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Beit T’Shuvah
Annual Report
2013
8831 Venice Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90034 | 310.204.5200 | www.beittshuvah.org
Table of
Contents
3
Philosophy. Mission. Vision.
6
The Next Chapter
7
You Matter
8
At Last, I’m a Paid Member of a
Revolutionary Organization
The Door is Always Open
Moving Towards Collective Wisdom
Beit T’Shuvah Timeline
Statistics
Success
The Annual Price Tag for Saving a Life
The Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute at Beit T’Shuvah
Development
Levels of Care
Programs
Congregation Beit T’Shuvah
Gambling Program
The Susan & Leonard Nimoy Career Center
Creative Matters (Graphic Design Company)
Beit T’Shuvah Thrift Boutique
Temple Music & Arts
Freedom Song
Youth Services
Alternative Sentencing
Clinical Training
Family Program
Neurofeedback
Mind and Body Fitness
Beit T’Shuvah in the News
Statement of Activities
Performance & Results
Board of Directors / Staff
Foundations
10
11
12
14
15
16
18
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
34
35
36
37
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39
Philosophy. Mission.
Vision.
Our Philosophy
Addiction is a symptom of a divided self; an unhealthy dependence
on substances or compulsive activities to provide a temporary sense of
wholeness and well-being. Through a community rooted in the spiritual
principles of Judaism, authenticity, and transparency, Beit T’Shuvah
members are taught to live in concert with their own inner value, dignity, and
Kedusha – Holiness. Using both traditional and nontraditional approaches,
Beit T’Shuvah believes everyone has the right to redemption, and practices
never turning a single soul away due to their inability to pay... allowing for all
who wish, to make T’Shuvah.
Our Mission
Our mission is to guide individuals and families towards a path of living well,
so that wrestling souls can recover from addiction and learn how to properly
heal. The Beit T’Shuvah faith-based model, founded on authenticity and
wholeness, integrates spirituality, psychotherapy, Jewish teachings, the 12
Steps, and the creative arts. We are a compassionate, supportive community,
devoted to building an empowering sense of belonging and purpose to
everyone who seeks it.
Our Vision
Beit T’Shuvah’s vision is to raise a new generation, one in which the paradigm
of human understanding shifts, so that families can see each member as
autonomous and unique. Helping individuals to live well can penetrate both
the incidence of addiction and beyond…to any family who struggles at all.
Our model, based on authenticity and wholeness, can be applied not solely
to treatment centers and family units, but also to any community organization
that is willing to look within. Ultimately, we hope to be international educators,
pioneering a curriculum that teaches individuals how to live well.
3
Beit T’Shuvah:
The House of Return
T’Shuvah is the Jewish notion of return
or repentance: Every person can atone
for their transgressions, and restore their
relationships with God and man.
4
5
The Next
Chapter
In 1984 I became one of six Jewish Jail Workers locating
Jews in prisons, attending to their personal and spiritual
needs during their incarceration and helping them re-enter
society when released. The paradoxical people I visited
quickly intrigued me.
They knew right and compulsively did wrong. They were
smart and ashamed of their behavior, yet they continually bit
the hand that fed them, and broke the hearts of those who
loved them. Many struggled with multiple addictions for the
majority of their lives. How could I help them free themselves
from their prisons of relapse and recidivism?
I wanted to create a home rooted in Judaism, AA, and
psychotherapy, where people could come to recover their
integrity, and learn how to integrate intention and action. I
called it Beit T’Shuvah—The House of Return.
With FEMA and Jewish Community Foundation funding,
Beit T’Shuvah opened its doors in March 1987. Sybil Brand,
philanthropist and criminal justice advocate, cut the ribbon
at our original house in the Rampart disctrict of Los Angeles.
My subsequent partnership with Warren Breslow (the first
Chairman of the Beit T’Shuvah Board) and Annette Shapiro
(the current President of the Beit T’Shuvah Board) sustained
the original vision and grew it beyond any of our imaginings.
We grew organically in response to need, and quickly outgrew
our modest home. With a little help from their friends, Warren
and Annette formed an independent Board of Directors and
raised $5 million to purchase and renovate our current home.
Now we have outgrown our current facility and need to
expand once again. Thanks to the generosity of Joyce
Brandman, we have purchased the building next door and
have successfully raised over $10 million to renovate the
space for offices and meeting rooms. Our goal for this capital
campaign is $25 million.
Almost 30 years of experience witnessing and treating the
ravages of addiction on families led us to ask the question: is
it possible to “raise the bottom” for people on the brink, and
how do we export what we have learned to “ Addiction First
Responders?” Unfortunately, “Addiction First Responders”—
pediatricians, family doctors, psychiatrists, clergy, educators,
and mental health professionals— unschooled in recognizing
addiction, often misdiagnose addictive lifestyle patterns, and
6
medicate the symptoms instead of treating the underlying
psychological and spiritual causes. If “Addiction First
Responders” could recognize people on the brink of addiction
and be given tools to intervene, could we raise the bottom?
Our answer to this question is the Elaine Breslow Addiction
Institute. Its mission is to teach Addiction First Responders
how to recognize the signs and symptoms of addiction, and
to offer early intervention, referrals, family education, and
residential treatment when appropriate.
Garrett O’Connor, MD, former President of the Betty Ford
Institute for Prevention, Research, and Education in Addictive
Disease, has developed and created the “Addiction First
Responders” project and is our new Institute Director. The
most unique part of the program is that the addicts themselves
will act as the experts, giving health professionals, clergy
and educators palpable insight into the world of addiction.
Learning from “the experts,” will aid in their ability to
internalize and recognize the signs of addiction, giving those
who are struggling the proper help their lives depend on.
Miracles continue to happen at Beit T’Shuvah. As the number
of people needing treatment continues to rise, so does our
budget. With strong community support and funding, we
are able to help people recover their passion and discover
their purpose, and never have to turn anyone away due to an
inability to pay.
On behalf of everyone that has benefited from our program,
we thank you for your dedication and support.
Harriet Rossetto
Founder and CEO
You Matter
With all of these ups and downs we continue pushing
forward because the lives of our residents depend on it.
Our mission is strong, our staff is dedicated, and you—our
community—allow us to keep mission over money and help
those in need.
As the Senior Rabbi and COO of Beit T’Shuvah, I am
tasked with the privilege of reporting on our spiritual and
financial well-being. In our never-ending commitment to
be transparent and to live in truth, I will report that 2013
was both successful and trying.
This year we have continued to maintain a high success
rate in helping people recover their authentic selves, live
well, and be productive pro-social members of society.
In 2013, our Internship/Externship program helped over
80 people find their passion and purpose; they have
maintained their sobriety and are gaining practical work
experience with training that feed their souls.
Our mission is strong, our staff is dedicated, and you—
our community—allow us to keep mission over money
and help those in need.
Thank you for another amazing year!
Rabbi Mark Borovitz
Spiritual Leader
We have visited and counseled over 150 people in
jails, and have made beds at Beit T’Shuvah available
through our Alternative Sentencing Department. Our
social enterprise, Creative Matters (formerly BTS
Communications), has continued to grow and help
other nonprofit organizations enhance their missions by
providing innovative and engaging marketing collateral
including this Annual Report. Our Core Program has
continued to improve and help people reclaim their lost
lives. Our Congregation continues to serve all members
of our community, with our Shabbat services growing in
size and spirit each week.
With all of the success we have had, still, not every person
who has come through our doors has stayed sober and
decent. While we have maintained a stellar “success”
rate, neither it, nor we, are perfect.
Though Creative Matters is doing extraordinary work and
providing numerous internships and jobs, it has yet to
break even. This is also true with our Career Center and
Alternative Sentencing department. While they generate
life-changing outcomes, they do not produce much, if
any, revenue.
With all of these ups and downs we continue pushing
forward because the lives of our residents depend on it.
7
At Last, I’m a Paid Member
of a Revolutionary Organization
Sometime in 2010, having demonstrated the tremendous
success of their therapeutic approach to addiction and
human brokenness on both fronts, Harriet and Rabbi Mark
felt it necessary to ask themselves the only question worth
asking: “What the f--k do we do now?”
On July 19, 1979, the Sandinista Liberation Army forcibly
interrupted a High Mass in progress at the Roman Catholic
Cathedral in Managua, Nicaragua. This was the triumphant
moment when the Sandinistas declared victory in their 20year-long war of resistance to liberate the Nicaraguan people
from a century of tyrannical oppression and dictatorship in
their country.
After the smoke and dust from the raid had cleared, and the
startled members of the congregation had been escorted
to safety, General Tomas Borge, Head of Security and
Intelligence for the Sandinistas, turned to Daniel Ortega,
who had, at that moment, just become Prime Minister, and
said: “What the f--k do we do now?”
