Who can ever forget their first bike? Their first crush? That first teacher who inspired you to reach for the stars?

“Firsts” are somehow always indelibly etched in our memories, hopefully most often imbued with warmth and positivity.

Fraidy Reiss, founder of Unchained at Last, a grantee for the past few years, was featured in an article written by Samuel Freedman appearing in Saturday’s New York Times. From the day we first met Fraidy over two years ago, heard her story of escaping an arranged marriage and her wish to help other women whose cultures forced them into similar circumstances, we knew that this was an effort we wanted to help. Within a few days, Fraidy and Unchained received their first funding, a grant from the Good People Fund which started them on the road to success. Further funding to Unchained has continued and has also included direct help to some of Unchained’s clients who struggle with serious and often life-threatening situations.

So, it is with great pride that we share the Times’ article…
http://tinyurl.com/m965ton

We are proud of Fraidy and all of the brave women who choose to take this journey to freedom.

Carmela* has called Manhattan’s Morningside Heights her home for over a decade. Though certainly the “big city,” for many of the elders living in the neighborhood, in good part thanks to LiLY’s  Morningside Village program, it is a community where many know each other and stop to chat with neighbors and shopkeepers. At age 91 and with very little English in her vocabulary, Carmela managed with the help of her sister with whom she resided.

That all changed recently, when the landlord tried to evict her after her sister’s death. Fortunately for Carmela, Lifeforce in Later Years-LiLY, one of the Good People Fund’s grantees, was able to come to the rescue. Thanks to our recent grant which allowed Irene Zola, LiLY’s dynamic founder, to hire a Spanish speaking social worker, Carmela was able to prove that she has indeed resided in the apartment for the past decade and all eviction proceedings ground to a halt. Carmela’s daughter says, “I didn’t know we still have people with big hearts. You are like family. I was tormented, and my mother was in tears. Now I am consoled. We can sleep better. God bless you and everyone from LiLY!”

*a pseudonym

Who among us hasn’t teared up at a wedding when the ceremony ends and the groom breaks the serious mood by stomping down on a glass to a chorus of “Mazel Tov” from family and friends?

Though we could not be in attendance there were tears in our eyes as well this morning when Laurie Groner from our Israel program, Inbar, shared this picture and word of last night’s marriage of two Inbar clients (there were actually ten last year alone!). This young organization  offers social events as well as courses in relationships and social integration to people with disabilities and its work is bolstered by the efforts of several matchmakers and other volunteers who work hard to promote Inbar’s goals.

As Laurie wrote, I wonder if it’s the first time the groom has broken the glass under the chuppah with crutches.

It may not have been the first time but we are so proud that the Good People Fund can be part of such special work.

Sometimes words cannot really do justice to the wondrous people and programs we discover and welcome to The Good People Fund family. Traveling through Israel over the past two weeks has opened our eyes to some of the most creative and moving tzedakah efforts we have ever seen.

Menachem Stolpner, a Brooklyn-born social worker who made aliyah about 18 years ago, has founded a beautiful organization called Shai Asher (Milton’s Gift) on Kibbutz Shluchot, not far from Beit Shean. In this pastoral setting, four young adults with developmental disabilities are engaged in meaningful employment under Menachem’s watchful eyes and patient demeanor. It is beautiful. Watch for yourself and see how this nascent program is changing lives, one by one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVoHKCsAfGo

You won’t be disappointed.

Most of the time we find ourselves sharing stories tinged with sadness or despair. This morning, however, we heard about how a few people came together to    make possible the mitzvah of m’sameach katan v’kallah or rejoicing with the bride and groom.
It all began yesterday when Gideon Ben Ami who spends his days helping Tel Aviv’s most forgotten and desperate residents, wrote about a young police officer, an immigrant who came to Israel with no family or friends, and was about to marry. Having very little money the prospective groom and his bride had planned a simple ceremony in Tel Aviv’s Great Synagogue with no real celebration to follow.
Here is where the kindness of others turned the simcha into something very special. Coincidentally, Gideon was a guest at another wedding a few days ago and afterward that bride asked him to deliver the leftover food to a nearby shelter. She also asked him to stop by to pick up the remaining candy and snacks. Gideon shared that the candy and snacks would be perfect for this new wedding he had just learned about and was hoping to make a bit more festive. Upon arriving to pick-up the candy he saw that the new bride and groom left not only the food but also an envelope with 1800 shekels and a note directing Gideon to use the money to help make the couple a proper celebration and to present them with anything that was leftover as a small gift.
Needless to say, with Gideon’s ingenuity and the generosity of many strangers, the young couple married today and enjoyed a reception replete with gorgeous flowers, fresh pastries of all kinds and this special wedding cake prepared by a local bakery. On top if it all, the couple received a cash gift of almost $250 which represented what was left of the original 1800 shekels.

Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah-one mitzvah does lead to another!

There is nothing more important to our work than getting out from behind our desk and actually spending time with our Good People, watching them as they go about their work.

On a bitter cold day last week we trekked into Manhattan to visit Bruce and Liz Gitlin at the New York Center for Law and Justice. To be deaf or hard of hearing is a challenge; to be deaf or hard of hearing and indigent is a further challenge; to be deaf or hard of hearing and indigent in New York City is beyond most of us. In founding the Center (and this is the only center in the entire world with a full-time staff), Bruce and Liz have committed themselves to not only help individuals in their struggles to navigate the “system” but to also change the system to make it possible for people with hearing disabilities to get a fair and equitable chance, no matter where they must interact with bureaucracy of any kind. Access to sign language interpreters or other accepted forms of communication simply must be available.

In the two hours we sat in the Center’s cozy single room office it became very clear that the need for services is considerable and truly life-saving. First to walk through the door was a young woman who had appeared weeks before wishing to gain asylum in America. Sapphire arrived in NY from Jamaica after fleeing a country where as a homosexual she was repeatedly raped and beaten not only for her sexual orientation but also for her disability. In fact, she witnessed the murder of her partner which prompted her flight to New York. Sapphire was visiting to pick up a warm winter coat, hat and gloves which the Good People Fund had coincidentally provided when Liz told us Sapphire’s story weeks before. It was particularly meaningful to be present and anonymously gain further understanding of Sapphire’s situation.

But a short time later, an elderly woman appeared and her story was once again testament to the Gitlin’s mission. In this case the woman had lost or had stolen all of her personal papers including her bank card. For the more than two months that this problem remained unresolved, her bank account had been emptied of the monthly funds she receives as a disabled and indigent individual. Could homelessness be far from her future?

How would any of us navigate these situations? We are so happy to be able to help Bruce and Liz and the clients they save.