Jews for New Orleans

Navigating the red tape of the school to prison pipeline

Jan 22nd, 2010 by Laura Taishoff | 1

One of the biggest aspects of my job as a Youth Advocate at Juvenile Regional Services is checking in with the kids who are in the post dispositional phase. This means that the juvenile has gone through the sentencing process and is either on probation or in secure care. The majority of juveniles that I work with are on probation, with review hearings as often as every 30 days. That means that every 30 days, the juvenile goes before the judge and the judge looks over the juvenile’s progress, including drug testing, any academic issues, and any other issues that the juvenile is facing. Due to the fact that I have only been at JRS for two months, when I first started I had to go down a list of names and see what was going on with those juveniles.

Learn more about the School-to-Prison-Pipeline by playing a game created by the ACLU: http://www.aclu.org/school-prison-pipeline-game

While routinely going down my list of clients, I happened to call a client with the initials R.J. He didn’t have a review hearing for another four months, but I figured I would check in anyway. I reached his father who informed me that not only was R.J. not currently in school but that the 15 year old had not been enrolled since May of last year. He explained that R.J.’s mother had moved to Texas and had possession of many of R.J.’s documents such as social security card and birth certificate. His father had been fiercely trying to get R.J. enrolled in a school but it seemed that doors were continually being shut in his face. This was infuriating for many reasons, but one of the most important was that R.J. could be sent to jail for not being in school. The juvenile courts in New Orleans view academic issues as being non-compliant with probation. A catchy phrase for the repercussions of this practice is the “school to prison pipeline”. Kids are pushed out of schools for minor disciplinary infractions, or, as in R.J.’s situation, they are kept out of public schools illegally. These juveniles, living without the structure of school, disproportionately end up the criminal justice system with a recidivism rate that will make your head spin. In New Orleans, juveniles have been sent to jail for repeatedly not passing classes or not attending. So the thought of R.J. going before the judge without even being enrolled in any school was a scary one.

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Filed under: Uncategorized, Upcoming Events |

Helping to shelter the homeless: An editorial

Jan 16th, 2010 by Rachel Lee | 0

Rebecca Waxman, a former AVODAH Corps Member, now works with UNITY of Greater New Orleans. This editorial by the Times-Picayune Editorial page staff highlights their extraordinary work during last weekend’s freezing temperatures.

The frigid temperatures that gripped the New Orleans area for five nights last week dipped to a deadly level. But apparently only two of the hundreds of homeless people who sleep on city streets and in abandoned buildings in Orleans and Jefferson parishes were lost to the cold.

Those deaths — one man who perished in a fire in an abandoned building in Bridge City and another who was outside in New Orleans’ Central Business District — are tragic. It is a blessing, though, that there weren’t more fatalities with temperatures in the low 20s night after night. That is due to heroic efforts by caseworkers and volunteers with UNITY of Greater New Orleans, a consortium of 63 organizations working to end homelessness, and the New Orleans Police Department’s homeless outreach unit.

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Filed under: Uncategorized, Upcoming Events |

Corps Member Featured in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent

Jan 1st, 2010 by Rachel Lee | 0

Here’s a taste of a thoughtful article that Rachie Lewis wrote for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent:

“New Orleans is a small town disguised as a city. It has its own culture, its own rituals and its own flavor. People sincerely ask you how you are doing, and will capitalize on any excuse to have a party. As a result of its size, warmth and collective curiosity, our Avodah group often gets attention, sometimes with expressions of gratitude, and other times with criticism, asserting our white privilege.

In my job at the public defender’s office, I work as a case manager, matching clients with the resources they need to facilitate a successful re-entry into society after their legal difficulties. I often have firsthand experiences of feeling like an outsider. Working with a predominantly black population — frequently doing so in spaces that create an uncomfortable power dynamic, such as jail and court — has made me very attuned to the limitations of what I can offer people who will not initially trust me. And why should they?”

You can read the entire article here.

Filed under: Uncategorized |

How I Met Ruth

Dec 23rd, 2009 by Michal Boyarsky | 0

When I spent the night with Ruth, I didn’t even know what her last name was. I didn’t know how old she was, or whether she’d had children, or what her line of work had been.

I met Ruth at a funeral home in Metairie. It was raining and cold when I slid out of the cab, slammed the door shut behind me, and ran with bent head toward the back entrance of the funeral home. I punched in the code and pushed my way in through the unassuming white door. A woman named Sandy from the local Conservative synagogue was there to greet me and show me the way to Ruth, the deceased woman with whom I would be spending the night–I on the couch, she in a plain wooden coffin.

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Pam Dashiell: a leader, an inspiration, a friend

Dec 14th, 2009 by deber | 4

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this blog post about my boss, friend and mentor Pam Dashiell. Pam passed away on the first of the month leaving not only the Lower 9^th Ward community, but the New Orleans and national community in shock. Many people have written about Pam’s passing, from Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, former Mayor Marc Morial, to friends and neighbors and people from as far away as Kazakhstan.