Cynical Sandinista critics raise doubts about whether or
not this much quoted question was actually asked, and
instead, prefer to label it as “yet another” piece of deceptive
political propaganda. However, during a visit to Nicaragua
in 1989 as members of a delegation from the Office of The
Americas to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Sandinista
victory, my wife, Fionnula Flanagan, and I had a chance to
meet privately with General Borge who assured us that he
had indeed addressed the question to Daniel Ortega in
the Cathedral, and that it was, in fact, true, including the
expletive!
Now, what on earth has this got to do with Beit T’Shuvah?
Quite a lot, as it turns out! The revolutionary, daring and
ground-breaking therapeutic organization of Beit T’Shuvah
was founded in 1987 by Harriet Rossetto to liberate addicted
Jewish men and women with a good prognosis for recovery
from the injustice of incarceration, and to offer them hope
for spiritual redemption and a successful return to society.
Soon, she was joined in her pioneering mission by a liberated
ex-con, later to become Rabbi Mark Borovitz, who had
just been released from Chino State Prison after serving a
sentence of 4 ½ years. For the next 25 years, with financial,
spiritual and emotional support from sympathetic members
of the Los Angeles Jewish Community, Harriet and Rabbi
Mark have struggled courageously and successfully on two
8
fronts. Their first campaign was to fight against the injustice
of incarceration for male and female Jewish addicts with
a good prognosis for recovery. The second was to rescue
hopeless, shunned and broken people of any faith—or
no faith at all—who have been cast out by the combined
power of addiction, malignant shame and societal rejection
to live—and too often, to die—on the rotting dung heaps
of ignominious failure in our homes, towns, cities and
communities.
Sometime in 2010, having demonstrated the tremendous
success of their therapeutic approach to addiction and
human brokenness on both fronts, Harriet and Rabbi Mark
felt it necessary to ask themselves the only question worth
asking: “What the f--k do we do now?”
Well, what they did was build the Elaine Breslow Addiction
Institute, which was made possible by the generosity of many,
but especially by Joyce Brandman, whose magnanimous
donation literally got the project off the ground.
On March 1, 2013 I joined the Beit T’Shuvah staff as
Director of the Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute. I had
known something about the history and philosophy of Beit
T’Shuvah for some time but I had no idea that its approach
to treatment was unique in this country, and maybe even
the whole world. Like the Sandinistas, the mission of Beit
T’Shuvah is to liberate people from the tyrannical slavery
and oppression of addiction, and to help them search
for, confront and finally tame the relentless, dictatorial
slave master that exists within each one of us. This cruel
and heartless inner presence—which I call malignant
shame— can destroy and disintegrate the lives of anyone,
but especially weakened and vulnerable addicts, not to
mention their families. It follows, of course, that in order to
be competent in helping residents to perform this task, staff
must be willing and able to do the same thing on a daily
basis within themselves.
The Beit T’Shuvah mission is to mend broken people, heal
wounded hearts, and help damaged souls who come to
us for help to recover their integrity, discover their passion
and restore their humanity by assuming responsibility and
accountability for their actions. This level of communal
good citizenship is expected from each member of the
community, from the top leadership down to the newest
arriving resident.
I wish I had discovered Beit T’Shuvah in the middle 70’s
when my drinking was at its most self-destructive, and my
conduct most harmful to others. But having spent almost 37
years as a sober member of Alcoholics Anonymous helping
other suffering alcoholics achieve sobriety, I now regard
my participation as a proud member of the Beit T’Shuvah
Spiritual Community as a sort of graduate course that
challenges and encourages me to go further on my journey
in spiritual recovery then I had ever expected or intended.
My work at Beit T’Shuvah—House of Redemption and
Return—is showing me new dimensions of my spiritual
awareness, including a fresh understanding of the
mysticism of AA, and the miraculous capacity of spiritual
practice in the context of community— to transform the
negative emotions of addiction, such as malignant shame,
guilt, anger and rage, into positive emotions such as hope,
humility, compassion, forgiveness and love. I am also
gaining a deeper understanding of grief and loss, as well
as a new perspective on the umbilical connection between
malignant shame, perfectionism, intimacy and authentic
suffering.
Incidentally, Nicaragua, under the Sandinistas, is
now, comparatively speaking, a thriving country with
compassionate social policies of forgiveness and redemption
for former enemies that has resulted in a much higher
standard of living for all of its people, and a resurgence of
the native poetry for which Nicaragua is justly world famous.
I hope you will not complain if I contend that the same
can be said for Beit T’Shuvah and the people it so lovingly
serves and employs–which includes me, of course. I am
eternally grateful to Harriet, Rabbi Mark and the Board
for trusting me to lead Beit T’Shuvah’s next revolutionary
expedition into the humanitarian crisis of the prescription
drug epidemic that is now growing rapidly out of control
in the relatively unmapped medical territories of Addiction
Prevention, Research and Education.
(For more about the Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute,
please turn to Page 18)
Garrett O’Connor, M.D.
Director, The Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute
9
The Door is
Always Open
Everyday men and women walk through our doors and
begin a life-altering, spiritual journey of recovering their
passion and discovering their purpose.
An open door is a warm welcome; it is outstretched arms
to those who are struggling, and it is acceptance. An open
door offers 2nd and 3rd chances because a life is too
precious to give up on. Beit T’Shuvah has been dedicated
to keeping its doors open to lost souls and struggling
addicts since 1987. As our program continues to evolve,
and with our facility’s ongoing expansion project, we
remain committed to our original mission.
Everyday men and women walk through our doors and
begin a life–altering, spiritual journey of recovering their
passion and discovering their purpose. I am grateful
to everyone who has helped us keep our doors open to
those in need. It is because of your support that we can
continue saving lives. As a volunteer for over 20 years, I
have witnessed firsthand the incredible transformation
of thousands of individuals and families that have come
through Beit T’Shuvah’s doors. This experience has forever
changed my life and has given me my own renewed sense
of passion and purpose.
It is with great excitement that we will soon open the
doors to our remodeled facility and new campus. A
comprehensive,
education-focused
and
hands-on
approach will educate even more people about the depths
of addiction, and better treat and prevent this heinous
disease from afflicting our friends and loved ones. Joyce
Brandman was instrumental in making our new campus
become a reality; the appreciation I have for her and her
generous contribution to Beit T’Shuvah is indescribable.
The growth of Beit T’Shuvah would not be happening
without Joyce or the overwhelming generosity of our
community. In 2014 our staff, volunteers, and community
will continue to support all who walk through the door
10
to recovery, reuniting loved ones with their families, and
reengaging individuals with the type of passion that leads
to fulfilling lives.
Annette Shapiro
President, Board of Directors
Moving Towards
Collective Wisdom
When human beings gather in groups, a depth of awareness
and insight, a transcendent knowing, becomes available
to us that, when accessed, can lead to profound action.
How do we grow and sustain the work of Beit T’Shuvah
while maintaining the heart, soul, and entrepreneurial spirit
of our unique organization?
That is the question at the heart of our remarkable
engagement with the Organizational Spirituality Initiative
(OSI). OSI is a project of the Angell Foundation. Beit
T’Shuvah was invited to apply (and was selected) for this
two-year grant, which includes comprehensive consultation
with the Center for Collective Wisdom, led by the wise and
talented John Ott and Rose Pinard. As part of the OSI,
we were asked to look at “adaptive dilemmas” facing Beit
T’Shuvah.
During the first year of the OSI, we have engaged staff at
all levels, along with board members, volunteers, and other
stakeholders in our community to work on four general areas
of focus: Leadership, Community, Program Excellence and
Fiscal Sustainability. Each of these work groups is led
by members of executive management and engages in
collective wisdom practices to help move us to the next
level of action. What do we mean by collective wisdom?
John and Rose define it as follows:
that allow collective wisdom to emerge, and with regular
re-evaluation of our progress and our goals, we are moving
forward. Building a culture of leaders at Beit T’Shuvah that
thoughtfully moves us into the next stage of our growth
allows us to continually improve our programs, more deeply
connect with our community, enable shared leadership and
effective succession planning, and strengthen our financial
stability—all while continuing to serve the needs of those
we help.
The Center for Collective Wisdom has proven an incredible
resource throughout this process, providing invaluable
guidance through retreats, workshops, and facilitation of
meetings. I am confident that the benefit of this engagement
to the Beit T’Shuvah community will be felt for many years
to come.
Bill Resnick, MD, MBA
Chair, Board of Directors
When human beings gather in groups, a depth of awareness
and insight, a transcendent knowing, becomes available to
us that, when accessed, can lead to profound action. We
call this transcendent knowing collective wisdom.
