Pomegranate Day of Giving for Youth to be Held April 12^th, 2016

 It will be achdus in every sense of the word on Tuesday, April 12^th, as twenty-three organizations from all across the globe will unite in a 24 hour group effort to raise money for troubled teens and the institutions that serve them.  The quadruple-matched, all or nothing, $2 million campaign, designated as the official “Pomegranate Day of Giving for Youth,” will have all of the organizations raising money independently, but simultaneously, promoting their shared mission to help struggling and troubled teens in myriad ways.

While numerous institutions have cropped up over the past few years, the need continues to grow as the number of cases surfacing in the Jewish community escalates at an alarming rate.  A staggering 57 people under the age of 35 in the greater New York area have lost their lives to suicide and/or drug and alcohol abuse since Rosh Hashana, while more than 100 teens and young adults have been arrested for drug and alcohol related crimes during the same time period.

Getting these young lives back on track requires a multi-pronged approach, with different services in multiple areas becoming a vital part of the equation at various points in time on the road to recovery.

“Every one of these many organizations fills a crucial void in assisting the at risk population,” explained Abe Banda of Pomegranate, who is partnering with Rabbi Aryeh Young of Our Place to help organize this historic campaign.

“There is no single agency that can tackle the many issues that are at play in every case and each of these organizations work in tandem towards a single, united goal: saving Jewish lives,” added Rabbi Young.

Several organizations have evolved to deal with the broader picture of crisis intervention, dealing with the many factors that are involved in every case.  AmudimCommunity Resources serves as a primary database of services, employing a wide network of organizations and social services agencies in order to customize a plan of action for those in crisis. Since its inception in 2014, Amudim has fielded hundreds of cases involving abuse, addiction and at risk teens as well as being called in to assist in diplomatic and legal issues.  The Israel-based Yedidim has been providing social services to troubled youth and immigrant children for more than two decades, helping each one to maximize their potential through one on one mentoring, group work and community service.  Founded in August to specialize in the unique needs of the Lakewood community, Regesh and Tekuma have been working diligently to educate and work with at risk youth while at the same time focusing on prevention, with a confidential crisis hotline available to provide support to boys, girls and their parents.

Drop-In centers and summer programs provide crucial services, allowing teens a safe haven and positive social interactions as a regular part of their day to day lives.  In the Northeast, the Chananya Backer Memorial Institute, a division of Lev Shlomo, is a Baltimore-based drop-in center, offering a series of programs designed to help struggling teens lead healthy lives while simultaneously strengthening their connection to their yiddishkeit and the Jewish community as a whole. CBMI emphasizes core values including personal growth, self improvement and healthy interpersonal relationships through a variety of innovative programming options centered around Jewish learning.  The Crown Heights-based drop-in center, Aliya, is dedicated to providing support within the local Chabad community by offering young men physical, spiritual, emotional and vocational support.  Their facility offers numerous services that address the entire individual including in house therapy, a fully equipped gym, meals and healthy social interactions, educational and career opportunities and regular shiurim and minyanim.  Girls Loft by Aliya Girls is a special space for women and girls located in Crown Heights, offering creative outlets, specialized programs, school placement, group therapy and more, empowering and inspiring girls and young women to face their personal challenges. In Flatbush, both Our Place Boys and Our Place Girls employ a multi-faceted approach to guiding troubled teens in their return to the mainstream Jewish community through counseling, rehabilitation, guidance and a wide variety of recreational programs. Our Place’s fresh dinners, trips, state of the art work-out gym, pool hall lounge, music room, on-site therapists and tutors are just some of the attractions to a program that draw a combined total of almost 100 kids to its boys’ and girls’ facilities on an average night. Our Place is servicing over 1000 kids each year. The Center Girls – Mercaz Rochel in Lakewood, which is associated with Regesh and Tekuma, is a night drop-in program for girls offering support, social activities and meals.

Elsewhere in the United States and abroad, The Torah Youth Center in Cleveland provides family counseling, a fully equipped drop in center, mentors and tutors and runs various trips, overnights and extracurricular programs for local youth, teens and young adults.  South Florida’s The Center works with young men aged 17 through 30, offering a healthy environment and constructive tools to aid them in their personal quest to discover their unique purpose in life.  On the West Coast, Aish Tamid of Los Angeles has focused on helping teens and young adults reconnect with the Jewish community, rediscover themselves and become productive members of society by combining a vibrant in-reach program with a therapeutic environment.  Aliya Youth Space is an Australian drop in center located in Melbourne that offers young men an alternative to mainstream Jewish institutions, providing a warm non-judgmental environment that fosters self expression and self esteem while creating lasting positive relationships.