David (center) with Pam and Mack McClendon, of the Lower 9th Ward Village.

I will always cherish my time with Pam. She hired me at the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development without knowing me, welcomed me with hugs, trusted me with important tasks, encouraged me to go above and beyond, and most of all, she was my friend.

Pam had the greatest smile and laugh. Her laugh was heartier than Santa Claus.

My favorite story of Pam is one that I believe is really indicative of the kind of person that she was: In the early 90’s Pam was attending Mardi Gras with her daughter, and even though she was on crutches at the time, she was not going to miss the Zulu parade.

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Filed under: Uncategorized |

Learning and Unlearning Breishit (Genesis)

Dec 11th, 2009 by Rachel Lewis | 1

A few months ago, one of my roommates and I began learning Sefer Brieshit (Genesis) together. Every week, we read a portion of the text in English and discuss our thoughts on the topics and stories at hand. Our chevruta allows me the opportunity to be in a consistent conversation with the Torah and continue unraveling new layers of old, complex and influential narratives. My fantastic and insightful study partner, Jordan, is not too familiar with the bible and therefore is meeting the text with fresh eyes. As a result, what often happens is she will viscerally react to the text and I will add in commentary and understandings I have been exposed to within various Jewish institutions that relate to the particular narrative. I often forget to let her respond first and therefore divulge pre-formed ideas on what the text means. In many of those instances, the understandings that I share fail to align with Jordan’s reading of the same passage. These moments of disparity have opened me up to many new questions regarding the actual content of this sacred text, the value attached to it and its cultural significance.

The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1563). Image from Wiki Commons.

An example of one of these disparities arose when we read and discussed the Migdal Bavel (Tower of Babel) story. I, and perhaps you, have learned (over an over again) that the reason why God mixed up the languages of all the people on Earth was because they were attempting to build a huge structure for the purpose of conquering heaven. As Jordan pointed out to me, that reason is not present anywhere in the plain text; rather that explanation was developed later on by commentators. This dimension of the story embedded in its widespread telling seems to justify God’s actions. But what if the builders’ motives had nothing to do with waging a war on heaven? What if they simply were an efficient, united group of people whose abilities left little need to put all of their faith in God? Then some might say that the problem perhaps may lie more in God’s actions of separation and destruction rather than the actions of the builders. Yet to others, that may be a dangerous message, one that paints a negative image of God. And maybe that is why we receive a more simplified version of the story that stands upon an idea developed outside of the text.

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Filed under: Uncategorized |

“Not Only for Ourselves”

Dec 11th, 2009 by jlichtman | 0

Last week the Forward ran an editorial on Jewish service entitled “Not Only for Ourselves“. The editorial discusses the need for high quality service programs that meet the needs of the people receiving the service, while educating volunteers on the root causes of domestic and global issues. It also raises some questions around how service programs are being used as a tool to build Jewish identity. According to the editorial:

“It is difficult to criticize these well-intentioned behaviors. All of us who have ever dragged our children to food warehouses and soup kitchens, park clean-ups and nursing home visits, try to model a kind of citizenship that is essential to maintaining American civic life. More and more, service activities are also regarded as a powerful tool to shore up Jewish identity and values, especially for a generation accustomed to bar mitzvah projects, high school service programs and the kavod they receive for trying to do good in the world.

But elevating Jewish identity to a goal of such efforts undermines their very purpose. “Service programs that exist and are being created will be successful if, first and foremost, they are about service to others and not about strengthening ourselves,” said Ruth Messinger, who as president of American Jewish World Service is considered a doyenne of well-run service programs. She said this in a recent talk at the opening of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at New York University, and her important remarks deserve a greater audience.”

Unfortunately, the editorial misquoted AVODAH Executive Director David Rosenn regarding service programs’ Jewish outcomes:

“Service has to be about making change in communities, not about making changes in me,” noted David Rosenn, executive director of Avodah, another well-regarded service program. “The last thing we want the Jewish community to do is use communities in distress as a vehicle to build identity.”

This week David’s effort at clarifying his position is published in the Forward:

The Forward editorial “Not Only for Ourselves” raised important issues about the community’s increasing investment in Jewish frameworks for service. These endeavors can’t be viewed as just another effective vehicle for Jewish identity building. They must first and foremost be about the Jewish community making real contributions to repairing the world.

Having said that, it’s simply wrong to think that people who engage in something as challenging and profound as authentic service will not come away shaped by their experience, and I regret that the editorial may have left some readers with the mistaken impression that I believe service shouldn’t be about shaping who we are as individuals and as a people. Quite the opposite.

Jewish frameworks for service are important precisely because they reject the idea that service is exclusively to the benefit of any one group of people. A commitment to serve, especially on a communal level, ought to make a difference not only in the world, but also in the community that undertakes it. For how can we ever sustain the efforts required to achieve justice if we do not learn how to see seeking justice as a part of who we are?