This knowing is not of the mind alone, nor is it of any
individual alone. When this knowing and sense of right
action emerges, it does so from deep within the individual
participants, from within the collective awareness of the
group, and from within the larger field that holds the group.
Through extensive training in the precise tools and skills
11
Beit T’Shuvah Timeline
1991
Beit T’Shuvah
receives the Isaiah
Award from the
Jewish Federation
for meeting a
previously unmet
community need.
1998
Temple Beit T’Shuvah
holds High Holy Day
Services for the first
time.
1999
The first item is sold
at The Hal Wiseman
House of Return; now
known as BTS Thrift
Boutique.
2000
Rabbi Mark Borovitz
is officially ordained
by The University of
Judaism.
1987
Beit T’Shuvah opens
its doors at 216
South Lake Street
in Downtown Los
Angeles—a tiny
Halfway House for
eight men and a
single employee,
Harriet Rossetto.
12
1996
With seed funding
from the Jewish
Community
Foundation, Beit
T’Shuvah opens a
female residential
program.
1999
Beit T’Shuvah
moves to
8831 Venice
Boulevard
in West Los
Angeles.
2003
Partners in
Prevention
visits its first
school.
2000
The Susan and
Leonard Nimoy
Career Center
opens.
2006
Partners in
Prevention
receives a
Covenant
Foundation
Grant to
expand its
program on a
national level.
2008
With a small closet
for an office, BTS
Communications
(now Creative
Matters) begins to
take shape with the
vision of a former
resident and a
couple of interns.
2009
A partnership with
UCLA begins.
The Right Action
Problem Gambling
Program becomes
the only state
recognized
program for
the treatment
of gambling
addiction.
2011
BTS
Communications
(now Creative
Matters) receives
the Jewish
Community
Foundation
Cutting Edge
Grant to train 50
interns over three
years.
2013
Sacred
Housekeeping:
A Spiritual
Memoir by Harriet
Rossetto is
published.
2012
A partnership with
the Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s
Department
begins. Sheriff
Leroy D. Baca
invites Rabbi
Mark Borovitz
to Pitchess
Detention Center
to address
inmates with
insight into a
better way of life.
2012
The Israeli Consul
General David
Siegel makes a
historic first visit to
Beit T’Shuvah.
2013
CEO, Founder and
Author, Harriet
Rossetto, receives
her first invitation
to the annual
White House
Chanukah party.
“Full of riches, guides to a spiritual life and frank and vivid truths.”
– LEONARD NIMOY, WORLD RENOWNED FILM & TELEVISION ACTOR
SACRED
HOUSEKEEPING
a spiritual memoir
HARRIET ROSSET TO
Edited by Reeva Hunter Mandelbaum
Spiritual_Housekeeping2.0.indd 1
2009
First annual Beit
T’Shuvah Run to
Save a Soul Team
runs The LA
Marathon.
2011
The Capital
Campaign
begins shortly
after Beit
T’Shuvah
purchases
the majority
of the Venice
Boulevard block
between Vera
and Ivy.
2011
The Comey
Avenue property
opens, made
possible by
Stuart Resnick,
offering a
transitional living
compound to
Beit T’Shuvah
graduates.
2013
Dr. Garrett
O’Connor, former
President and
Chief Psychiatrist
of the Betty Ford
Institute, is named
the new Director of
the Elaine Breslow
Addiction Institute
at Beit T’Shuvah.
1/22/13 10:44 AM
2013
Over 1,000 people
attend High Holy
Day Services at the
Agape International
Spiritual Center,
which we recorded
and live streamed
for thousands of
viewers.
13
Statistics
Overdoses involving prescription painkillers are
at epidemic levels and now kill more Americans
than heroin and cocaine
COMBINED.
1
There are more than
12 MILLION
ALCOHOLICS
90%
More than
of people with
addiction began smoking, drinking, or
using other drugs before age 18. 3
in the U.S. 2
Americans die from a
prescription drug overdose
EVERY 19 MINUTES.
4
The United States is 5% of the world’s
population and CONSUMES 75%
of the world’s prescription drugs. 5
52 MILLION People in the US over the age of 12
have used prescription drugs non-medically in their lifetime .6
Bill Moyers wrote that, “during the past 30 years, the number of
inmates in federal custody has
,
7
and half of them are serving sentences for drug offenses.”
GROWN BY 800%
1 CDC Director Thomas Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. [cdc.gov] | 2 National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence [ncadd.org] |
3 National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse [casacolumbia.org] | 4 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[cdc.gov] | 5 National Institute on Drug Abuse [drugabuse.gov] | 6 National Institute on Drug Abuse [arugabuse.gov] |
7 Incarceration Nation [sentencingproject.org]
14
Success
3,650
Addicted adults have been through
Beit T’Shuvah’s residential treatment program.
2,345
Outpatient clients have sought and
found recovery at Beit T’Shuvah.
10,150
Inmates in jail have received emotional, spiritual
and advocacy services from Beit T’Shuvah.
1,540
Non-addicted people struggling with life
stressors have found transformation through our
counseling and therapeutic services.
10,400
Family members have learned about addiction, and
received therapy that provided healing and healthy
relationships with their addicted loved one.
56,000
Adolescents have learned how to make informed choices
through Beit T’Shuvah’s Youth Services Program.
78,000
People have had their spirits lifted in the audience of
Beit T’Shuvah’s original musical “Freedom Song.”
94,700
People have been infused with the essence and love of Judaism through Beit
T’Shuvah’s annual High Holy Day and weekly Shabbat services.
15
The Annual Price Tag
for Saving A Life
The true cost of treatment is invaluable! Our mission is to never turn anyone away for financial reasons.
Because 70% of our residents pay less than $1,000 a month towards their cost of care, we rely on
the support of our donors, as well as the numerous clinicians who donate countless hours to assist
in the recovery of our residents.
The
16
Primary FRirst 6 months
ESIDENTIA
L TREATME
value of
NT
go
ods, serv
ices and
$17,000 a
care prov
month in
ided appr
Primary RE
oximates
SIDENTIAL
TREATMENT.
The monthl
y value of
goods, se
rvices an
d care pr
board
ovided in
cludes:
food
[3 meals
$1,000.00
a day + u
nlimited
transport
snacks &
$1,200.00
ation
beverages
]
therapist
[1x/week]
counselor
$100.00
[2x/week]
spiritual
$1,000.00
counselor
[1.5x/wee
psychiatr
k]
$1,200.00
ist [1x/m
o
n
t
h]
groups [2
$1,200.00
5 groups/
week]
torah stu
$200.00
dy & ethi
c
s [6x/wee
mind and
k]
$6,000.00
body FITN
ESS
[up to 6x
$800.00
/week on
a
group & i
yoga, pra
n
d
$
ivual bas
1,200.00
yer & med
is]
itation,
nutrition
surf ther
, fitness
a
p
y
,
training,
music/art
acupunctu
s
re
[up to 6x
/week on
group and
choir, vo
individua
$800.00
ice, inst
l]
r
ument,
creative
writing,
art thera
brain map
py
ping [2-3
x
/week]
Recreatio
n/“Mandat
ory Fun”
Family ed
[2x/week]
$300.00
ucation [
1
/week]
Family Pr
$
160.00
ocess [1/
week]
Family in
$
2
40.00
dividual
therapy [
Vocationa
1/week]
$480.00
l Service
s (Career
[After so
Center)
$600.00
meone has
been a re
amounts t
s
i
d
$
e
600.00
nt for 3
o $200/mo
months, w
nth] [3x/
resume bu
h
w
i
e
c
e
h
k
o
ilding, j
n Intake,
ob search
testing,
assistanc
e]
TOTAL- $1
7,080 x 6
months= $
102,480
Also prov
ided but
not inclu
services
ded in th
and care
e above v
is our Al
aluation
ternative
program,
of goods,
at an ann
S
e
n
t
e
n
c
i
ng Progra
ual value
m. This
of $150,0
00, serve
our popul
s 20% of
ation.
months ATMENT
6
d
n
E
Seco
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17
The Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute at Beit T’Shuvah
By Garrett O’Connor, M.D., Director
Based on the successful development of the Beit T’Shuvah
Integrative Model for Addiction Treatment in a “Proof-ofConcept” Clinical Trial of the method lasting more than 25
years, the Beit T’Shuvah Board of Directors established
The Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute (EBAI) in March
of 2013.
A central aim of the Institute is to communicate to the
addiction field - and perhaps to society at large - a variety of
clinical perspectives on addiction and recovery, drawn from
the Beit T’Shuvah treatment model that uniquely integrates
thought and action, emotion and intellect, body and soul,
spirituality and brain, without neglecting one for the other.
