Teens

JF&CS’ goal is to build a community of empowered lives and there is no better time to contribute to this goal than Mental Health Awareness month. Started in May 1949 by Mental Health America, the goal of Mental Health Awareness month has always been to bring light to those living with mental illness. To fight stigma, educate the public, and advocate for policies that support people with mental illness and their families.

Approximately one in five teens (ages 12-18) has a diagnosable mental health disorder. In these unprecedented times we are seeing increased depression and anxiety among teens due to sadness, isolation, loneliness, and uncertainty. To support the teens in our community, JF&CS clinicians are offering several groups to specifically support teens and their families. Groups include: Teen Girls, High School Seniors, and Parenting in a Pandemic: Teen and Tweens.

Social interactions, friendships and activities are of primary importance for teens, their sense of self and development. Due to COVID-19 socialization has been greatly impacted. Much of what is challenging for teens today is the inability to physically socialize in school, playing sports, extracurricular activities and just the plain old hanging out that teens do. These groups are a place for teens to process feelings and find support among their peers who may be sharing similar experiences during this time of uncertainty and change.

In an ongoing effort to support teens in our community, Rebecca Brown, LCSW and Jaime Stepansky, LMSW, certified instructors, offer Youth Mental Health First Aid courses. Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches adult participants about mental health and substance-use issues in youth and teens.

Here are a few tips from Mental Health First Aid to help teens cope during COVID-19:

1. Maintain a daily routine with consistent sleep, activity and study patterns.
2. Stay connected with others, and try to find moments of humor.
3. Talk to people you feel comfortable with about your feelings or worries, then give yourself permission to stop worrying.
4. Look for patterns or be aware of situations that make you feel particularly worried or anxious. When you’re in these situations, try relaxation or distraction techniques or ask a family member or friend to help.
5. Limit the amount of time you spend talking about or watching/listening to news media or social media if you are finding information about the COVID-19 situation overwhelming or distressing.
6. Do hobbies or activities that you enjoy, calm you down or focus your mind and body. These could be arts and crafts, physical activity, listening to music, reading, journaling, watching TV or movies, or chatting with friends by phone, videoconference or text.
7. Take time for yourself.
8. Be kind to yourself and each other. We’ll work through this together.

For more information about JF&CS clinical services contact Amy Maslia at 770-677-9474 or email at therapy@jfcsatl.org. To learn more about or participate in a Youth Mental Health First Aid training please contact Rebecca Brown at rbrown@jfcsatl.org.

“Jewish communal life is as significant for our youth as it is for our adults, so at Temple Beth Tikvah, we strive to keep opportunities for community for our youth going even after being picked up in religious school carpool. Our youth group programming includes a wide variety of age-appropriate activities, some Jewish in nature, some secular in nature. All are fun and serve to bring our children together as Jews. We offer youth events for every age, divided into appropriate groups in order to personalize events to be engaging, entertain and educational.” -Temple Beth Tikvah

In the middle of March, I was about three-quarters of the way through my term as my youth group’s (House of Tikvah Temple Youth, or HOTTY) President, and, as a senior in high school, I was looking forward to my last few events as a board member and participant. However, my expectations for the remainder of the year were shattered when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of, well, everything. Though we knew the year wouldn’t end as we had planned it would, the board acted quickly to develop plans for virtual programming and maintain the momentum we had created throughout the year. For the past month, HOTTY has hosted at least one event each week, all through the power of the Internet.

Our events have ranged from virtual lounge nights to game nights, from movie nights to Instagram live classes, from virtual escape rooms to virtual tea parties. Lounge nights give our members the opportunity to simply catch up, as they would at our standard in-person lounge nights. We eat, laugh, and make plans for weekly challenges involving making all food in only a mug. Actually, that last part only happened at one of our virtual lounge nights, but it wouldn’t surprise me if an equally inventive topic arose at the next.

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The series of Instagram live classes has included a tutorial on turning a used water bottle into a birdfeeder, led by our Social Action Vice President, an art class, led by our Religious and Cultural Vice President, and a dance class dedicated solely toTikTok dances, led by me. Needless to say, members have certainly been entertained. Our Elections and Game Night allowed members not only to elect next year’s board, but also to play a variety of interactive, virtual games and connect in a different and lightly competitive way. Though the virtual escape room and virtual tea party have yet to occur, I look forward to watching HOTTY grow closer during these atypical events.

Despite the challenge posed by COVID-19, HOTTY has refused to let it impact the strength of our community. We adapted to the circumstances and found new, innovative ways to continue engaging with each other and with our Judaism. COVID-19 has made the development of interpersonal relationships hard, sure, but not impossible. Finding ways to work around the unfortunate situation at hand has allowed us to grow stronger and more resilient as a young, Jewish community, and I find that these traits will pave the way for a generation of strong, resilient Jewish adults.

