Jewish Family Service Agency newsletter, undated

Jewish Family Service Agency 1555 E. Flamingo Road, Suite 125 - Las Vegas, Nevada 89109 ? (702) 732-0304 JFSA Celebrates Decade Of Service This is the beginning of the second decade of service provided by Jewish Family Service Agency to the Las Vegas community. Founded in 1977, JFSA offers counseling and direct services on a non-sectarian basis. Clients are predomi-nantly Jewish because of the tendency for religious and racial groups to gravitate toward organizations they identity with. JFSA, a non-profit organization, is funded by the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, United Way of Southern Nevada, and by grants, memberships and private donations. All programs are geared towards family: parent-child relationships, marital and pre-marital counseling; the special concerns of single parents, the widowed, elderly, ill or homeless. JFSA's newest area of service is adoption, which fills the long-recognized need for placement of babies with Jewish families in Southern Nevada. In addition, Jewish Family Service Agency offers programs in Family Life Education and refugee resettlement. While most JFSA service centers on counseling, direct assistance is also provided. Examples are emergency funds, transportation, housing, in-home visits, coordination of homemaker and companion services, and referrals to other social service agencies. Some 10,000 people benefit directly or indirectly each year from services provided by JFSA. Fees (if any) are based entirely on ability to pay. JFSA Sponsors Support Groups Intermarried Couples Group Couples who are intermarried or planning intermarriage are eligible for this group. Intermarriage may create many perplexing questions and family pain. This group, Sponsored by the Jewish Family Service Agency, will offer practical answers and a variety of options to families. Discuss with other couples the impact of inter-faith backgrounds upon your relationship with each other and with your families. Explore also the difficult decisions you have to face once the children begin to arrive and the possible discomfort those decisions may evoke. Co-Dependency Group A support group for Co-Depend-ents will be meeting at Jewish Family Service Agency, 1555 E. Flamingo Road, Suite 125 on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. The group will run for six weeks beginning Oct. 3. The group is for those who find it difficult to enter into relationships in which individual needs and boundaries are mutually respected. The fee is $10 per session. Single Parent Support Group "It is difficult to be a single parent! There are unique problems and issues that single parents must deal with simply due to their situ-ation. All single parents share common concerns. The self-help group provides the opportunity to meet others who truly understand and accept and who can offer help and the opportunity to share," according to Bill Feldman, Executive Director of Jewish Family Service Agency, who will be the group's facilitator. Self-help groups offer a way for individuals to assume responsibility for themselves and to help others to do the same. Some issues that might be covered are: Feelings of Loss And Guilt, Parenting Concerns, Loneli-ness, Economic Concerns, Relation-ship Needs, Affiliation Needs, Deal-ing with and Prompting Changes. This support group meets at Jewish Family Service Agency Thurs-day evenings from 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Children are welcome as child care is an ever-present concern for single parents. For further information come to the next meeting on Thursday, or call William Feldman, Executive Direc-tor, at 732-0304 - Jewish Family Service Agency. Jewish Adoptions Now A Reality The new year was ushered in by the creation of a new family through the adoption services of the Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA). JFSA, now a licensed adoption service of the Jewish community, has placed two babies with local families. The Agency is also able to offer complete services to the birth mother by acting as a "sounding board" to think about options and choices. To ensure comfort and well-being during and after pregnancy, JFSA offers the best professional care and counseling. JFSA will assure expert medical attention to the birth mother and baby. Professional counseling is available and confidentiality is assured. JFSA pays for the above services. Additional support and care may be available in special circum-stances. Families may now receive help from JFSA for adoption services. Birth mothers needing help to plan for their baby's needs should contact Linda Stroud, MSM at JFSA 732- 0304. All contacts are confidential. Your Discarded Eyeglasses Help Those In Need by Stephanie Ann Smith JFSA Coordinator of Volunteers When my daughter was little, we frequently went shopping. She noticed I always put some change in a box which was left on the counter by one charity or another, each repre-senting their cause. She asked, "Why do you give them that money?" I answered, "Because, the money will go to people who need our help." "Why don't you give it to me when I ask for money to buy something I want?", she asked; "you always say we don't have the money right now." "Yes, that's true," I agreed, "but you wanted something you really didn't need. This little bit of money and a little bit of other people's money will go to people who have a need right now for food and a place to live. You have everything you need - you are not hungry and you have a safe, warm, comfortable home. It is important that Jewish people have compassion and care about others - to give and to help those of us who are less fortunate," I said. The Lions Club International has been collecting cast-off glasses and frames for distribution to the poorest of the poor around the world who are desperately in need of eye care. In many parts of the world, conditions of poverty and the lack of medical facilities make glasses a rare com-modity. Children grow up with bad vision, never to get help. Adults with fading eyesight do not receive correc-tive lenses. The Lions Club sends these cast-off glasses to a laboratory for clean-ing and the determination of the pre-scriptions and the doctors sent to these countries by the Lions Club are able to fit those who need just that correction thereby giving those people better vision and better futures. If you have glasses you can donate to help others, please drop them off at the Jewish Family Service Agency, 732-0304. To give sight is similar "to giving life!" * * # * * Third world countries are in urgent need of your discarded eye-glasses. Your eyeglasses will be used to improve the eyesight of untold numbers of individuals. Without your help, their eyesight will be limited - many will be legally blind. Please help the Jewish Family Service Agency help these individuals by leaving your discarded eyeglasses in containers which you will find in Vons supermarkets around Las Vegas. If the eyeglass cases are missing, placing the eyeglasses in plastic ziplock bags will help protect them from damage. If you would like to know more about this program, call Jewish Family Service Agency, 732-0304. JFSA Membership Goal $30,000 The Jewish Family Service Agency recently an-nounced that its membership goal for this year is $30,000. This money will be earmarked to aid frail, aging adults; families in distress; the impoverished; physically, mentally and emotionally handicapped adults; Soviet Jewish refugees - virtually every member of our Jewish commu-nity who needs a place to turn to in time of trouble. A dozen years ago, this Agency was born into a com-munity with a profound need for such services as JFSA provides. Each year has been a milestone in JFSA's coming of age. For example, JFSA provides: Individual and group counseling; Resettlement of Jewish immi-grants; the JFSA Volunteers-in-Service; Emergency Assis-tance Fund for the Jewish community; Jewish teen activities; Chaplaincy committee visiting the ill in home or hospital; Non-sectarian federal grants to help indi-gents; Adoption Service for Jewish families; Passover Fund to help families celebrate the holiday; the Homesharing Program - Las Vegas Match. Today, JFSA has its greatest need ever, simply to keep up with current demands for assistance in every program. And we must still face the fact that Southern Nevada's startling growth will place ever-increasing demands on JFSA programs and personnel. Your membership helps us write happy endings. JFSA membership is a great way to say, "I care!" and to make a lasting difference in someone's life. Please respond today, send your check to "Jewish Family Service Agency," 1555 E. Flamingo Rd., Ste. 125, Las Vegas, NV 89109. Jewish Family Service Agency 1555 E. Fla.mingo Road, Suite 125 ? Las Vegas, Nevada 89109 ? (702) 732-0304