliver them are adorable. It’s a marvelous thing that JFS and the students are doing,” says Charlotte Shatz, a senior who receives meals.

Save the Date and Join the

Rachel Fenn visits Charlotte Shatz after delivering her meal.

Boulder JFS is now on Facebook!

“Like” us and stay connected at www.facebook.com/BoulderJFS.

2 BOULDER MAT TERS SUMMER 2014

Committee for Reel Hope Boulder

Plans are in the works for our second annual fundraiser, Reel Hope Boulder, scheduled for Sunday, October 26, at the Dairy Center for the Arts. This will be an exciting evening with Rob Simonsen, a film composer known for his work on The Way Way Back, Life of Pi, Little Miss Sunshine, and more. We are building the event committee whose task will be to help us ensure a fabulous, financially successful event! If you are interested, please contact Emily Andrews, Boulder JFS development associate, at 303.415.1025 or eandrews@jewishfamilyservice.org for more information. Stay tuned for more event details.

VOLUNTEER Spotlight We are celebrating a dedicated volunteer who recently moved to Berlin to lead Jewish and educational tours. We are sad to lose such a wonderful volunteer, but wish her the best on her adventure! We are currently looking for more para-chaplains to lead services and visit seniors in their homes and in hospitals.

In July 2012, a stranger’s careless act

sent Ari Campbell-Kloke’s life in an unexpected direction: Her apartment home was destroyed after someone dropped a cigarette in an adjacent bush. She lived near Jewish Family Service in Denver. As a DU social work graduate, she knew about the agency, and her teenage son had recently volunteered there. Ari came to JFS for help and received financial assistance, food, and counseling support while she rebuilt her life.

“I wanted to find a way to give back to the agency and pay it forward,” says Ari. Around the same time, Ari began exploring the possibility of ALEPH’s rabbinic pastoral program as a means of combining social work with older adults and Jewish spirituality. She met Patrice Spitz, rabbinic pastor and a Boulder JFS volunteer para-chaplain.

Patrice led bimonthly Shabbat services at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community in rotation with David Bernstein, MSW. Upon becoming ordained, Rabbi Patrice was looking for someone to take over these services. Ari attended the JFS para-chaplain training in Denver last spring and began leading monthly services at Frasier Meadows in May 2013.

Ari moved to Fort Collins, but continued to make the three-hour round-trip drive to Boulder each month. “I began to get to know the group that comes to services and wanted to keep my commitment. A bit of extra driving is nothing!” she says. “I value the opportunity to create sacred space and build community with the residents in a way that everyone feels safe, included, and interconnected as we honor the Sabbath.” She also loves hearing stories from the residents’ rich

Ari Campbell-Kloke

lives, ranging from Jewish topics to their careers and families. She adds, “I strive to approach Torah study by initiating discussions that are relevant to the residents, their lives, and their needs.”

Ari shares that she was hesitant about becoming a para-chaplain and leading Ari Campbell-Kloke services. “I wondered if what I had to offer would be enough. I usually can’t sing to save my life, but when I sit in the circle together with the residents and we begin our Sabbath prayers, something beautiful is channeled through me which allows me to provide direction and guidance in a deeply heartfelt way.” Ari adds, “My approach isn’t that I am ‘leading,’ but rather providing a loving framework while creating Jewish community together. The residents are so generous, open, and forgiving that I have grown immensely while working together with them as a para-chaplain.”

If you are considering becoming trained as a volunteer para-chaplain, Ari urges you to “go do it and you will grow!” The next para-chaplain training begins August 28 in Denver. Contact Beth Lippa at 720.248.4599 or blippa@jewishfamilyservice.org for details.

Ari with residents of Frasier Meadows on Shabbat

BOULDER MATTERS SUMMER 2014 3

NON PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID

Jewish Family Service of Colorado

DENVER, COLORADO PERMIT NO. 1217

Jewish Family Service of Colorado 3800 Kalmia Avenue Boulder, CO 80301 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED tel: 303.415.1025 www.jewishfamilyservice.org /boulder Beneficiary Agency of JEWISHcolorado and Mile High United Way

Boulder JFS Provides $275,000 to Flood Victims Since last fall, Boulder JFS has distributed approximately

$275,000 in flood relief grants to local individuals and families.

The funds came primarily from JEWISHcolorado, Rose Community Foundation, and individual donations. Thank you to everyone for your incredible efforts and generosity in supporting flood victims!

We recently completed the distribution of 16 grants, ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 per family, to people who experienced catastrophic flood-related losses. These grants were made possible through the JEWISHcolorado Flood Fund and Jewish Federations of North America. The grant process included an application, establishment of criteria, interviews, document verification, assessment, and notification. These larger grants were in addition to $35,000 previously disbursed to 55 families in the amount of $100 to $1,000 each.

Boulder JFS flood-relief efforts are winding down, but tremendous unmet needs abound. If you are still in need of flood assistance, contact the Long-Term Flood Recovery Group (LTFRG) of Boulder County at 303.442.2178 or www.bocofloodrecovery.org. LTFRG is still looking for volunteers to provide flood-related labor and for volunteer case managers.

Boulder JFS is still available to provide information, referrals, and support; call 303.415.1025.

Get Help. Volunteer. Donate.

Get Involved!

There are many ways to connect with Boulder JFS! If you are a senior who needs care management, help in your home, counseling, grief support, emergency financial assistance, or companionship, we can help! If you have some extra time to volunteer, we have several meaningful ways for you to make a difference in the lives of seniors or adults with disabilities. Your generous monetary donations will help us continue our important work in the community. Please use the enclosed envelope or donate online at www.jewishfamilyservice.org/ donate.

Visit www.jewishfamilyservice.org/ boulder or call our office at 303.415.1025 to learn more and get involved today!