Ariella and her mom Celia are the recipients of a generous Making Jewish Places Microgrant, an initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, which enabled them to assemble ready-to-sew mask kits consisting of pre-cut fabric, elastic, thread and needles. To date, they’ve distributed materials for over 1,300 masks. In addition, they’ve donated over 150 masks — some of which were donated to The Cohen Home and local healthcare workers.  

Hello! I am Ariella, an 8th grader from Suwanee, GA. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Georgia, my mom and I were concerned about how we would obtain masks. Masks were sold out! None to be found.  My mom joined Geekspace’s initiative to sew fabric face and help anyway she could. Many of our friends and family from as far as New York, desperately needed our masks. After sewing a few masks we realized that we couldn’t sew the mask fast enough to keep up with the demand. There had to be another way. We thought about assembling ready-to-sew mask kits for others and they could sew masks too! These mask kits allow us to help those in need, and allow the recipients to have a fun new project to do! But we faced a major obstacle, funding. 

Earlier this year our congregation, Congregation Gesher L’Torah was awarded a Microgrant to sponsor a Camp Shabbat program.  It was so much fun to see the metro Atlanta Jewish community gather together to celebrate Shabbat with Jewish camp friends. Thinking back on that event made us realize that, that microgrant is what we needed to help make this mask initiative a reality.

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We reached out to Carla Birnbaum, the Community Impact Associate for the Making Jewish Places Microgrant program.  She was enthusiastic to join in our mission to provide fabric face masks to anyone who needed one. This project not only gives masks to those in need, but it  “frees-up” the hospital-grade masks for the healthcare workers.

This grant allowed us to make this project an even bigger reality! Til now, we’ve assembled kits to sew over 1,300 masks!  We will keep on doing so until we use up our grant funds.  If the need is still great after the “shelter-in-place” order is lifted, we will use our stimulus check to continue our mission.  We are determined to help everyone we can! To learn more about our initiative and how you can receive a mask head to our website!

NFTY is a movement that builds strong, welcoming, inspired communities through teen-powered engagement. Together, we pursue tikkun olam, personal growth, youth empowerment, and deep connections, all rooted in Reform Judaism. NFTY’s Southern Area Region includes South Carolina; Georgia; Charlotte, NC; Chattanooga, TN; Montgomery, AL; Jacksonville, FL; and Tallahassee, FL.  

When we realized that Spring Kallah would not be happening as we intended it, we were shocked. Our plans for closure with our four years in NFTY were changed drastically in an instant. Leah, the current Religious and Cultural Vice President of NFTY-SAR, and Sarah, the current President of NFTY-SAR, along with the rest of the board, knew that we had to finish our terms to the best of our abilities.

The planning process was very different from what we were used to. We partnered with next year’s recently elected regional board to plan programs and create experiences which would translate virtually. As we began our planning process a lot of questions came to mind. What does a virtual kallah look like?  What are people expecting?  How do we still feel the love and strength of our community via Zoom? These questions were our driving force as we began planning the weekend-long virtual experience. We quickly found the balance between content-rich and simply fun programs. The program plans were solid, but we knew we needed to do something more to bring this all together. 

Adam Griff, our Regional Director came up with the idea of sending everyone an “event in a box,” a way to still give everyone some of the tangible things they’d normally get at an event. This is where our partners at JumpSpark came in! JumpSpark agreed to help sponsor our  “event in a box” idea seeing that it would help keep the NFTY-SAR community strong. With that support, we began creating the boxes for the 150 registered participants. We featured unboxing videos from our participants on our Instagram, showcasing how ecstatic they felt to receive the box, which not only contained a tshirt, name tag, and supplies for programming, but also a handwritten note from a board member. The senior class also received a gift to commemorate their time in NFTY. 

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As soon as we blinked, our Virtual Spring Kallah was here, ready or not! The weekend was a huge success! Over 120 people participated in most of the weekend’s programs and services. Activities included making bird feeders, baking, and an engaging Israel program (just to name 3 of the over 30 different activities planned). Although this was not at all how we envisioned our last event, seniors were still honored in a beautiful Havdallah service and our senior circle speech tradition. 

In the end, all of our hard work was completely worth it when we got to hear about how much SARites loved participating. Jennah Brill, a Junior from Tallahassee said “I still felt really connected…the programs were really well put together and they flowed well too!” We are so grateful to JumpSpark for allowing us to put on the virtual event we dreamed of executing, and are so proud of all of the work our teen leaders put in to plan the weekend.

