News Archive: May 2010

May 31, 2010: JBFCS Quoted in Mental Health Weekly

The May 31st issue of Mental Health Weekly (Volume 20, Number 21) contains an article titled “New York plan to restructure clinics prompts new project to help agencies.”

The article reports on a new project from the Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies — Reengineering the Business Model for New York City’s Behavioral Health Agencies — that will work with NYC organizations to explore and identify the most promising practice models for shared- and third-party provision of program and administrative services. The article includes extensive quotes from Todd Schenk, JBFCS Director of Strategic Ventures.

We are proud to be a participant in the new project and a resource for the media coverage of these important issues.

May 16, 2010: Pure Vision Arts on NY1

This NY1 news feature Disabled Artists Display Vision In Chelsea reports on the JBFCS/ Shield Institute Pure Vision Arts program.

Pure Vision Arts is the first and only studio and exhibition space in the city exclusively for artists with neuro-developmental challenges. During the day, artists paint, draw and sculpt. On some nights, their art tables are cleared out to make way for a swank exhibit. [watch video...]

May 13, 2010: New York Amsterdam News Profiles Mary Pender Green

Healing the world one person at a time
By CYRIL JOSH BARKER, Amsterdam News Staff
Published: Thursday, May 13, 2010

Black New Yorker Mary Pender Green.

Clinical social worker and psychotherapist Mary Pender Green serves as assistant executive director at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS), where she holds the title of chief of social work services and director of group treatment. She dedicates her life to helping others deal with mental health issues.

Born in North Carolina and growing up on a sharecropper’s farm, Pender Greene moved to New York City at age 12. The 10th of 11 children, all of her brothers and sisters live in the city.

“We wanted a better life,” she said. “Working on a sharecropper’s farm wasn’t the life people wanted to live.”

In the eighth grade, she decided that she wanted to be a social worker. Pender Greene would later earn her B.S. and M.S.W. at New York University. She said she was always the “go-to” person to help with people’s problems and was called the “marriage counselor.” Pender Greene also credits two mentors who were social workers.

She worked for the Children’s Aid Society in Harlem in the outpatient mental health department before joining JBFCS in 1984. The organization serves more than 65,000, with 60 percent being people of color.

“When I tell people the name of the organization I work for, they ask, ‘What are you doing?’ But what people don’t realize is that our organization deals with more children and families of color than many small organizations combined.”

JBFCS has over 160 programs and works with people from “cradle to grave.” Pender Greene specializes in people who deal with issues, including depression, divorce and job loss. She also helps children who have behavioral issues.

Also helping people deal with tragedy, she was instrumental in assisting people deal with the mental affects of the Sept. 11 attacks. Recently, she helped several people deal with the anxiety of the Times Square car bomb attempt.

Pender Greene said, “The most important piece of training for any therapist is to be able to separate what’s theirs and what isn’t. If you’re not able to separate your own feelings, you can’t help them. You have to look at the issue from a distance.”

Also an accomplished and sought after public speaker, Pender Greene maintains a private practice specializing in adult relationships. She’s also a published author and is vocal about the ills of racism is America.

She was co-editor of the book “Racism and Racial Identity: Reflections on Urban Practice in Mental Health and Social Services” and the 2008 article “Beyond Diversity and Multiculturalism Towards the Development of Anti-Racist Institutions and Leaders.”

“Many African-Americans don’t seek psychotherapy,” she said. “We see it as something that means we are crazy. We usually talk to our friends, our neighbor or watch ‘Oprah.’ Seeking help is not a part of our culture.”

Pender Greene said that she wants to continue to educate people about the impact of structural racism and be an inspiration to people to join the social work profession.

“I want to encourage people, especially people of color, to seek mental health services that will help them be the best they can be.”

May 10, 2010: The MSW at the Head of the Table — The Trend Away from Social Work Leadership is a Potential Risk for Agencies

Paul Levine, JBFCS Executive Vice President & CEO, writes on professional social workers in executive leadership positions at service agencies in the April issue of NASW Currents (April 2010, Vol 54, No 5, Page 7).

Download Article

May 7, 2010: Mishkon takes a cruise in NY Harbor

Nearly 300 staff and residents of JBFCS Mishkon programs took a festive cruise through the New York City waterways in early May aboard the 147-ft long Atlantis yacht. The Mishkon programs provide services and residential care to persons with developmental disabilities. The residences follow Orthodox Jewish law.


Some Miskon clients visited the bridge of the Atlantis and took a turn at the helm.

May 6, 2010: National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day

Like adults, children and adolescents can have mental health disorders that interfere with the way they think, feel, and act. Mental health influences the ways individuals look at themselves, their lives, and others in their lives. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life. JBFCS is proud to be active partners with SAMHSA and NCTSN on May 6th and everyday.

For more information: www.samhsa.gov

May 5, 2010: Mishkon Dedicates Susan Hecht Tofel Home for Women with Disabilities

JBFCS' Mishkon Division has opened the newly dedicated Susan Hecht Tofel Home in Borough Park, Brooklyn. This 8-bed Individualized Residential Alternative is for women with profound development disabilities to be able to live together and be cared for by professional staff in a setting that is Glatt kosher and follows Orthodox Jewish law.


Many supporters turn out to attend the event.	Susan Hecht Tofel cuts the ribbon to her namesake residence.

Honoree, Susan Hecht Tofel, with her husband, Robert L. Tofel, attended the dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony. Delegates were escorted to a reception area bedecked with floral arrangements while crowds of people marched down the street to the new home, with Mishkon clients proceeding on floats and in wheelchairs. Paul Levine, JBFCS Executive Vice President & CEO, described the impact Mishkon has made on the Jewish community by “providing each parent the right to get help and care without sacrificing a religious environment.”


L-R: Avi Seigel representing the office of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; Susan Hecht Tofel, with her husband, Robert L. Tofel; and a representative from the State Assembly.

May 4, 2010: Prom Dresses Bring Smiles for JBFCS Clients

It's that time of year again — when High School students everywhere start preparing for that annual teen ritual known as “The Prom...” This year, those dances will be extra special for many JBFCS clients.

At a unique event dreamed up and created by Dale Sprayregen (daughter of Trustee Laurie Sprayregen) and her friend Sofia Steinberger, many young women were helped in getting ready for the glamourous dances. Dale and Sofia collected numerous donated prom dresses from their friends and family and arranged to bring them to JBFCS offices for distribution to youth clients at our counseling centers.


L-R: Laurie Sprayregen, Trustee; Sofia Steinberger; Renee Ward, Trustee; Paul Levine, Executive VP and CEO; Carol Davidson, Associate Executive Director; Council Member Hon. Julissa Ferreras; Dale Sprayregen	City Council Member Julissa Ferreras (center) with clients of J.W. Beatman Counseling Center in Riverdale

Clients of MBCS counseling centers in Brooklyn and the Bronx	L-R: Laurie Sprayregen, Sofia Steinberger, Dale Sprayregen, Hon. Julissa Ferreras, Maria Barreto, Director of Youth Counseling League (YCL)

Through the efforts and creativity of these two young women, over 75 lovely prom dresses were provided to clients receiving services from us through our Madeleine Borg Community Services (MBCS) counseling centers.


Two clients of The Harry Blumenfeld Counseling Center in Pelham model dresses.	A client of Doris L. Rosenberg Counseling Center tries on a dress; with L-R: Hon. Julissa Ferreras, Dale Sprayregen, and Sofia Steinberger	A client of Doris L. Rosenberg Counseling Center with Irina Gomelskaya, Designer and MBCS divisional boardmember.