We believe that the Institute is on track for a Formal Opening
in the fall with a major Event in the New Synagogue. We
are honored and proud that George Vaillant, M.D., Harvard
professor, and perhaps the world’s most respected addiction
psychiatrist, has agreed to be the keynote speaker for the
historic launching of the Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute
at Beit T’Shuvah.
Approximately 50,000 of the 350,000 annual deaths in the
U.S. from drug-related causes result from intentional or
accidental overdoses of prescription drugs – especially
narcotic pain-killers. This amounts to an undeclared – but
preventable - humanitarian crisis in our country that is killing
large numbers of people, many of them teenagers, at a rate
that now exceeds the annual death toll from homicides and
automobile accidents combined!
18
The EBAI Mission
The mission of the Institute is to create and implement
educational programs for health care professionals,
designed to further understand, and eventually reduce, the
psychological and spiritual carnage caused by addiction to
adults, children, families, organizations, communities, and
ultimately to the larger society as a whole.
The Institute is organized into two departments, both
focusing on preventing the onset of addiction.
1. Professional Education and Immersion Training for
“Addiction First Responders”
2. Treatment Outcomes Research
The EBAI Treatment Outcomes Research Program is being
designed in partnership with a senior group of world-class
academic researchers from UCLA, USC and Cedars-Sinai
Hospital.
Background
The term “First Responders” was used originally to
describe professionals such as police officers and fire
fighters who were highly trained to perform emergency
medical, psychological and spiritual interventions at the site
of natural or man-made disasters.
Noting that the “broken” people who come to Beit T’Shuvah
for sanctuary and treatment are those whose lives have
become “disasters” because of alcohol, drugs and other
addictions, we wondered if “Addiction First Responders”
might serve the same purpose for helping addicts as they
do for trauma victims, thus preventing further progression of
the disease. But where could we find such professionals?
Soon, we realized that they were already among us in great
numbers: physicians, especially family doctors, psychiatrists
and pediatricians, clergy, dentists, pharmacists, teachers,
judges, parents, and others – all of whom encounter
alcoholics and other addicts in their daily rounds.
Educational Programs for Addiction First Responders
In order to accommodate the varying needs of different
professional groups, the Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute
is offering 5 levels of training:
• A free standing 90 minute presentation;
• A ½ day program;
• A full day program;
• A 3-Day Residential Immersion Workshop;
• A 5-Day Residential Immersion Workshop
However, there was a problem. 80% of these professionals
have never been adequately trained to diagnose or treat
alcoholics or other addicts, and as a result, tend to ignore
and avoid them in their practices. Why? They are Addiction
First Responders who don’t know how to respond to
addicts! Nobody had ever told them about the financial,
moral, and often anti-social behaviors to which alcoholics
and other addicts must defend in order to maintain and
sustain their addiction on a daily basis. They have no
knowledge about the depth of the malignant shame that is
the dark companion of every addict. They had never been
taught about the life-saving importance of being able to
recognize addiction in its early stages of development, and
to perceive – and receive - suffering alcoholics and other
addicts with hope, compassion, humility, gratitude, joy and
respect, rather than fear, suspicion, revulsion and contempt.
Physicians, clergy and other helping professionals are
provided with experiential and didactic opportunities to
learn about Addiction and Recovery through in-depth
personal participation. Depending on the level of training
they chose, the participants become temporary members
of Beit T’Shuvah’s spiritually-based Integrative Treatment
Program that has proven to be so successful for restoring
severely ill addicts to purposeful and productive lifestyles.
While professionals from academic and clinical settings will
provide didactic education about addiction, the backbone
of the faculty for the Immersion Training Workshops is drawn
from alcoholics and other addicts currently in treatment at
Beit T’Shuvah. These individuals can teach from the unique
positions of their own experience as addicts and the harsh
reality of living in a permanent state of malignant shame
because of their addictions.
Our hunch about the lack of training in addiction for
physicians, clergy and other helping professionals was
confirmed by an authoritative 5-year study published in 2012
by the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse
at Columbia University in New York, which concluded that
“most physicians who should be providing treatment for
alcoholics and other addicts are not sufficiently trained
to diagnose or treat addiction!”
On March 31, 2014, a cohort of five Jewish Educators and
one Rabbi from the Leadership Institute, a program guided
by the vision of the New York School of Education at Hebrew
Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) and
the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education
at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), flew in from
New York for the Institute’s Inaugural 5-day Workshop that
proved to be very successful. “Life changing,” “amazing,”
“transformational,” “revolutionary,” “a huge success!” “I
never experienced anything like it,” etc… were among the
evaluations describing the experience of the participants.
The reality is that physicians encounter alcoholics and other
drug addicts in their practices all day, every day! However,
because drug-seeking addicts are adept at presenting
themselves to physicians with false symptoms designed
to solicit a prescription, these unschooled physicians are
likely to mistake the psychological symptoms of addiction
for physical and/or mental illness, and to mis-treat the
patient with highly addictive, but frequently unnecessary,
mind-altering drugs, including narcotic painkillers.
It follows then, that almost any doctor’s office in the U. S. can
be a dangerous place for an alcoholic or drug addict to seek
help because he or she may be diagnosed with the wrong
illness, and, therefore, may not get the right treatment. In
fact, there is a good chance that an addicted patient will
head straight to the nearest pharmacy after leaving the
untrained physician’s office with an erroneous diagnosis
of Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, Bi-polar Disorder, Insomnia,
or Chronic Pain and a prescription for one or more mindaltering and/or narcotic pain-killing drugs. This “treatment”
may actually mask the patient’s undiagnosed addiction, and
put him or her at risk for serious harm – up to and including
death.
Evaluation and Follow-up
Workshop participants will complete a survey of their prior
knowledge of addiction and their expectations before they
arrive. A comprehensive evaluation form will be completed
on the final day. Thereafter, they will be followed up by
telephone and/or face-to-face interviews at 3-month,
6-month, and 12-month intervals to evaluate (a) changes
in their personal and professional attitudes towards
addicts and addiction, and (b) the impact of the Workshop
experience on their daily practice with patients.
Workshop Staff
In addition to the teaching faculty composed of Beit
T’Shuvah residents, the Addiction First Responders Project
is co-directed by Garrett O’Connor, M.D., Director of the
Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute, and Medical Advisor for
the Beit T’Shuvah Addiction Treatment Program; Harriet
Rossetto, MCSW, Beit T’Shuvah’s Founder and Chief
Executive Officer; Rabbi Mark Borovitz, M.D.A, Senior
Rabbi and Spiritual Leader of Beit T’Shuvah, and Matt
Shapiro, Director of Jewish Education. Jennifer Gerber is
the Administrator of the Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute.
19
Development Department
One of the most frequent questions people ask about
Beit T’Shuvah is how we have enough money to sustain
our mission of never turning anyone away because of an
inability to pay for treatment services. Of our 145 beds, on
average 50% are filled by residents who pay nothing to be
here and 40% of our residents pay less than a quarter of
their cost of care. So it is no surprise that people wonder,
“How, exactly, does Beit T’Shuvah support itself?” With
an annual budget of approximately $8,000,000, roughly
50% of the money necessary to fund our annual operations
comes from fundraising efforts. This work is due in no small
part to the efforts of a very special group: Beit T’Shuvah’s
Development department.
The department, led by Harriet Rossetto, Ali Gabler, Barbara
Friedman, Jenn Gerber, and Brian Rivera, in conjunction
with the Development Committee led by Janice KamenirReznik and Lise Applebaum, has just one task: to raise
approximately $4,000,000 every year. To accomplish this
requires the extreme dedication of our professional staff and
countless hours provided by volunteers. In addition to our
numerous and very generous philanthropic donors, there
are a myriad of targeted giving campaigns and initiatives
conceived of and executed by the department.
The Development department also coordinates over 10
events a year, with the biggest fundraisers being the Circle of
Majesty Luncheon, the BTS Open Golf Tournament, and of
course the annual Steps to Recovery Gala. The Gala alone
must generate at least $1,000,000 every year to support
our operations. Beit T’Shuvah is also one of the biggest
fundraising charity teams of the Los Angeles Marathon.
The Development department is also continuously
researching and applying for grants that not only help
sustain our general treatment program, but also the many
complementary programs we offer to our residents as part
of the unique integrated recovery model at Beit T’Shuvah.
Most recently, we have received grants for our Youth
Services and Residential Treatment programs, in addition to
our social venture, Creative Matters.
Beit T’Shuvah is in the business of saving lives and none
of that would be possible without the dedication of the
dynamic Development team. For them, saving lives is a
passion, since each of our staff members was given the
chance to benefit from our treatment program, find their
lives and purpose, and now gives that same opportunity to
others.
