Latest news with #AlpertJewishFamilyService
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Free training on 'Mental Health First Aid' coming to Palm Beach County
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and a good time to talk about how we can better equip ourselves to help when a friend, loved one, co-worker, stranger or child appears to need support. We can learn how to be effective "first responders" with the help of what's called "Mental Health First Aid." The training is being offered for free by the Fred & Gladys Alpert Jewish Family Service of Palm Beach County. 'Mental Health First Aid is an early intervention public education program that teaches adults how to recognize the signs and symptoms that suggest a potential mental health challenge may be in its earliest stages,' explains Courtney Marx, director of the program. Those who attend the program's two sessions, which are held on back-to-back days and last around three hours, will learn how to listen nonjudgmentally and give reassurance to a person who may be experiencing a mental health challenge, Marx said. They'll also be taught how to refer a person to appropriate professional support and services. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, also known as NAMI, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experience mental illness annually, and 1 in 6 youths (ages 6 to 17) in this country experience a mental health disorder each year. Alpert Jewish Family Service devised separate programs that address how to handle a mental issue in both an adult and in a child. These sessions — the next two of which are Wednesday and Thursday, May 21-22, at 9 a.m. at Alpert Jewish Family Service offices in West Palm Beach — focus on recognizing the patterns of thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and demeanor that indicate there might be a mental health challenge in the offing. Because so many adults with mental health challenges often attempt to self-medicate and thus develop alcohol and/or other substance abuse conditions, attendees will be taught how to handle these situations. They'll also be taught how to implement an action plan that they can apply to both crisis and non-crisis situations. The action plan goes by the acronym ALGEE, which stands for the following: A: Assess for risk of suicide or self-harm. (According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control, more than 50,000 Americans died by suicide in 2023 — the highest number ever in the U.S.) L: Listen non-judgmentally. G: Give reassurance and more information about how to receive help. E: Encourage the person to seek out and receive professional help. E: Encourage self-help and other support strategies. In today's digital age in which teenage suicide and depression are on the rise, it's more important than ever to be able to help a young person in crisis. Archives of General Psychiatry reports that '50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14, and 75% by a person's early to mid-20s." Those who learn youth mental health first aid aren't asked to diagnose or fix the problem. Instead, those who attend the training (the next sessions will be on June 11-12 at 9 a.m.) learn how to recognize the common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in adolescents and teens, including how they're often affected by anxiety, depression, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), trauma, and the impact of social media and bullying. They also learn how to connect people with help. If you're concerned about someone's mental health, Marx recommended the following conversation starters that might help the person know that they're not alone: 'Are you okay?': You should ask the question and really mean it. Marx said that you can show you're truly concerned by sitting alongside the person, keeping an open body position and maintaining comfortable eye contact. 'Are you thinking about suicide?': If you are concerned that someone is considering suicide, Marx said you should ask the question directly. She said that if someone has been considering taking their own life or making a plan to do so, asking the question directly will not increase the risk that they'll actually complete the suicide. 'I've noticed that ...': Start with an open-ended statement about some behavior that has changed in the person. For example, 'I've noticed that you've been showing up late to work recently.' Then express genuine concern about what is going on in the person's life. 'Hey, do you want to take a walk?': Marx said that engaging someone you're concerned about in a healthy activity like walking can be an effective way to start a conversation about mental health. This physical activity can help decrease the potential nerves, discomfort and awkwardness that sometimes happen when broaching the topic of mental health. The bottom line, says Marx, is that it's good to be prepared to help those in your orbit if they're facing a mental health issue. 'Just as you take CPR training in case a medical emergency requires immediate action, taking mental health first aid training means you can really help a person who needs it — and it just may save their life,' says Marx. If You Go What: Free mental health first aid training When: 9 a.m. Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22 Where: Alpert Jewish Family Service of Palm Beach County, 5841 Corporate Way, Room 104, West Palm Beach Info: Registration for the program is required. Call 561-713-1851 or visit This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Mental health first aid can help you help friends and family in crisis
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Boynton Beach man escaped Nazi Germany — with help from a future U.S. president
