Jewish Community Rises to Meet an Urgent Need

On June 16th, Congregation Machzikei Hadas opened its doors to a forum that would explore mentorship between the Ottawa Jewish community and the Somali community in an effort to help develop self-sufficiency and leadership within one of the most disadvantaged communities in North America.
 
The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, addressed the audience of close to 50 members of Jewish community and spoke of the need to establish programs that engage and build bridges between communities. He spoke extensively and sensitively about Jewish history as a persecuted minority and the opportunity to help others, with similar challenges.

For the last 18 years JFS has been in partnership with the Somali community in Ottawa and has assisted them in the establishment of the Somali Service centre.
It is because of this relationship that an atmosphere of friendship and trust has been created and both communities are now in a position to expand their relationship to include a mentorship program.

The goal of the program is to have mentors from the Jewish community paired with young adults from the Somali Community. The mentors will be able to guide, assist, and direct their counterparts to help fulfill their dreams and aspirations of becoming an independent and successful community.

By mentoring this “first generation” the friendships and understanding between the two communities will only continue to grow. Moreover, recipients of this initial collaboration will, in a few years, be able to become mentors themselves and will become the leaders and examples in their community. The importance of the event was clearly evident when almost all of the attendees at the event signed up to be mentors.

For the Jewish community, the most important element in all this is that this mentorship project serves to further break down the barriers between Moslems and Jews while addressing the altruistic streak young Jews have in healing the world.

For more information about this program and to become a mentor please call Mark Zarecki at 613-722-2225 or e-mail him at mzarecki@jfsottawa.com .

Street Smarts Reaching Out to Our Homeless Community One Person At A Time

Listen here to a recent interview on CBC’s In Town and Out
by Rebecca Zandbergen.

Rebecca spent an evening walking with Pete Cassidy, StreetSmarts Program Coordinator to promote a fundraiser Concert put on by Ottawa’s Bytown Rotary Club in support of our Street Smarts program.

Many thanks to the Bytown Rotary Club and to CBC for promoting StreetSmarts.