Neve Shalom News
The Days of Awe were held at the new JCC and I believe they were spectacular this last year. This year will be our second year in the new, updated facility.
We have launched a new program called JAMI STL Jewish Attention to Mental Illness St. Louis. Its purpose is to keep mental health and illness central to the agenda of our community. We created a series of "nexts" -- our first accomplishments, including a spiritual support group for families living with mental illness that convened for the first time on Tuesday, November 17, at the JCC Staenberg complex. We continued with our community forums called "Falling Through the Cracks." The support has been good.
We continue with another new program we are sponsoring The Jewish Prison Outreach (JPO). We have contacted every prison in the state of Missouri and southern Illinois and are compiling a data base of Jewish prisoners. We are now meeting on sites for study groups. We have already created and distributed our own materials to the prisoners on our list.
Shalvah, outreach on alcoholism and chemical dependency, continues to thrive. It is pikuach nefesh, saving souls, in every sense.
Update on New Programs:
We are almost one year into new programs as I am writing this. The JAMI STL Jewish Attention to Mental Illness is coming along nicely. We are meeting once a month in a spiritual support group for family members (at the Jewish Federation Bldg.), and once a month for consumers (Achraiyut at Neve Shalom). We continue to convene the forum "Falling Through The Cracks" where we evaluate our activities and plan new ones. We now have a steering committee of dedicated souls. We staged a half day seminar coming on May 23 at the Jewish Federation on the subject of New Directions in Mental Health and Illness and Removing the Stigma, and another on October, 2010. We did a third for May, 2011, that featured a certain number of Wisdom Guides based on the Book of Ruth. The next session is Challenges: Suicide on October 23, 1 PM, at the Jewish Federation Bldg.
The Jewish Prison Outreach is also progressing. I have been cleared as a volunteer chaplain for the state of Missouri and have begun making a series of visits to institutions where I teach individuals interested in Jewish learning. We have contacted every institution in Missouri and southern Illinois and are compiling a list of interested persons in the prison system. I have been sending them materials for the past three years, and now I am now making regular visits.
It is all difficult and wonderful -- "it is a sad and beautiful world."
Everything is rolling well. Join us. Stay tuned.