Alpert JFS News

Alpert JFS Continues Domestic Abuse Support During Month Dedicated to Awareness

October has been designated Domestic Abuse Awareness Month. For many, home is anything but a sanctuary during COVID-19; we have seen a spike in the incidence of abuse and violence. Lockdowns may have ended with Florida’s Phase 3 Reopening, but the abuse will not stop, and our education and prevention work must continue. At Alpert JFS, we provide domestic abuse services, an online support group and community education, plus offer a teen dating abuse and bullying prevention program to help […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/alpert-jfs-continues-domestic-abuse-support-during-month-dedicated-to-awareness/

Addressing More Frequent, More Severe, More Dangerous At-Home Violence

Home should be where life plays out, joyfully. Unfortunately for two local-area sisters, their mother’s home is where their lives ended at the hands of an ex-boyfriend of one. Family members of shooting victims Sofia and Rebeca Davila want to spread awareness about domestic violence, and urge people who are suffering, and those who love them, to speak up about it.  The young women were 19 and 20 years old; the killer, 22-year-old Anthony Ashan Stoutt, a former high school […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/at-home-violence-crisis/

Mentoring 4 Kids Match Celebrates “Lucky 7” Milestone

Sam and Steve are a mentee and mentor, respectively, in the Judith & Jack Rosenberg Mentoring 4 Kids (M4K) program, part of Ferd & Gladys Alpert Jewish Family Service (Alpert JFS). They’ve been a dynamic duo for seven years now, having the special distinction of being the program’s longest match! When they first met in 2013, Sam was a six-year-old boy in a single-parent home who hadn’t had much exposure to outside activities, and Steve was a retired man looking […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/m4k-lucky7/

Alpert JFS Observes Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)

We Remember. In a twist of fate, this year’s Alpert JFS Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) tribute to the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, and the heroism of the Jewish resistance of the period, was celebrated online.  There were no public gatherings in schools, synagogues or community centers. Despite the fact that COVID-19 has affected the way we teach, feel, talk and learn, we remembered – together – while apart. We did this for Holocaust survivors, for […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/yomhashoa2020/

Purim: The Holiday of Masks – Am I Wearing One?

This article was contributed by: Olivia Tartakow, LCSW, M.ED, Director of Community Directions at Alpert Jewish Family Service  Masks are a key symbol of Purim. However, we all wear masks at various times throughout the year. We have different roles, and the roles we play may determine what kind of mask we wear at different times. It’s part of being flexible and knowing when a mask is appropriate, and which mask fits the situation. Healthy behavior is when we’re conscious […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/purim-the-holiday-of-masks-am-i-wearing-one/

What is Gaslighting?

  This article was written by Sara Walsh, LCSW, Director of Alpert JFS Domestic Abuse Program   It seems like we can’t look at our Facebook newsfeed or watch the “Today Show” these days without learning about gaslighting; the new buzzword for emotional abuse. Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse, in which a person – to gain power and control – makes someone question their reality, judgment, and sanity. The term was inspired by the 1944 film, “Gaslight, starring […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/gaslighting/

8 Ways to Deal With Stress and Family Issues

This article was contributed by: Olivia Tartakow, LCSW, M.ED, Director of Community Directions at Alpert Jewish Family Service As we are poised to enter a New Year and a new decade, this is an opportunity to look at new ways of dealing with stress and to rethink how to make stress work for us rather than against us. “You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family.”  Family stress will not just disappear, but you can look for ways […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/8-ways-to-deal-with-stress/

The Youngest Mentor – Mentoring 4 Kids

Story contributed by: Jennifer DiSilvestro, Mentoring 4 Kids Program Director In 2018, Alpert JFS welcomed a new mentor, Bruce Evans, to our Judith & Jack Rosenberg Mentoring 4 Kids program. Bruce, age 30, is a financial advisor with a degree in business and he’s our youngest mentor in the program. While most single, young men spend their free time doing other activities, Bruce wanted to have a meaningful impact on a child through M4K’s one-to-one mentoring program. Bruce’s experience working […] https://www.alpertjfs.org/our-youngest-mentor-mentoring-4-kids/