Capital Campaign
Great progress has been made towards reaching
the goal of the Capital Campaign. Several important
naming opportunities remain available for major
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donors; the Development Department continues to
pursue prospective donors and is optimistic that the
Capital Campaign goal will be achieved.
Levels of
Care
Primary Residential Treatment
The Primary Residential Treatment program is tailored
to residents in their first 90-120 days of recovery. The
program includes individual and group counseling,
therapy, spiritual counseling, Shabbat and Jewish
holiday services, and an introduction to Alcoholics
Anonymous and the principles of the 12-Steps. Beit
T’Shuvah provides an array of group instruction: covering
such topics as substance abuse education, relapse
prevention, AA step study, Jewish ethics, relationships,
life skills, health, anger management, conflict resolution,
personal responsibility, and hygiene. Primary residents
are also offered the opportunity to participate in our
Complementary Programs, which include a wide array
of creative programming such as: choir, recording studio
sessions, theater arts (Freedom Song), organic gardening,
and more. Recognizing that substance abuse is not only
a disease of the mind, soul, and spirit, but of the body
as well, Beit T’Shuvah primary residents can also engage
in activities like yoga, fitness training, surf therapy,
snowboarding and the LA Marathon—our “Run To Save
A Soul” team and training program.
During this phase of recovery, residents are encouraged to
resume work and to take on the responsibility of contributing
to their cost of care. Residents continue to participate
in counseling, therapy, Torah study, and 12-Step work.
Located on a separate floor of the Beit T’Shuvah campus,
residents of this community-within-a-community enjoy
autonomy while still receiving the healing presence of the
greater community.
Day Patient
Alumni After Care
Day patient treatment—often a transition to Primary
Residential Treatment , on-site treatment care—is tailored
to fit each individual’s needs. Care ranges from weekly
individual counseling sessions to full participation in daily
groups, individual therapy, Shabbat services, and Torah
study.
Recovery from addiction is a life-long process that requires
ongoing vigilance. Upon completion of our program,
Beit T’Shuvah alumni are encouraged to remain active
participants in our community. Beit T’Shuvah continues
as a resource beyond graduation with the celebration of
sober birthdays, annual alumni events, family education
and multi-family groups, as well as invitations to
Beit T’Shuvah’s numerous events and functions. Our
congregation and regular friday night services keep alumni
connected and part of the community for the years after
they graduate treatment.
Extended Residential Treatment
After 90-120 days in treatment, Beit T’Shuvah residents
graduate to our Extended Residential Treatment program.
Off Campus Transitional Living
By the time a resident is ready to complete the Extended
Residential Treatment program, it is anticipated that the
resident’s awareness and acceptance of their commitment
to recovery is sufficient to maintain a recovery plan with
a greater level of independence. For our graduates, Beit
T’Shuvah offers off-site housing within walking distance
of our main campus. These residents are encouraged to
facilitate their transition into life by paying rent, managing
their own work and social lives, while still living within a
supportive and loving sober community.
21
Recovering
Judaism
Congregation Beit T’Shuvah
We guarantee you’ve never experienced a synagogue
quite like Congregation Beit T’Shuvah. It doesn’t matter
what sect or denomination of Judaism you were raised
in – or if you have never dabbled in Judaism before at all.
Our incorporation of “Recovering Judaism” is specifically
designed to allow you to integrate faith into your daily life.
Beyond that, Congregation BTS is the spiritual core of our
community, pushing individuals to continually strive for
spiritual development.
Our congregation began under a small tent in 1987 in the
backyard of Beit T’Shuvah’s original property on Lake Street
in a less than savory downtown LA neighborhood. Less than
a dozen residents would congregate for weekly Shabbat
services with Harriet Rossetto acting as both cantor and
rabbi. From those humble beginnings, our congregation has
flourished to include over 250 families and 145 residents.
22
Our Friday night services typically have 300 people in
attendance and, this past year, over 1,000 people gathered
with us to celebrate the High Holy Days.
With the opening of our new space next door, our
congregation is exploring new forms of spiritual growth. The
new building project will not only house the Elaine Breslow
Additcion Institute, it is proving to be a larger and more
robust home for spiritual nurturing and fulfillment. The facility
provides a superior and improved space for everything from
weekly Shabbat Services to community events.
We whole-heartedly welcome every type of person and love
every type of soul.
For more information about Beit T’Shuvah’s Congregation
please contact Adam Siegel at ASiegel@beittshuvah.org.
Living
Well
Gambling Program
The Beit T’Shuvah Right Action Gambling Program is
a holistic, therapeutic community that treats gambling
addiction from multiple angles in collaboration with The
UCLA Gambling Studies Program and the California Office
of Problem Gambling. We consider compulsive gambling a
serious affliction of the body, mind, soul and spirit, incurred
through unhealthy living over time.
Beit T’Shuvah’s various complementary programs, affording
our clients the broadest possible perspective on the causes
of their behavior, leading to healthy and spiritually minded
lifestyles.
For more information about the Gambling Program please
contact Yael Landa at 310-204-5200 Ext. 223.
Every aspect of a person’s life can be affected by gambling;
our program focuses on helping clients take the first steps
toward putting the pieces back together and restoring
manageability to their lives. The integrative recovery
model at Beit T’Shuvah is committed to treating the whole
individual and affected families.
Our clinical team creates individualized treatment plans
that incorporate gambling-specific group therapy, intensive
individual therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical
behavior therapy, and mindfulness-based relapse
prevention. Residents of this program are also exposed to
23
Recover Your
Passion
The Susan & Leonard Nimoy
Career Center
Many recovering addicts and alcoholics struggle to
navigate the daunting world of employment and education
once they get sober, especially with lapsed work history
and negative legal records. The purpose of the Susan
and Leonard Nimoy Career Center is to combat that
reality by acting as the practical bedrock for a successful
future. Offering professional career counseling, resume
building, education advisement, interview skills, and job
placement, the Career Center allows residents to identify
their talents and apply their skills to employment.
From initial personality assessment tests to strategic
interview preparations, the Career Center is there for
residents throughout the whole process, and provides
weekly job groups where they can process their
employment struggles and achievements. Whether a
resident is going back to school, switching careers,
or continuing his or her education, the Career Center
24
provides resources and professional guidance tailored to
every resident’s unique needs.
An integral component of the Career Center is the
Internship/Externship Program. Residents are offered
paid experiential internships for 6 to 12 months across a
wide array of departments within Beit T’Shuvah. From the
clinical team to Creative Matters, Beit T’Shuvah provides
countless career opportunities for their residents to
explore. Over 80% of Beit T’Shuvah staff members are
former residents and each one of them started as an
intern. When residents want to pursue passions in fields
outside of Beit T’Shuvah, the Externship Program makes
it possible by offering paid, entry-level positions at
businesses all over Los Angeles.
For more information about the Internship/Externship
Program please contact the Career Center at
310-204-5200 Ext. 216.
Discover Your
Purpose
Creative Matters
(Formerly BTS Communications)
Creative Matters is a graphic design agency built as a social
enterprise of Beit T’Shuvah. It is a matrix for recovering
addicts to reclaim their lives, and discover new passions.
Over 50 interns from the Beit T’Shuvah program have
come through the Creative Matters doors in our four years
of existence. At least 70% of which have gone forward to
full-time employment or school.
By learning valuable vocational skills in graphic design,
copywriting, photography, videography, account and
project management, and sales, interns develop the
professional skills and confidence to pursue careers in
upwardly mobile and growing fields. But more importantly,
they’ve learned life skills. “Suiting up and showing up” is
a commonly heard phrase in the rooms of recovery, and
Creative Matters gives recovering souls a place to put this
into action on a daily basis.
That ability to “suit up and show up,” combined with
the vast amount of innate talent that comes through our
program, has helped us offer our cutting-edge design
services to over 30 clients to date, including Beit T’Shuvah.
Creative Matters is even responsible for the design, copy
editing and photography of this annual report! Because
of our inherent belief in social responsibility, Creative
Matters has specialized in helping nonprofits of every kind
with marketing and fundraising. Whether we’re designing
and writing brochures for a new program, or generating
event collateral through photography and videography,
through art, we seek to make the world a better place
for organizations that strive to make the world a better
place!
For more information contact Eliana Katz at
(C) 954-665-1270 (O) 310-842-3725 Ext. 1.
25
Giving
Back
Beit T’Shuvah Thrift Boutique
The Beit T’Shuvah Thrift Boutique was created to be an
extra source of income for our treatment facility. 100%
of the store’s proceeds are used to fund treatment for
people who cannot afford it. As our thrift store donor
base has grown and revenues generated increase, we are
able to provide more rehabilitation and beds for those in
need of redemption.