Hayley Lieberman is a sophomore at the Weber school. She loves singing and writing songs, spending time with family and friends, and being outside.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve found myself writing. Whether it be in a diary, poems, or a country love ballad, I have always used a pen and paper to express my emotions. I first picked up a ukelele when I was in third grade – it was the closest thing I could get to playing guitar. I wrote songs about boys and world peace, inspired by the music around me. For me, writing is a cleansing and therapeutic process, which is channeled through my music. That is why I’ve been writing bundles of songs during this quarantine. 

Every day I sit underneath dim lighting in front of my piano and try to flesh out a melody or lyrics. It passes the time so quickly. I’m not going to lie, writing has been hard this past month; I have nothing new to write about. I try to dive into the lives of TV characters. I’m currently rewatching Gossip Girl, so it’s never difficult to find some drama to write about. 

But writing music isn’t the only thing I’ve been doing. Every day I try to find a new album to indulge myself in. There’s no feeling better than when a song runs deep through my core. I listen to music when I fall asleep, study, wake up, exercise, and more. It makes the boredom and time float away. My current favorite song is “Brave” by Ruston Kelly. It makes me feel like no matter what I’ve been through, I have and will always come out stronger. I think that is a message that resonates with everyone right now. It’s important to remember that no matter what happens, our community will come out of this secure and determined. Now, more than ever, it is important to write about this unique time in history and immerse yourself in your favorite songs. 

My name is Emily Mand. I am a freshman at The Weber School and I love to play tennis, listen to music, and most of all hang out with my friends! Throughout quarantine, I haven’t been able to do a lot of things that I would normally.

As I sat in my house moping about everything that I lost because of this virus, like my first formal dance and my perfect Spring Break, I realized that I shouldn’t be complaining about losing those experiences. I thought about all of the innocent people who have lost their lives from COVID-19 and the doctors and nurses who are fighting to save every life they can”.

With that in mind, I created Hearts for Healthcare Workers. Working with CustomInk I created a t-shirt and logo to raise money for Direct Relief. Direct Relief is a humanitarian aid organization, active in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, with a mission to improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. In this current pandemic, Direct Relief is working in overdrive to get protective gear and critical care medications to as many health workers as possible, as quickly as possible, with emergency deliveries leaving daily for medical facilities across the U.S.donates medical equipment to local medical centers around the country and sends volunteers to help as well. All funds raised from t-shirt sales are going straight to Direct Relief.

My hope is that the fundraiser will not only just help Direct Relief donate more equipment but that this project will inspire others to create something to help stop the spread of this pandemic.

Both my parents and my sister are all doing their part as well. My mom is spending hours and hours making masks for doctors and nurses at Northside Hospital. My sister is making “Thank You” cards for everyone from the UPS driver to the doctors fighting and risking their lives to save patients.

Click here to buy your t-shirt and to help support Direct Relief. I hope to see you wearing your t-shirts soon!! 

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Over the last few weeks, the teens and adults at Creating Connected Communities have been busy helping the community. Even while stuck at home people have been cleaning out closets and reaching out with donations. Through all of these efforts, CCC has been able to donate GoGo squeeZ applesauce, books, snacks, bottled water, games, hand sanitizer, activities, toys, personal care products, puzzles, Play-Doh, and school supplies to people in need!

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Overall more than $8,000 of supplies were donated to community partners, including the Atlanta Police Athletic League (PAL), Community Assistance Center, JF&CS Atlanta, and the Georgia Center for Child Advocacy. It’s amazing that the toys and supplies our community had on-hand are now in the hands of children stuck at home without resources.

“We are honored and thankful that we were able to do a small part of the relief effort by bringing food and supplies to some of our partner agencies during this time. We are so amazed and energized by our incredible community and our teens who collected items for us to distribute, shared our efforts with their networks, and continue to hold items for us to pick up as soon as we are able.” – Tara Kornblum, CCC Program Director

Want to help out? Everyone can continue to sort books, Lego, new toys, and home goods and set them aside for Creating Connected Communities to get after the shelter in place is lifted. Unfortunately, due to stay-at-home orders throughout the state, CCC is no longer accepting donations at this time.

Want to learn more about CCC? Check out their website https://www.cccprojects.org/ or follow them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CCCprojects

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Founded in 2010, Creating Connected Communities (CCC), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring life-enhancing programs to children in need by empowering teens to become engaged community leaders and volunteers.

In partnership with more than 60 Atlanta agencies, the 135+ Jewish teens in our Leadership Development Program plan and implement ten community programs for thousands of children and families in need. They learn valuable leadership skills such as fundraising, public speaking, program planning and more.

Through our programs, children receive thousands of gifts, meals, books and personal care items. They participate in outdoor festivals, carnivals, craft projects, DJ dance parties, and more with the help of hundreds of teen volunteers!