Susan Greenbaum, for 20 years, has been a Teaneck neighbor, friend and active Jewish community professional. A self-described “refugee from the JCC world,” she has been, for over a year and a half, at the helm of the Jewish Family Service of Bergen and North Hudson.
Greenbaum is moving her agency forward so it is no longer the best-kept secret to the Orthodox community within walking distance of the agency, and all throughout the various Jewish communities of Bergen County.
“We’re located in the middle of Teaneck,” she told the Jewish Link last Sunday. “My style is to watch and listen before I jump. I realized we have not engaged the Orthodox community effectively even though we’ve always had clinicians from the Orthodox community.
“In the past, the small numbers of Orthodox clients have predominantly been individuals in financial need,” she added.
Now, as she approaches her second year as executive director, JFS is working to identify opportunities to support Jewish day schools in various ways. Nechama Comfort, a support group for parents who have lost an infant or experienced a pregnancy loss, used to hold its support group at Holy Name Medical Center. Now it’s meeting at JFS. Other groups as well, such as Refa’enu, providing support groups for those living with anxiety, mood disorders and other psychological challenges, has developed an association now with JFS.
“We provide mental health services, elder care services and special services and programming for Holocaust survivors. We have excellent clinicians who are highly skilled in all areas including eating disorders, social skills challenges, addiction, depression, anxiety and other issues,” said Greenbaum.
“We’re JFS and we should be involved with our kids,” said Greenbaum. “We do after-school programming in four Bergen County school districts, and the most satisfying result is that it generates mental health referrals of children and their parents. My hope is that this will happen with Jewish day schools, as well. Clearly, treating children and teenagers of all ages is a strong focus for JFS
“We have a wonderful community resource in JFS,” she continued. “When people identify us or are referred to us and discover the breadth and quality of our services, we are able to help. Often, these services are not actively promoted via word-of-mouth because we all, naturally, are inclined to be private about such matters.
The challenge, she continued, is to create opportunities for people within the Orthodox community to discover JFS.
“Our gala is coming up on November 15 at The Rockleigh,” Greenbaum said. Geoffrey Lewis, JFS past president, will be honored and he will take the opportunity to talk about a “passion” of his, the need for employment and vocational services. “We will launch a campaign at the Gala for the purpose of developing meaningful services for Jewish community members who are unemployed or underemployed. It is so depressing for a person to be unemployed when you are middle-aged and you don’t know how you will survive doing anything other than the job or career you’ve been in your entire adult life… In Bergen County there is a dichotomy of people who are privileged and others who are struggling to keep up. It’s difficult to be part of an affluent Jewish community and keep your head up when your life seems to be unraveling. Many are struggling to survive unemployment or underemployment and simply want to gain the strength, skills, coaching and support that will enable them to continue to support their families.
The stigma, she said, of asking for help, especially when it comes to employment issues, is often debilitating within the Orthodox community where the necessity and resulting expense of day school exists.
“Everyone behaves as though it’s normal (to be under the strain of day school tuition),” she said. “But there’s tremendous pressure and tremendous anxiety within the Orthodox community. Shabbos is an amazing gift to us for many reasons, but many people really do need it mostly as a break from their anxiety and the pressures of life. The bottom line is there are many needs in our community, and we can help families address many of those needs.
Many are not aware that we have a food pantry in our building on Teaneck Road, and it takes a tremendous effort to keep it stocked. There are Jewish families who need the food pantry on a regular basis. But not enough people know about the pantry. If they knew, they’d be bringing food to us.
“To help market and get the word out, JFS has recently hired Ellen Finkelstein as its marketing director. Our goal is to get onto everyone’s radar more effectively. She’s extremely dynamic, talented and extremely involved with and knowledgeable about our local Orthodox community.”
Greenbaum had nothing but praise for Project Ezrah, an area non-profit that helps families work to better their individual financial picture. JFS, she said, uses case managers using tried and true “classic social work” to help those who need it. “Our approach and that of Project Ezrah are different and there is a stunning need for both.”
Looking ahead at 2016, Greenbaum said that the goal is “to educate, enlighten and engage the Bergen County Orthodox community in our programs, services and volunteer and leadership opportunities. We cover all of Bergen County, and we’re located right here in Teaneck.”
For everybody who is in need or who wants to help out, JFS at 1485 Teaneck Road is accessible to all. Learn more about JFS at JFSBergen.org.
But after talking to Greenbaum, her friendly, confident voice easily says, “Come in, we’re here for everyone.”
By Phil Jacobs
