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…and yet, Henry* and his deaf brother, residents of New York City have been deprived of that one bit of humanity for far too long.

Last week, as the Christmas holiday was fast approaching, Henry arrived at the offices of the New York Center for Law and Justice, a Good People Fund grantee that provides legal services for the deaf community. Bruce and Liz Gitlin, the husband and wife team that founded the Center were stunned to hear Henry’s story. Henry and his younger brother were born into a traditional middle class family and educated in some of the city’s best public schools. Their parents died when they were young adults but they maintained a stable lifestyle until a series of unfortunate occurrences including illness and loss of their rent-controlled apartment forced them into a homeless shelter.  Living in a tiny room with bunk beds and not much else, Henry and his brother marched on until that evening eight months ago, when they returned late to the shelter because they were taking a computer-training course which they hoped would lead to college courses. One of the many cardinal rules that apply to homeless shelters is that you do NOT miss the curfew. Punishment is swift — you are kicked out of the shelter and into the streets. If there is such a thing as “good fortune”, the brothers were better off than others, they could “couch dive” with friends and for the past six months that is exactly what they had been doing before arriving at Bruce and Liz’s door.

Despite the bleakest of circumstances, Henry’s feeling that “Christmas is not about gifts, luxuries-right now people are going through a crisis; people don’t have a place to stay. For me, the thing about Christmas is to give to needy people who don’t have nothing.”  And so — he busies himself by collecting toys for a toy drive on behalf of kids with Down Syndrome and sings Christmas carols to this very same group (Henry states that it “could have been me”). In addition he delivers books and reads to elders living in nearby nursing homes and also hands out Girl Scout cookies. Giving back is clearly Henry’s preferred method of coping with being homeless.

When the Gitlins heard the brothers’ story they agreed to step in and try to find appropriate housing and other needs. When we heard their story we immediately offered our help as well. Within 48 hours, we were able to invest a little more than $200 to get the brothers’ personal items out of storage where they were about to be auctioned off for back rental fees (including hefty penalty amounts), provided them with warm coats, hats and gloves and, with the additional help of one of our donors who heard their story, we will be able to underwrite the costs associated with finding them a new affordable apartment and some furniture.

Henry is correct…every human being does deserve to have a key to turn a lock and thanks to Bruce and Liz and others who were moved by this story a key should be forthcoming sometime very soon.

*a pseudonym

We love connecting our programs to each other. So many of them work in similar areas and often can learn from common experiences.

 This was the case recently when Good People Fund grantee  Zissie Gitel, founder of In Their Shoes (Israel) connected with Dan Cohen, founder of Music and Memory here in the States. Zissie’s work is devoted to increasing compassion and empathy within the (elder) caregiver community so that patients can be better treated and understood, while Dan’s work brings personalized music via iPods to elderly individuals suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s and other isolating conditions, living in nursing homes and other settings.

 When we told Zissie about Dan’s work she and her husband, Sandy, enrolled in Dan’s webinar and learned how to bring M&M techniques to Israel. They’ve recently started a pilot project at a Netanya area geriatric extended care facility and sent us the most amazing report:

 …we sat with one of these patients last week, together with the occupational therapist; we began playing songs at random from the list we had prepared for him.  Some of the songs were of no interest to him, but when he heard a particular Jewish instrumental song–“Oifen Pripitchik”– he lifted his chin from his chest (where it had been resting) and opened his eyes.  I started to sing the words of the song and he joined in.  He remembered the words from when he was a young boy.  This gave the occupational therapist a chance to start a conversation with him about his mother and his youth.  The therapist started crying because she was so overcome by the change in this patient who had been, until this experience, totally uncommunicative.  She said, “I know that people have said that this type of change can take place, but I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.”  All of us had tears in our eyes at that point. 

 Pretty amazing…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyZQf0p73QM&feature=player_embedded#

The kids pictured here are all part of the Heftzibah Community Center in Netanya. This past Monday they were visited by our friends from Lev Leytzan, a group of medical clowns headed by Dr. Neal Goldberg. We have  supported this talented group’s work for many years and this Hanukkah were thrilled to be able to connect them with The Forgotten People Fund, another Good People Fund grantee, so that the clown troupe could bring some cheer and a lot of Hanukkah presents to Israeli kids who might otherwise not celebrate. The Ethiopian kids who visit this community center come from the poorest neighborhood in Netanya and from the looks of the pictures it seems as if the game of Simple Simon (in addition to a balloon animal workshop and more) provided laughs and fun for everyone (along with some delicious sufganiyot).