Two months. That was the time between life and death for Jack Abramowitz. Abramowitz, a resident of Boynton Beach, was given the gift of an American visa two months before Germany attacked Russia in 1941 and leaving the country became impossible. He was just a child then. Born four months before World War II officially began in 1939, he spent his infancy and toddlerhood in Hitler-led Germany. Abramowitz says three Godly acts allowed him to survive and be here to tell his story, which he has been doing since his arrival in Florida 25 years ago. As part of the executive board of the Alpert Jewish Family Service in West Palm Beach, Abramowitz visits Palm Beach County schools to share his experience escaping Nazi Germany, a story that he titled, 'Why I believe in God.' 'God intervened to save my family when 6 million of us were murdered and destroyed throughout Europe,' Abramowitz says. It was three acts of God, but also the heroism of three people in his life: his father, who made the difficult decision to leave for America; his mother, who refused to deny her Judaism; and a newly promoted U.S. Army colonel who would later become president of the United States. Abramowitz's father, Ben, who moved to Germany from Poland at 13 years old for an apprenticeship, found success in the hat-making industry and eventually opened a business. When Adolf Hitler came into power and enacted The Nuremburg Race Laws in 1935, his business was confiscated. As the situation continued to worsen for Jews, Ben Abramowitz turned to his younger brother, who was already living in the United States. As a young, single man, his brother could only sponsor one member of the family in Germany, which also included Abramowitz's 9-year-old sister. Realizing this could be the only chance to save his family, Ben Abramowitz decided to leave Germany, alone, and head to the United States on Nov. 10, 1938. As he prepared for his journey overseas in the morning, Kristallnacht, or the 'Night of Broken Glass,' began on Nov. 9. Nazis attacked Jews and their property, and Ben Abramowitz was arrested and thrown into Gestapo headquarters in Berlin, Abramowitz says. Remembering the visa waiting in their home, Abramowitz's mother, Rose, who was pregnant with him at the time, headed to the prison accompanied by a neighbor whose husband was also taken. The women walked through the doors and handed a commander the visa. 'He could have just as easily just ripped up the visa and said, 'The hell with this. He's not going anywhere,'' Abramowitz says. 'But very fortunately, he read the visa, looked at it, and thought for a moment.' Then he pulled out a gun. As Abramowitz tells it, the commander walked over to his pregnant mother and simply said, 'Tell me, Mrs. Abramowitz, that you are not a Jew.' After some thought, his mother replied, 'Mr. Commander, but I am a Jew.' He proceeded to hit her across the head with the gun, knocking her to the ground before turning to the neighbor and asking the same question. When the neighbor responded 'I am not a Jew,' the commander shot her in the head, killing her on the spot. 'Had my mother given the wrong answer, we would not be talking today,' Abramowitz says. His father left for the United States the following day. He found work at a hat-making company in the Garment District in Manhattan, which had a contract with West Point making hats for cadets and military officers. Meanwhile, his family was left in Germany, hiding in their apartment and dependent on food brought over by Christian neighbors, he says. 'The thought was that we would keep a very low profile and wouldn't leave the apartment that we lived in,' Abramowitz says. 'The Nazis at that time weren't going after women and children. They wanted the men for the workforce.' And that thought became their reality for three years, during which Abramowitz's mother gave birth to him. His father continued to try to get his family visas, but as the war raged on, it became more and more difficult. It would be the third and final act of God — and heroism — when a U.S. Army colonel walked into the Manhattan hat shop and asked Ben Abramowitz directly to make him a new hat to commemorate his military promotion. Upon hearing his accent and learning he was from Germany, the man asked about his family, learning they were still stuck in the country. 'He says to my father, 'Gee, I'm very sorry, but here's what I want you to do. I want you to make a hat for me.' And he hands my father an embroidered handkerchief that his mother had made for him and he said, 'Mr. Abramowitz, when you make the hat for me, I would like you to take these embroidered initials and work it into the hat,'' said Abramowitz. Half of Holocaust survivors alive today will be gone in 6 years, new analysis finds Today in History: April 11, the liberation of Buchenwald 80 years after Auschwitz, kosher food will be sold in its town of Oświęcim Together in harmony: Gay Men's Chorus to perform for Holocaust Remembrance Day Boca man's gift part of Anne Frank exhibit: It's 'somewhere where people can see it' Those initials were DDE. His father was making a hat for the future 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1941, Eisenhower returned to the factory to retrieve his hat. Upon entering, he noticed Ben Abramowitz crying in a corner. He proceeded to show Eisenhower a letter from the State Department, which was a final denial for visas for his family. Eisenhower, according to Abramowitz, grabbed the letter and walked out of the factory. Three weeks later, Abramowitz was on a ship headed for the United States along with his mother and sister. 'What General Eisenhower at the time did, he made some phone calls, whatever it was, it was an act of God that put us all into this particular situation,' says Abramowitz. 'The war was now raging in Germany, but we got visas and we arrived in the United States on April 15, 1941.' Just over two months later, on June 22, 1941, Germany attacked Russia and the world closed up. Abramowitz and his family lived in The Bronx, New York, for the remainder of his childhood, moving to Brooklyn when he was 18 years old. He graduated from The City College of New York and got his master's from Adelphi University in Garden City. He went on to have a successful career as an aerospace engineer. He and his wife, Phyllis, who passed in 2022, have three sons and nine grandchildren. He dedicates his retirement to sharing this story, spreading Holocaust awareness, and helping provide food and housing for South Florida survivors through his work with the Alpert Jewish Family Service of Palm Beach County. After President Eisenhower died in 1969, Ben Abramowitz would always say the Kaddish, the mourner's prayer, for him during Yom Kippur services. His son continues that tradition today. 'I feel absolutely lucky that [I was saved],' Abramowitz says. 'It was a stroke of God's good luck.'