Rabbi David Rosenn

Executive Director

AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps

New York, N.Y.

I encourage everyone to read the original article.

Filed under: Uncategorized |

Tina’s Thoughts on Engaged Listening

Dec 1st, 2009 by Rachel Lee | 1

(This fabulous post is by Corps Member Tina Wexler)

A large component of activism and social engagement is engaged listening, and conversation, with those we agree AND disagree with.

I know it sounds obvious, but in my time down here and at my work at Resurrection After Exoneration, I’ve come to realize that this seemingly obvious ideal is hard to live by on a day to day basis.

"The Talmud, the body of text on which most of modern Jewish laws and values are based, is a record of rabbinic discussions and arguments"

For example, I pore over case files at work displaying blatant miscarriages of justice on the part of District attorneys and police detectives. I listen to extremely eloquent, wise and traumatized men tell me stories of such. So on some days, I find myself leaning towards a general distrust of the criminal justice system, and those who work within it on “the other side”. This is reinforced when I discuss the lessons I learn with those on “the other side” and they assume my entire work consists of putting criminals back on the streets of New Orleans, and Louisiana. As my housemates and I continue to witness and discuss the massive flaws in the social systems we must work within, as we see them abuse and misuse our clients that we have all come to care deeply about, it’s hard not to become more polar, to feel antagonistic to this “system”, to hate it in its entirety.

But then, I speak to my friend who is a police officer, who reminds me in his person and his attitudes that many cops (though he also acknowledges the flaws in many) simply seek to protect and serve justice. What of the district attorney who sees his mission of social justice as protecting society from criminals that harm innocents? What about the exoneree who, after being wrongly imprisoned for 18 years for the murder of his wife, still believes we have one of the best justice systems in the world?

I remember discussing with one or two of my housemates our sheer frustration with people who cling fastidiously to polarizing ideals and seek to turn everything into a dichotomy. And I notice (and am guilty of it myself) that this is much more noticeable in people who disagree with me. Fewer people notice this quality in those they agree with.
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Experiencing Simultaneity

Nov 19th, 2009 by Jordan Aiken | 0

Over the past few weeks I’ve felt excited, nervous, joyous, scared, passionate, confused, ambitious, courageous… sometimes all in the same day and sometimes all in the same hour! It’s such an incredible city with so much to explore and so much that prompts self-exploration. I am tested daily on how I react to different situations, which I think is an incredible opportunity.

Jordan updating the Community Events board at the New Orleans Women's Shelter

My experience at the women’s shelter has been so many things. I love it here! I am the Employment Program Coordinator and have been leading group and individual workshops on resume writing, collecting lists of transferable skills, cover letter writing, mock interviews and job search strategies. It’s been an amazing opportunity to get to know the residents and some of their stories, motivations and hurdles. This shelter is a transitional shelter, so there is no cap on how long residents can stay. There are fewer than 20 residents, which poses obvious conflict for me. I field about 25 calls a day from women and girls seeking immediate shelter and I have to refer them to other shelters or complete screening forms to add them to the waitlist. I constantly struggle with the pros and cons of different types of shelters. Is it best to have an overnight shelter that sleeps 150 people so that fewer people are sleeping under freeways at night? Or is it better to have a transitional shelter that creates a space for women to empower themselves through case management, employment programs, and parenting classes so that they can live outside of the shelter sustainably? A few weeks ago I attended a Domestic Violence conference and in one of the workshops we watched a documentary on women who have been incarcerated and are on life sentence for killing abusive partners in self defense. One woman explained how she was asked, “why didn’t you just leave?” She explained how she had filed over 45 police reports, but all the cops were friends with her husband; she called the one shelter in the area, but they were full; she had nowhere to go. When she tried to leave, she ended up sleeping in her car with her children and then returning back to the house. This made me livid and sad that I could be one of those people on the other line at a shelter telling a person there was no room.

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Filed under: Uncategorized |

The Interpreter

Nov 18th, 2009 by Gillian Locascio | 0

For the last four years, most of my food advocacy has been on a college campus. I worked in my community. I had a stake in the aesthetics, the educational priorities, the social and environmental footprint, and, of course, the food itself. No one questioned if I had a right to be there, voicing my opinions and fighting for my views.

Then I graduated, moved to a new town, and began to work as a community outreach coordinator for a community health clinic. Community outreach coordinator. I remember trying on the title, wondering, What does that even mean? I imagined myself as a sort of translator, making sure that people involved at every level of the clinic could actually have their voices heard. It made a pretty picture in my mind. Translators, though, cannot add their own ideas and opinions. As part of a progressive clinic, whose patients also suffer at higher levels than average of chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, how could I work to advocate for better access to safe, healthy, but still convenient foods? What if the people I was “translating” or “interpreting” for had other priorities? Suddenly, I was struggling with my role, my place as an advocate in a neighborhood that was not mine.

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Filed under: Tulane University Community Health Center at Covenant House, Uncategorized | Tags: cross-cultural communication, public health, undoing racism