Recovery through Community
"We embark on this journey of creating a more inclusive and more responsive approach to the real lives of people in our community."
— Rabbi Joanna Samuels
January 26, 2023
The Health and Wellness Center at the JCC, newly named The Davidson Fishberg Center for Health + Wellness, hosted a special event, “The Secret Lives of Youth: Alcohol and Drug Addiction In Our Community,” earlier this month. Community members, funders, and partners gathered to discuss the reality of addiction and how to help children, teenagers, young adults, and families in recovery through community.
The event also marked the beginning of a new partnership between the JCC and the T’Shuvah Center, a Jewish recovery community for addicts of all kinds. Rabbi Igael "Iggy" Gurin-Malous, T’Shuvah’s CEO, spoke about the need for spiritual recovery and community connection for those dealing with addiction, and how the JCC can and will support their work. The organizations have a history of partnerships, for events such as the T’Shuvah Center’s Day of Learning in the fall of 2018. Working together on the issues of addiction and recovery also builds on the JCC’s existing, successful Health + Wellness programming, which includes fitness, aquatics, Parkinson’s, and Cancer Care.
The T'Shuvah Center is devoted to increasing awareness about addiction, and Rabbi Iggy acknowledged that the first step is to create more spaces in the community where people of all ages can convene, spaces that say, “you are welcome here because we recognize your struggle.” Through this partnership, the JCC will support T’Shuvah Center’s work by creating such spaces and programs. Rabbi Joanna Samuels, JCC CEO, added that “we embark on this journey of creating a more inclusive and more responsive approach to the real lives of people in our community.” Programs in partnership with the T’Shuvah Center are expected to launch at the JCC later in 2023.
Rabbi Iggy agreed that through sharing struggles and success, we can learn that everything we do has significance. “What we do in community allows us to be a better person, allows us to grow together, and allows us to create a place where we are able to not only support each other but offer our own wisdom.”
The addiction and recovery programs offered at the JCC will be for all ages, with a focus on teens and young adults as the first point of interaction on this topic. A three-step approach will focus on recovery, spirituality, and community, offering the ability to learn and grow together. The T’Shuvah Center defines the three points in its framework:
Recovery: Free group workshops, meetings, live training, and more—all designed to give interpersonal support on a path of recovery. We uniquely combine the tools of Judaism, addiction recovery, and spirituality in our programming to offer a refreshing entry point into the path of transformation. Community spaces provide an opportunity to build healthy relationships grounded in recovery, while providing the space to practice and cultivate vulnerability and honesty.
Spirituality: Addiction is a spiritual malady. The first step to any transformation is to become aware of the necessity to transform. Commit to the path of recovery, and to the work, reflection, and transformation that accompanies this path. Get clear on your “why’”Your spiritual counselor will help you with the “how.”
Community: We recover so that we can be of service and draw from our highest selves. Central to the path of recovery is your service out in the world, supporting other addicts on the path as well as living your fullest, most authentic expression. Sharing your gifts, insight, and experience with others, as well as living into your truth serves to deepen your recovery while enriching the world around you.
While addiction and recovery are critical aspects of mental health, the JCC has also launched an overarching Teen + Young Adult Mental Health Initiative. As the first community center with a teen mental health initiative within the five boroughs of New York, this program supplements the mental health treatment services already available in New York schools. In-person programming began last fall with training on teen mindfulness leadership and first aid.
The Teen + Young Adult Mental Health Initiative will also present a two-day conference, March 9 and 10, for youth professionals, educators, social workers, clergy members, lay leaders, parents, and teens. “Supporting Youth Mental Health: Challenges, Resilience, and Growth,” will feature presentations by experts in the field, plus keynote speaker Deborah Gilboa, M.D., a practicing physician, resilience expert, author, and parent.
If you are or know a teen, young adult, or family of a young person struggling with mental health concerns, Naomi Skop Richter, Senior Director, Teen + Young Adult Mental Health Initiative, is available for consultation to help you connect to an appropriate referral. Reach out to Naomi at nskoprichter@mmjccm.org.
Story Editor: Lauren Magy. Lauren is the Director of Public Relations + Community Engagement at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She has worked at theater and cultural institutions in DC and NY for the past decade.