BOULDER Matters VOLUME 23, NO. 1 • WINTER 2013
STORY of Hope
Helping Janine Through a Dark Time
In January 2012, Janine Starr, a local b’nai mitzvah coach, was at a low place in her life. Her mother had passed away two months earlier, she was experiencing some mental health challenges, and she was going through some big transitions. She sought help from Reb Zalman, who suggested she contact Boulder JFS. “I had one meeting with Cathy Summer. She provided a resource that saved my life,” says Janine. “The resource she provided, which is actually Buddhist in origin, was the perfect thing for me and turned my life around.” Janine had also heard that JFS conducted a grief support group that she thought could help her deal with her mother’s passing. When a group formed that spring, Janine attended and brought a friend who had also recently lost her mother. Janine says, “That spring group was only four weeks. We both got a lot out of it and signed up for the next eight-week group in the fall.” By the end of the eight-week group, Cathy observed that Janine was giggling and seemed like such a different person than when she met her at the beginning of 2012. “The facilitators created a space that was open to whatever we needed. Any and all emotions were welcome,” Janine says of the group. They ended each session with a Jewish song, and since Janine is a trained cantor, they asked her to lead these songs, which she said was especially meaningful to her. One of her favorite times was the evening that each participant brought photos and memorabilia of their loved ones.
During the fall group, Janine sold her house and was moving to an apartment, but learned that she could stay there for only two months and would have to move again. When she mentioned this in her grief group, another Janine Starr member of the group invited her to stay in her guest room until she found another place! Janine says, “I took her up on this generous offer and was touched by how close our group had become in such a short time.” Things are looking up for Janine and she feels like a different person than she was a year ago. She is moving into a permanent place and her 24-year-old daughter is getting married early next year. Her mother’s legacy will Boulder JFS, a program live on through the family in many small ways, including at the upcoming of Jewish Family Service of Colorado (JFS), provides wedding when her daughter plans to Boulder-area Jewish seniors, wear the headpiece from her grandtheir families, and individuals mother’s wedding veil. in crisis with services to “I am so grateful that JFS was there enhance their quality of life and to support me through some difficult connect them to Jewish values, traditions, and community. times and I recommend that other JFS believes in strengthening people—not just seniors, but anyone the community by providing dealing with a loss or other family vital services to people in need. challenge— think about utilizing this Founded in 1872, JFS is a community service,” says Janine. nonsectarian, nonprofit human services agency serving metro Denver and Boulder.
For more information on the next grief group, which is forming this spring, please contact Cathy Summer at 303.415.1025 or csummer@jewishfamilyservice.org.