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman to talk mental health in West Palm Beach
Aly Raisman is USA Women's Gymnastics royalty. She is the third-most decorated American gymnast ever and was the two-time captain of the Olympic gold medal-winning USA Women's Gymnastics teams at the 2012 Olympics in London (the so-called 'Fierce Five') and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (nicknamed the 'Final Five'). She won three gold medals and six medals in all at her two Olympics, as well as two gold medals at World Championships competitions in 2011 and 2015. Equally — if not more — importantly, in 2017 she played a pivotal role in helping to bring to justice former USA Women's Gymnastics team physician Dr. Larry Nassar, coming forward as one of the most prominent victims of his decades-long sexual abuse of hundreds of athletes he treated ― the vast majority of whom were teenagers and pre-teens. Her efforts also led to a transformation in how USA Women's Gymnastics is run — empowering athletes to have a bigger say in the organization's policies and decisions. But perhaps her most important role — as a tireless advocate for awareness regarding mental health, sexual abuse and body positivity — is the one she's leaned into since her official retirement from gymnastics in 2020. And she'll be bringing that advocacy to West Palm Beach on Sunday as the keynote speaker at Alpert Jewish Family Service of Palm Beach's 21st Annual No Excuse for Abuse Evening at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. More: Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman shares advice, USA Gymnastics criticism at Boca event 'We are honored to welcome world-renowned gymnast, sexual abuse survivor and advocate Aly Raisman to our 21st Annual No Excuse for Abuse Evening,' said Marc Hopin, CEO of Alpert Jewish Family Service. 'This event highlights our unwavering dedication to excellence in human services, including domestic abuse prevention, mental health support, suicide awareness, and more. Aly's voice will amplify our message and broaden our reach.' A compelling and personable speaker, Raisman has explained that she knew early on that her athletic career would come with a slew of mental health challenges. She says she suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, commonly referred to as OCD, and in a subjective individual sport like gymnastics, her perfectionist tendencies were only exacerbated. Though she didn't recognize it as a disorder at the time, Raisman's OCD first showed up during her childhood as a competitive gymnast. 'I definitely was superstitious, where I did things that would make me feel more comfortable, or I felt like I had to do something — otherwise I wouldn't compete well,' she said in a recent interview with the OCD advocacy organization NOCD. Raisman didn't realize that the rituals she was performing were deeper than just a superstition. Even today, years removed from competition, she said she still finds that the disorder manifests itself in her daily life, albeit in different ways. 'I'm not superstitious anymore, but I do have things where if I plug in a curling iron, I'm worried, did I turn it off? If I cooked something, did I turn the oven off?' she explained. While many people may ask themselves those questions occasionally, for someone with OCD those questions can turn into unrelenting thought loops that can hijack daily activities. She also finds that her OCD flares up when she is talking to groups about important topics, such as mental health and abuse awareness. 'When I talk about really serious things, I tend to overthink what I said,' she explained. 'I want to make sure I didn't offend somebody, or maybe say something that's going to trigger someone else.' This kind of negative thought loop often makes her second-guess her interactions and worry about them long after they're over, thus leading to rumination and self-doubt. But Raisman has not let that deter her from engaging, and she will be delivering her important message again Sunday night in West Palm Beach. Another of Raisman's goals is to help bring conversations about abuse to the forefront. As she explained at a 2023 appearance at Duke University, she 'felt that USA Gymnastics was sweeping a lot of things under the rug, and I didn't feel it was right. I had no idea how much support I would receive or how much support so many of my teammates and other brave people who spoke out would get.' She explained that she wants to 'normalize those conversations because … there are a lot more people than we realize that are struggling.' Indeed, it was helping others who were struggling in silence with their own inner demons that spurred her into her current advocacy role. More Health Matters: Pregnant at 44 makes Gisele Bündchen part of a trend for women in their 40s 'I have found there are a lot of people who are suffering in silence and don't have a support system. They may not even have one person they can go to ask for help,' she told NOCD. 'I just realized the more that I started to share, the more people could relate to my experience, and it helped me feel less alone.' Now 30 and the author of two books — her autobiography 'Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything' and the children's book 'From My Head to My Toes' — Raisman knows she is, and forever will be, a work in progress when it comes dealing with mental health challenges. In June she wrote in an online essay that she was 'still learning who I am.' And as she'll share on Sunday night, she's okay with that — and hopes everyone who hears her speak will give themselves the same grace when dealing with their own personal struggles. What: Alpert Jewish Family Service of Palm Beach's 21st Annual No Excuse for Abuse Evening When: 6:15 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9 Where: Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, 701 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach Tickets: $300 Info: 561-713-1944 This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman in West Palm Beach to talk mental health