Like drop-in centers, summer camps and similar programs similarly provide unique opportunities designed to cement lifelong bonds. Project Extreme offers a variety of recreational programs including summer camps for both boys and girls as well as weekend retreats, shabbatons and yom tov programs.  By offering encouragement and guidance through a positive environment and having a 1:1 staff to participant ratio, Project Extreme allows for greater focus on personal growth and healthy relationships and also maintains Miryam’s House, a residential shelter for young women. Gav’s Boys, a division of Amudim, offers a small group of campers an incredible high stimulus, cross country opportunity to connect with positive role models and to focus on their own unique situations as they move forward with their lives in a healthy and productive fashion.

Other crucial service providers focus on the actual rehabilitation process and the post-rehab recovery, a vital step on the road to sobriety for troubled teens who struggle with addiction.  One of the largest Jewish organizations for addiction prevention and treatment, the Israel-based Retorno, offers rehabilitation in an Orthodox Jewish environment with daily minyanim and shiurim, glatt kosher food and gender separated programs offering a 12 step program and many forms of holistic therapy.  The Living Room, a division of Our Place, is a 12 step recovery support program in Brooklyn, with a satellite branch in Monsey, for those who come from Orthodox Jewish backgrounds, conducting multiple weekly meetings for young people in recovery. The Living Room also runs many recreational program to foster a sense of community and camaraderie among its members. The Saving Lives Coalition is a community prevention program located in California that educates parents and teens about mental health issues and the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse. Saving Lives has recently joined forces with Evolve Treatment Centers, which provides cutting edge treatment for those suffering from addiction. The SAFE Foundation, based in Brooklyn’s Syrian community, is dedicated to the treatment and prevention of drug, alcohol and gambling addictions and uses holistic healing, addressing every individual’s environment and working with family members to achieve maximum success. The program’s school prevention effort educates approximately 10,000 students in fifth through twelfth grades annually and is recognized internationally for its success with all segments of the Jewish community. As SAFE Director Ike Dwek explains, “Although we are almost exclusively funded by the Syrian community, we take great pride in both the educational prevention work and rehabilitative services we offer to all segments of the Jewish community, Sephardic or Ashkenazic, Modern or Yeshivish, Chassidish or Chabad, it doesn’t matter; we truly are successful in helping everyone!”

The importance of having proper yeshivos and schools to accommodate those who are struggling with various situations cannot be overstated. The Matara Therapeutic Boarding School serves Jewish teenagers ages 12 through 19 who need individualized education as well as a therapeutic environment. Located in Jerusalem, Matara supplies a caring home away from home, without allowing autism, PDD, bipolar or depression to stand in the way of mental health wellness and academic success and provides students with unique opportunities for intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth.  A nightly yeshiva program in Brooklyn, Ohr Yitzchok is under the guidance of Rabbi Aaron Groner and attracts well over 100 boys nightly with hot suppers and shiurim with vibrant rabbeim, each one carefully chosen for his ability to connect with the boys and to mentor them as they grow both in their learning and in their own personal development.  The Baltimore based Yeshivas Lev Shlomo is a unique high school that surrounds students with a positive framework that includes daily davening, learning, GED courses, a game room, outside trips and other positive outlets.  Located in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Bais Menachem Youth Development Program offers an attractive alternative educational model to young Lubavitch men who have failed to thrive in a traditional yeshiva environment, using a small staff to student ratio, individualized attention, a community service program and customized plans to maximize the success of each student to foster greater self confidence and positive growth.  By running successful programs to connect Jewish adults and infuse them with a love of Judaism, BJX provides secular Jews with the necessary tools to incorporate Judaism into their lives while also offering preventive educational programming and positive role models to Orthodox youth and adults. Their successful summer vocational program has helped rehabilitate many students, enabling them to be accepted into more mainstream yeshivos. Rabbi Moshe Fingerer of BJX explains, “Although BJX is obviously known for its tremendous efforts in Jewish outreach to the unaffiliated, BJX is especially proud of its efforts to be mekarev numerous adults from Chassidic and Yeshivish homes that strayed. Their helpline has been a lifeline for community members and their new preventive programs for mainstream Yeshiva children hopes to solve the at-risk crisis before it begins.

 The need for services for troubled youth continues to escalate as this epidemic spreads persistently through every Jewish community worldwide. Efforts by the many organizations that have stepped up to the plate have been hugely successful and have saved countless lives, but massive amounts of funding are required to ensure that these programs can continue to operate. Organizers are counting on the support of the global Jewish community on April 12^th to make this campaign a financial success.

“Each one of us gives our all on a daily basis, but we can’t function without the help of the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Zvi Gluck of Amudim.

“We hope that members of klal yisroel will open their hearts and their wallets to help our at risk youth so that we can all continue on our individual but united missions to save Jewish lives” added Rabbi A.Y. Weinberg of Project Extreme.

To learn more about the Pomegranate Giving Day for Youth or to consider participating, please contact Rabbi Aryeh Young at 516-512-4494 or at [email protected].

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