In addition to providing financial assistance, the thrift
boutique also serves as a place for job training. Residents
work at the store once a week and help with the sorting
and displaying of merchandise, along with general
maintenance and sales. Residents who show a greater
interest in this type of work can then intern at the store
through our Internship Program, which often leads to both
internal and/or external employment.
Merchandise donated to the Beit T’Shuvah Thrift
Boutique includes everything from clothing and furniture
to electronics and art. It’s very easy to donate! Our
26
convenient truck service travels all over the Los Angeles
area to pick up your donations. This hassle-free service
allows quick and easy removal of unwanted possessions,
and every donation is tax deductible!
For more information about the BTS Thrift Boutique
please contact Carlton Knight at 310-204-4058.
Rock +
Roll
Temple Music & Arts
The Beit T’Shuvah Temple Music and Arts Department has
had a very, very full year! For starters, our newly-established
theater program has been successfully busy. Naomi
Ackerman, a facilitator of our theater program, ran a 10-weeklong theater workshop, with a focus on improvisation. The
residents learned how to act spontaneously and think on
their toes, and the result was an enormously successful
performance for the community. We have also begun a
partnership with the USC Theatre Department’s Applied
Theatre Arts Masters Program, led by Director Brent Blair.
Every Wednesday students from USC come to run their own
theatre workshops.
We have also had a busy year with our formidable Smalley
Music in Recovery program. We had a phenomenal gala,
complete with choir, cantor and band. We moved into Passover,
and our quarterly talent show (that is always guaranteed to
entertain) was a smash hit. Our Friday and Saturday Shabbat
services continue to be rockin’ and rollin’. We have trained
resident musicians to play in Saturday services under the
direction of Music Director Laura Bagish and Assistant Music
Director Aaron Delug, resulting in enhanced music, enhanced
spirituality, and enhanced recovery.
Our choir, also under the direction of Laura Bagish, is in top
form. We had an amazing High Holy Day season, during
which Rabbi Mark Borovitz and Cantor Rachel Goldman led
us through a series of uplifting, spiritual and joyful services.
Cantor Rachel sang with such beauty and ease that at times
we forgot where we were. Rabbi Mark and Yeshaia Blakeney
gave their most inspiring sermons, dueling it out from the
bema.
For more information about the Temple Music & Arts
Department please contact James Fuchs at 310-204-5200.
27
Out of
Egypt
Freedom Song
Freedom Song is an original Beit T’Shuvah musical
production that highlights the historical universality of
the struggle to free oneself from external oppression and
internal bondage that addiction often brings. The play
demonstrates the parallels between a modern family Seder
and a 12-step meeting, and forces the audience to take
a look within themselves instead of pointing the finger at
others. It tells the “out of Egypt” story in a compelling and
authentic voice that empowers the residents and alumni
who perform to find their identity, and the audience to reach
deeper within themselves.
This year alone we put on performances in Florida, New
York, New Jersey and Philadelphia, and at each stop we
knocked it out of the park. The residents dedicated their
performances to the memory of Ira Skolky, a beloved
member of our community and the Freedom Song troupe
who passed away last year.
After performing for a congregation in Orange County, the
Director of Education spoke highly of Freedom Song. In an
28
email she said, “How do we thank you for the phenomenal
presentation that you shared with our congregation. Words
fail us. Each one of your participants shared a part of their
lives and bared their souls for our benefit. It was absolutely
incredible and oh so powerful!! Every one of the 350
audience members left feeling that they had experienced
something that touched them deeply.”
This email sums up the impact that Freedom Song has
on every audience and cast member it touches and the
difference it can make in a person’s life. A poignant message
of Freedom Song is that addiction can happen in every
family, no matter what religion they practice and despite any
façade of “normalcy.”
“If Freedom Song inspires one person to change his/her life,
the cast has accomplished its mission.”
- Jessica Fishel, Freedom Song Coordinator
For more information about Freedom Song please contact
Jessica Fischel at 310-204-5200 Ext. 236.
Message
of Recovery
Youth Services (formerly known as
Partners in Prevention)
If relevant Judaism can help individuals recover from
addictive and self-destructive behaviors, why can’t it be just
as useful in preventing them? In a culture where teens must
cope with peer, media and family pressures to “look good”
and achieve material success, the soul is often neglected.
We believe the antidote to this “hole in the soul” is Judaism.
Youth Services is a program that utilizes the path of Judaism
to promote self-acceptance, self-worth, spiritual values and
family harmony. Youth Services differs from other programs
in that it does not focus on drug-education but rather the
underlying “spiritual maladies” that lead today’s youth toward
risky behaviors. Youth Services has expanded greatly over
the last year. We have included tutoring, youth diversion,
and mentorship components to the program, which have
all been very successful. Through these different programs,
Youth Services focuses on teaching spiritual tools to cope
with daily stress and anxiety.
We have already seen continuous positive feedback for our
prevention program from numerous teens. In high school
sessions in various parts of the United States, students
approach our residents after each program and openly
share their battle with drugs and alcohol. We often hear that
this type of intervention motivated young men and women
to seek help and change their unhealthy lifestyles and
behaviors. School teachers and principals are taken aback
by the amount of positive feedback from both students and
parents that are touched by the stories and teachings they
have heard.
“We are grateful to be part of such an amazing organization
that allows us to carry the message of recovery and Relevant
Judaism to younger generations in small and large cities
alike.”
- Doug Rosen, Youth Services Director
For more information about Youth Services please contact
Doug Rosen at 310-204-5200 Ext. 235.
29
Worthy of
Redemption
Alternative Sentencing
True to the mission of CEO and founder Harriet Rossetto,
Beit T’Shuvah sets aside an average of 20% of its beds for
people with addiction problems who have legal issues or
who were recently released from correctional institutions.
Alternative Sentencing Coordinator Carrie Newman and
her staff conduct interviews and assessments with each
potential resident to determine their program eligibility.
Qualified participants can serve some or all of their time
at Beit T’Shuvah to break their cycle of addiction as an
alternative to sitting in a cell for their drug and alcoholrelated crimes.
They also provide visitation for Jewish inmates within
the Los Angeles County Jails, offering spiritual guidance,
addiction counseling and a connection or re-connection to
Judaism. For those serving lengthier sentences, the staff
30
acts as a bridge connecting inmates to Jewish traditions
and the Jewish recovery community through personal visits
and correspondence. This practice also helps to empower
inmates, inspiring them to put their recovery into action
while awaiting release. This process helps humanize clients
in the face of the justice system—by reminding the judge,
jury, and prosecutors that each person has a soul, and is
worthy of redemption.
“Our job is to remind the players in the criminal justice
system that each person has a soul and a unique story, and
sometimes our job is to tell the story of that soul.”
- Carrie Newman, Alternative Sentencing Coordinator
For more information about Alternative Sentencing please
contact Carrie Newman at 310-204-5200 Ext. 237.
Witness the
Transformation
Clinical Training
Beit T’Shuvah offers internship training for students currently
in pursuit of their Psychology, MFT, and MSW licensing.
Interns get hands-on experience on the frontlines of the
recovery process and a window into Beit T’Shuvah’s cutting
edge treatment approach that integrates the mind, body and
spirit. Each intern and trainee receives weekly supervision
from a well-seasoned, licensed mentor and they become
part of a team also comprised of an addiction counselor and
a spiritual counselor. Additionally, Beit T’Shuvah provides
weekly trainings on an array of contemporary topics in the
mental health, recovery and spiritual fields.
not only finish their required course hours, they have an
opportunity to sit in on groups lead by trained professionals
and get real feedback that is a valuable tool for clinical work
as well as life experience. Therapists are encouraged to
bring themselves to their work and grow individually as well
as clinically.
For more information about the Clinical Training Program
please contact Rebecca Share at 310-204-5200 Ext. 234.
We believe the best way to learn is to witness the
transformation of a soul first hand, and this is why we
offer the training program. Interns get to witness real life
situations, and the cunning, baffling, and powerful force of
this disease of humanity. In addition, interns and trainees
31
A Starting
Point
Family Program
The Family Program understands that addiction affects
the entire family. Dedicated to providing emotional and
spiritual healing, this program guides each family through
the process of recovery at Beit T’Shuvah. The Family
Program offers comprehensive family treatment including:
family support groups, family education groups, multifamily process groups, out of town family immersion
weekends, a parents focused Al-Anon group, individual
family therapy, and consultation and intervention services
for families and individuals in crisis.
Family Education Program: Our 6-week educational
program provides families with an understanding of
addiction and offers insight into making healthy changes
as a family, fostering the growth and welfare of each of its
32
members. A starting point for families of new residents and
families in crisis, this informative group exposes families to
what their loved ones are going through and how they can
be supportive.
