Derek Saker
Director of Communications
OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services
dsaker@ohelfamily.org
718-686-3333 direct | 347 920 0199 mobile | 718 851 2772 fax
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OHEL Has Done MORE in 5772 Thanks To Community Support

As Rosh Hashanah approaches, we at OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services are evaluating the progress achieved this year, and acknowledge that we could not have done this without your support.

These are just a few examples where OHEL has been able to do more for the individuals and families we serve every day of the year.

Since last Rosh Hashanah OHEL Foster Care has been able to meet the needs of a record number of new foster children. Trained OHEL foster families are providing loving care to infants and children - and an increasing number of adolescents. The youngest child placed was a newborn, the eldest - a 15 year old boy. 

Through OHEL Lifetime Care, OHEL has expanded geriatric services to aging seniors and a baby-boom generation that is coming of age. OHEL’s new Caregiver Help Line is providing needed caregiving advice to family members; OHEL’s services to Survivors are providing mental health services to Holocaust Services. The expanded Geriatric Program has allowed OHEL to reach out and help thousands more seniors in need this year.

Camp Kaylie at OHEL, the Dr. Joe Silver Campus, saw the construction of several new buildings including the Elly and Brochie Kleinman Bais Medrash as well as a new gymnasium. Both facilities greatly enhanced the rocking summer enjoyed by over 300 campers of all abilities.

OHEL Bais Ezra’s unique SibShops program continues to rapidly expand into a large number of support groups in New York and now New Jersey.  At these support groups for children who have a brother or sister with a developmental disabilities, participants are empowered, share their feelings and develop new found friendships. OHEL additionally thanks the Spitalnick and Steigman families and Pomegranate Supermarkets for their generosity in helping to expand this program.

Over the last year, OHEL Mental Health has distributed thousands of free copies of the DVD “Unwanted Touch: A Conversation with Your Child” together with twin brochures with advice for parents. The DVD which features Dr. David Pelcovitz, Ph.D., and David Mandel, CEO of OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services, is part of The Sammy and Lea Trencher Cherish the Child Initiative, and it will help provide the tools for parents and members of the community to keep children safe. 

Through OHEL’s Regional Family Centers in Brooklyn, Far Rockaway and New Jersey OHEL has been able to meet the increasing needs of everyday individuals and families who face everyday challenges.

From specialized trauma services to individual and family counseling, OHEL serves thousands and anyone who walks through the doors through the offering of sliding-scale fees. This year the OHEL Behavioral Health and Family Center of Northern New Jersey have been able to provide affordable neuropsychological testing for children at a subsidized fee. 

The Mel and Phyllis Zachter OHEL Institute of Training provided many more workshops and seminars to thousands of participants from the tri-state area and beyond. Those benefiting included clinicians, educators and other health professionals as well as parents, community leaders and interested community members.

OHEL will continue to meet the ever increasing needs of children and seniors and looking ahead, OHEL will be launching a number of new programs for ‘Children of Divorce.’

These are just a small sample of the programs and services that OHEL is offering to you, your family and your community. Follow OHEL this year at www.ohelfamily.org or on Facebook to stay current of latest news, upcoming events, and new programs and services that meet the needs of all in the community. In 5773, and in the 43rd year of service to the community, OHEL is committed to serving even more individuals and families in the community - OHEL & You – Doing Good. Shana Tova to all.