“Extraordinary”…a word we use often, perhaps too often. Defined as remarkable, exceptional, amazing, astonishing, astounding, incredible, unbelievable, phenomenal — extraordinary should be reserved for that rare something or someone  we come upon but a few times in life.

The Rabbanit Bracha Kapach, z’l, was one such extraordinary person and today, at the age of 90, the Rabbanit has died and left behind an unsurpassed legacy of mitzvahs and gemilut chassidim almost too complex to describe. The legendary Pesach food packages distributed to thousands of people each Spring; brides too poor to have their own wedding gown could always count on the Rabbanit’s “bridal salon”; her camp for kids who would otherwise have no summer fun; school supplies, clothing, weekly Shabbat food; words of wisdom for those lost and distraught…the list is endless.

Over the span of more than 20 years I sat in the Rabbanit’s living room on each of my Israel visits, among the artificial flowers and hookah, the cookies from the shuk and bottles of soda and Prigat juice, and held her hand. You see, we had no common language and yet there was a deep, deep love that flowed from one to the other. My Ivrit is pathetic but her English was worse! Whenever we met and hugged she would tell me proudly, “I love you.” And I loved her for everything that she did, for her unceasing energy and passion for helping everyone. There was always a never-ending line at her door — Jerusalem’s castaways never left without some sustenance or monetary help. That was just the way it was supposed to be and when I would remind her that these mitzvahs cost money that she sometimes did not have, her answer was always the same…”Hashem ya’azor”…God will provide. And…she was right.

It was my first meeting with her that I came to understand the Hebrew word “ziv“,  for she radiated all that was good and just and right. I have often wondered if her eema, Naomi, had some premonition when this child was born and so gave her the name Bracha–for indeed, she was a blessing to everyone who knew her.

May her memory be for a blessing.

http://www.jta.org/2013/11/26/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/remembering-rabbanit-bracha-kapach-lifeline-to-jerusalems-poor-and-israel-prize-winner

In the soccer world an “assist” is a pass that ends in a goal. Recently, we became involved in an effort where more than one assist has helped kids in California who love soccer but cannot always partake because of their family’s limited resources.

 It all started when the Millburn (NJ) Rowdies wanted to honor their favorite coach and that is where the Good People Fund stepped in to help.

 When we thought of kids who might enjoy soccer we immediately remembered all of the children we met last year when visiting Sunday Friends in San Jose, CA. Sunday Friends runs a twice-monthly program in a local school that attracts the area’s poorest families (mostly first or second generation immigrants). The families work with volunteers “empowering families in need to break the cycle of poverty. Children and parents earn basic necessities while they contribute to their community, learn life skills and develop self-sufficiency.” We were sure that the Rowdies’ tzedakah collection could be used to purchase soccer equipment for some of the kids and Janis Baron, the organization’s founder, agreed.

 The Rowdies’ generous monetary donation has made it possible for Sunday Friends’ to purchase new cleats, soccer balls, knee pads and more. But — what happened next was even more exciting. The Rowdies, and several other teams inspired by their efforts, decided to collect “outgrown” equipment which will be sent to Sunday Friends.  Sydney Rosenbaum (pictured here with her sister), soon to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah, has taken on the job of collecting equipment for the Rowdies.  We expect a large shipment will go out to Sunday Friends for the upcoming holiday season.

We bet there is lots of gently used soccer equipment just waiting to find a new home…

They are so inspirational! They are illiterate but learned to weigh ingredients and how to record their income/expenses, they were disempowered and marginalized but now run their own company and raise their heads with pride!

Jacob Sztokman’s Gabriel Project Mumbai, helps to alleviate hunger for hundreds of children in the Mumbai slums while at the same time offering women there the opportunity to prepare the meals and provide income for themselves and their own families. Last month we wrote that rather than have the women prepare the food in their homes, a central facility had been found and all that was needed was some equipment to get the women started in their own business. The Good People Fund provided the funds for that equipment and this morning we received this great picture. As Jacob shared with us…”One woman was amazed that people they have never met are helping them set up their kitchen. I told her that we are all partners here in providing the children with nutritious food and for the success in their community run business…”

Hungry kids are fed. Women are empowered. What better way to invest our tzedakah?