Multi-Family Process Group: After completing family
education, families are brought together with their
recovering loved ones. Through group, families are able
to make healthy changes and arrive at a place of shared
understanding. Currently, over 30 families attend one of our
three multi-family process groups on Wednesday evenings.
Family Support Group: New and veteran families meet
weekly for mutual support, hope, and connection, which
has been ongoing for more than 15 years. We have learned
Support +
Connection
that having relationships with other individuals in their own
process of healing is as paramount as the professional
services that we offer.
Family Immersions and Out-of-Town Family Weekends:
During our last Family Weekend, more than twenty families
from across the nation flew to Los Angeles to participate
in this healing event. The weekend surpassed all of our
expectations with families describing not only family healing,
but also individual transformation, including the desire to
live more authentic and passionate lives. Recognizing the
transformative nature of the intensive Family Weekend, we
now host Family Immersion Weekends throughout the year.
Please contact our Family Program Director for upcoming
scheduled weekends.
“Meeting staff, connecting with other families, learning from
Rabbi and Harriet, and having the opportunity to focus on
our own personal relationship with our son and understand
his recovery was wonderful!” - Family Weekend Participant
Intervention and Consultation Services: The Beit T’Shuvah
family program offers intervention and individual consultation
to families in crisis that are struggling with issues of addiction,
alcoholism, and mental disorders. Interventions include preintervention counseling and assessment, referral to the most
appropriate treatment program for your loved one, door to
door transportation of your loved one to treatment, along
with continued family consultation.
For more information about the Family Program please
contact Adam Mindel at 310-204-5200 Ext. 250.
33
Re-engaging
Residents
Neurofeedback
The brain is the most powerful organ in the human body, and
it is no doubt that the mental and physical stresses brought
on by addiction cause it to suffer. The neurodevelopmental
lab at Beit T’Shuvah re-engages residents with their brain
muscles. Through the utilization of neurofeedback and
cognitive training, this department facilitates the learning,
better acquisition, and long-term understanding of
information. By attacking addiction at the physiological level,
the neurodevelopmental lab successfully trains residents
to reduce heightened levels of anxiety and depression,
increasing cognitive functioning and attentiveness. The
neurodevelopmental lab also researches the underlying
cognitive mechanisms of addiction in order to discover novel
types of treatment for addictive and compulsive symptoms.
The lab has been involved in IRB-approved research studies
with Loyola Marymount University and UCLA.
For more information about Neurofeedback please
contact Clinical Department at 310-204-5200.
34
Feed
Your Soul
Mind and Body Fitness
Entering treatment and abandoning destructive habits for
a life of healing places stress on the mind and body. Beit
T’Shuvah’s health and wellness program offers alternative
therapies that feed the soul and strengthen the body. From
onsite acupuncture, fitness training and nutrition guidance,
to yoga and guided meditation, residents are given ample
opportunities to rebuild their energy, heal their bodies, and
center their minds from the emotional and physical stresses
put on by years of neglect.
the power of creation and teaches residents how to tend to
something from conception through execution to finished
product. With this newest addition to our list of alternative
therapies, our residents have even more opportunities to
strengthen their bodies, minds, and spirits. At Beit T’Shuvah,
we are focused on healing the whole individual and not just
the addiction. These programs bring our residents one step
closer to a fully restored life and have become an invaluable
aspect of the treatment model at Beit T’Shuvah.
This part of our program incorporates a number of different
therapies including:
• Acupuncture • Surf Therapy • Yoga • Fitness Training
• Meditation • Art Therapy • Recording Studio Sessions
• LA Marathon Training
Organic Gardening: One of Beit T’Shuvah’s newest
programs has been breaking ground in getting residents
excited about cultivating, growing, and harvesting organic
fruits and vegetables. The entire growth process illustrates
35
Beit T’Shuvah
in the News
“Let Freedom Ring” Jewish Standard – March 2013
“Addicted to Redemption” Jewish Journal – October 2012
“Consul General Makes Historic Visit to Beit T’Shuvah ”
Consul General of Israel, Los Angeles – August 2012
“Locals Shine In Beit T’Shuvah Extreme Makeover”
The Beverly Hills Courier – June 2012
“From Addicts to Ad Execs” Fastcompany - April 2014
“How Beit T’Shuvah Became Agency BTS” AdAge – September 2011
“Second Annual ‘Knock Out Addiction’ a Smash Success”
Extra – September 2011
“An Exodus Out of Addiction” Los Angeles Times – March 2010
“A Place to Heal Broken Hearts” The Jewish Week – April 2013
“Beit T’Shuvah’s 2012 Honda L.A. Marathon Campaign “Run To Save A Soul” Holds
the Lead Fundraising Spot, Teaching Recovering Addicts That Anything is Possible”
San Francisco Chronicle – November 2011
“Beit T’Shuvah to Host Judge Mark G. Farrell of Amherst,
NY Gambling Court” New York News Press – June 2011
“Los Angeles Gambling Addiction” Examiner.com – June 2011
JS-10*
Local
Let ‘Freedom’ ring
L.A. center brings critical addiction message to local teens
JOANNE PALMER
“S
o what does this have to do
with me?”
Maybe it’s not such a nice
question when the evil son
asks it at the seder, but sometimes it demands
to be asked.
When nice Jewish families are told that they
should go see a production mounted by a Los
Angeles-based rehabilitation center — a musical about addiction, featuring a dysfunctional
family and an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting
— the question seems logical.
The answer is that it has something to do
with all of us.
In fact, the musical, “Freedom Song,” as
presented by Beit T’Shuvah, the Los Angeles
center, is an emotionally wrenching and often
profound production that has much to do with
most of us. It is here to tell us not only that on
some level addiction is the entire community’s problem, but also that liberation is possible for all of us.
Some basic truths: Many Jews have substance abuse problems. Addictions can be
not only to substances but also to behaviors
(gambling and overeating, among others). And
even those of us who do not have addicts in
our immediate families are naïve to believe
that they do not exist in our communities — or
At the beginning of “Freedom Song,” the full cast is on stage.
that we necessarily would be able to tell them
apart from everyone else.
Beit T’Shuvah, which houses about 100
residents in the early stages of recovery and
is a spiritual center to thousands more, provides a range of services to everyone — Jews
Epiphany and laundry
Center’s founder embraces the shadows within her
JOANNE PALMER
Harriet Rossetto, the founder of Beit
T’Shuvah, finally understood one of
life’s basic truths.
“It all boils down to maintenance,”
she said. “Epiphanies and peak experiences evaporate — and then you’re left
with the laundry.”
Harriet
That explains why her memoir is
Rossetto
called “Sacred Housekeeping.” It traces
her story — “the founding of Beit T’Shuvah, and how I came
to find myself in the process, and how I found my husband.”
(Beit T’Shuvah is the Los Angeles rehabilitation center she
created 25 years ago; she is married to Rabbi Mark Borovitz,
its spiritual leader, whose magnetism attracts and retains
recovering addicts.)
“My change began with making my bed,” she said. “Literally. As an antidote to existential despair.
“Why bother?” she reported thinking. “Life is hard, and
then you die. Making my bed seemed the utmost in futility.”
Therefore, “the statement that I matter, that it matters how
I live, that it matters how I take care of myself, and maintain
myself — making my bed, going to the gym, caring for my
clothes — I realized that everything requires maintenance.
“My thoughts — so that I don’t think myself into negativity. My spirit requires maintenance; my relationships require
maintenance. They don’t just happen naturally.
“Maintenance is sacred. That’s where God lives — in the
details of daily life.”
COURTESY BEIT T’SHUVAH
and non-Jews, people who come from the Los
Angeles area, and others who fly across the
country because there is no place else like it.
“It is one of the real magical places in the
American Jewish community,” Rabbi Neal
Borovitz said. Borovitz is rabbi of Temple
Much of the conversation about Beit T’Shuvah involves
dualities — or perhaps more accurately thesis, antithesis,
and synthesis, as opposites face off and then gradually are
woven together into an integrated whole.
“Part of me wanted to save the world. That’s the part that
starts projects. And then it is overtaken by the negative voice
that says, ‘Are you kidding? You’re never going to do this.’
“It is a seesaw. I couldn’t figure out which was the real me.
They’re both the real me. Putting them together requires
simple, small actions. That is how you integrate parts of yourself, by doing the right thing even when you don’t want to.
“I can be specific,” she continued. “There are times when
I don’t feel so great about my husband. If I am in the supermarket, and I see something he likes, I argue with myself.
Should I get it, and do the right thing? Put it in the basket,
even if I don’t want to right now? Should I take the high road,
or be vengeful? Should I go to the gym when I’d rather sleep
for the extra hour?
“It’s small stuff. Daily stuff.
There’s also the weekly stuff. “Friday night is always restorative at Beit T’Shuvah,” she said. “You see who will stand up
and express gratitude. There are always things that affirm
or reaffirm if you are looking for those things.”
