Where is the Economic Recovery?
by Reuben D. Rotman

We have heard rumors that the economy has begun to recover. In some neighborhoods, the glut of “For Sale” signs seems to have declined and the stock market has even had some highs which have not been felt in quite some time. Despite the national rumblings that recovery is on its way, many in our community are struggling in ways they have never before experienced.

With the rampant job losses and business bankruptcies, families who had stretched their savings and lived off unemployment, which has since run out, are now finding themselves at their wit’s end. The stress at home for so many is no longer something that can be contained. Jewish Family Service of MetroWest (JFS) is now averaging between 10 and 15 calls each week from community members who are living in financial distress. Many had never turned to a communal agency before. Our UJC MetroWest agencies have indeed become front line partners with government and the private sector to extend our communal safety net to a much broader swath of our MetroWest community.

Today, staff at JFS are working with families to help them to access basic resources to keep their families afloat. Individuals are at times surprised to learn that they qualify for a range of entitlements, including utility, food, housing or medical assistance. JFS support can help families through an immediate crisis, while also working with families to develop a plan for ongoing stability.

Long thought of as the community’s safety net support for the indigent, JFS has increasingly become a professional resource for all members of the community. Stress and anxiety are not the purview of the poor alone and increasingly those who previously had never found themselves at a loss are turning to the organized community for help and support.

Despite the changing client base at JFS, we still hear from so many that JFS and other UJC MetroWest affiliated agencies are really there for “others.” The stigma associated with asking for help or seeking support from what is perceived as a “community subsidized” resource is too great to bear. The following thoughts are offered in response to this common reaction:

• Asking for help does not indicate a permanent state of hopelessness and does not necessarily result in a commitment to ongoing therapy.

• Help can often come in the form of information for yourself or someone else, guidance on resources outside of the Jewish community, a one-time consultation or a new perspective that you yourself previously had not considered.

• The call for help does not become fodder in our local Jewish News. The specifics of all calls are kept in strictest confidence.

Our MetroWest community is blessed to have a strong, highly organized, professional and responsive network of agencies. These agencies often extend that which government entities might provide, but do so for all members of the community, regardless of income, religious affiliation, personal connection to the UJA campaign, etc. If our network of agencies is to remain strong and relevant, it must continue to serve as a resource to all. You might very well be surprised to learn that your neighbor or other family member at one point has been helped by a UJC affiliated agency.

If you have read this far, you most likely consider yourself to be an active, engaged and committed member of our Jewish community. The sad truth is that the general public, indeed our nation, tends to have short attention spans. News stories remain fresh for only so long. After a while, the economy slips from the front pages of the paper. Often, friends alone cannot help you through the burden of a lengthy job search or the anxiety of meeting monthly expenses. Our task is to keep the social service agenda alive, to ensure that those in need are directed to JFS and other communal resources and to work together to promote a continued strengthening of our safety net. The net cannot be too large, for the demand today is so great.

Reuben D. Rotman is executive director of Jewish Family Service of MetroWest, a UJC beneficiary agency.

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