She is human — she cannot always look for them. “Sometimes I feel like angry birds are pecking at me,” she said.
“Last week, we had a staff member die here suddenly. We
worry about money all the time. We always have to spend
time on healing.”
“I believe duality is part of the human condition,” she continued. She finds great wisdom in the Jewish understanding
Avodat Shalom in River Edge; his brother,
Rabbi Mark Borovitz, a former con man and
ex-con, now is the charismatic force behind
(and the public face of ) Beit T’Shuvah.
Harriet Rossetto, a social worker, began Beit
T’Shuvah as a homeless shelter and a halfway
of the yetzer hatov and the yetzer harah — the good and evil
inclinations, which both live in every human being, and at
times seem to have nothing to do with each other.
“A teaching has guided my work,” she said. “A rabbi who
was a very pious and holy man had followers who were
addicts, thieves, drunkards, felons. Nobody could understand it. Someone said, ‘Rabbi, how can you relate to these
people?’ And he answered ‘When I look at them, I see myself,
and if I see anyone in whom I cannot see myself, it is because
I did not look hard enough.’
“People we call normal also have a duality. They deal
with it by perfecting the outside. They hold it together with
a shell. They deny the problems.
“People are ashamed. Most people live with a good deal
of shame. At some point, the addict stops trying to look
good. He says, ‘I can’t be all good, so why don’t I be all bad,’
instead of trying to integrate.
“Yetzer hatov and yetzer harah both come from God,” she
said. “It’s not the dialectic of good and evil. The path of spirituality in Judaism is the path of integration. It is becoming
whole by embracing the shadow parts of yourself and redirecting them to do good.”
Who: Harriet Rossetto of Beit T’Shuvah
What: A breakfast, where she will discuss her memoir,
“Sacred Laundry”
When: Sunday, March 3, 9:30 a.m.
Where: The Ma’ayanot School; 1650 Palisade Ave., Teaneck
Why: To give parents a chance to discuss addiction and
other issues
For: Parents and other adults
Cost: $10
How: Register online; do a web search for the Bergen
County High School of Jewish Studies and follow the link to
“Freedom Song,” or call Bess Adler at 201-488-0834
10 JEWISH STANDARD MARCH 1, 2013
Keeping The Faith
During The Shoah
www.thejewishweek.com
Orthodox-focused
Holocaust museum to
open in Borough Park.
N.Y. 10
Epichorus Mixes
Jewish Oudist,
Sudanese Muslim
Singer
Manhattan | Westchester Edition • $1.00
Yeshiva Bochers
Busting A Move
Flatbush dance studio gives
haredi kids a chance to learn
hip-hop.
A
N.Y. 3
Jodi Picoult
Takes On
The Holocaust
The bestselling novelist
wades into new territory
with ‘The Storyteller.’
Arts 27
On Golan,
Warily Watching
The Civil War Below
Hynes ‘did the right thing’
in freeing convicted man,
but handling of original
investigation raising questions
amid re-election fight.
Hannah Dreyfus
Editorial Intern
9-year-old yeshiva student from
Borough Park, Yaakov Dovid takes
dance lessons. But he’s not learning the hora or traditional Jewish line
dances.
Like the b-boys and girls in the subway
corridors who mix dance and gymnastics,
and then pass the hat around, Yaakov is
learning how to pop, lock, spin and flip.
Welcome to the world of haredi hiphop, in the heart of Orthodox Brooklyn.
Walk through the back entrance and
down the steps of an inconspicuous
residence on East 34th Street between
Avenues J and K, and find one of the
best-kept secrets in Flatbush: the oneroom dance studio that houses the Brooklyn Jewish Dance Institute. Mirrors cover
the walls, and the dancers test out their
Heady moves: Yeshiva boys, their kipas
flying, pop, lock and flip at Brooklyn
Jewish Dance Institute. HAN NAH DR EYF U S
moves on a neatly paneled wood floor.
A boom box sits in the front of the room,
pounding out hip-hop rhythms — minus
the often-racy lyrics.
It’s a recent Tuesday night, and the
Advanced Boys Class is taking place inside. The boys, kipas on their heads and
sidelocks flying, step and jump in unison
to the pulsating beat.
“Yes, that’s right, frum boys dancing,”
said Rivka Nahari, sitting in the waiting
area outside the dance studio, the reverContinued on page 16
21 Opinions
30 Arts Guide
33 Sabbath
The story of Beit T’Shuvah, a unique L.A. community: part rehab
center, part chavurah.
The conduct of Brooklyn DA Charles
Hynes, right, is being scrutinized in the
case of David Ranta, left.
D
uring a recent interview in my office with Mark Borovitz and Harriet
Rossetto, the guiding lights of Beit
T’Shuvah: The House of Return, a unique
community in Los Angeles that combines
spiritual and psychoBetween therapeutic approaches
The Lines to addiction recovery, I
became increasingly impressed with their work and their own life
stories. But that was just the start.
Rossetto, a handsome, forthright woman
in her 70s, was a social worker and self-
Back from the brink: Harriet Rossetto
and Rabbi Mark Borovitz.
COU RTESY OF B EIT T’SH UVAH
described misfit, adrift and at a low point
when she found her calling in the mid1980s, helping recently released Jewish
prisoners find a place to call home and transition back into society. She believed that
everyone deserves a chance at redemption.
One of those former prisoners was Borovitz, a big bear of a man whose path had
veered from a middle-class Midwest Jewish upbringing to alcoholism, gambling
and check fraud that landed him behind
Continued on page 7
36
Hella Winston
Special Correspondent
L
ate last month, after 23 years behind
bars for crimes he almost certainly
did not commit, a gray-haired David
Ranta, 58, carrying a purple fishnet laundry bag containing all his worldly possessions, walked out of State Supreme Court
in Brooklyn a free man. (Ranta suffered
a serious heart attack just a day after his
release but is said to be recovering and in
“good spirits).
Ranta, who was convicted in 1991 of
attempting to rob a chasidic jewelry cou-
A Place To Heal Broken Souls
Gary Rosenblatt
Editor and Publisher
Israel 24
April 5, 2013 • 25 NISAN 5773
DA’s Role
In Rabbi’s 1990
Murder Case
Under Scrutiny
rier and then murdering a prominent chasidic rabbi, was released after a yearlong
investigation by the Brooklyn District
Attorney’s recently established Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU).
The investigation, prompted by Ranta’s trial attorney, Michael Baum, found
that “the evidentiary foundation upon
which the jury relied in delivering its
verdict in this case has been significantly
eroded.” In its reporting on the unraveling of the case, The New York Times
highlighted the intense community pressure to solve the case and the conduct of
one detective in particular as playing major roles in Ranta’s wrongful conviction.
Upon Ranta’s release, the head of the
CIU, John O’Mara, told The Daily News
“We did the right thing,” in releasing Ranta
— something that can hardly be disputed.
Continued on page 18
Statement of
Activites
For the year ended June 30, 2013
Revenue and Support
Total Funds 2013
Programs Revenue
$4,938,397
Contributions Revenue
$5,741,650
Investment, Gains and Losses
$712,006
Capital Campaign
$1,174,652
Total Revenue and Support
$12,566,704
Expenses
Program Funding
$7,909,220
Management Expenses
$1,030,898
Fund Raising Expenses
$829,332
Total Expenses
$9,769,449
Change in Net Assets
$2,797,255
Performance +
Results
We are grateful to continue to grow our program
during the 2012-2013 fiscal year notwithstanding
the continued economic uncertainties, enabling
Beit T’Shuvah to share the gifts of recovery with a
growing number of constituents across the United
States. We are grateful to report that based on the
generosity of our donors, we were able to enhance
our financial strenth and flexibility.
Total contributions increased some $2.0 million.
This, combined with a remarkably strong bottom
line, made it possible for us to provide 70 people
with free care at a total cost of $3,150,000. Our
strong performance would not have been possible
without the support of our donors, friends, alumni
and staff.
Revenues
6%
Expenses
8%
9%
11%
46%
39%
81%
32%
Contributions Revenue
Program Funding
Programs Revenue
Management Expenses
Investment, Gains and Losses
Fund Raising Expenses
Capital Campaign
37
Board of Directors
+ Staff
Board Members
Dr. Bill Resnick, Chairman
Annette Shapiro, President
Lise Applebaum
Heidi Bendetson
Lynn Bider
Jessica Boar
Rabbi Mark Borovitz
Joyce Brandman
Warren Breslow, Chairperson Emeritus
Emily Corleto
Samuel Delug
David Elston
Jon Esformes
John Fishel
Pat Gage
Mel Gagerman
Jeffrey Glassman
Carolyn Gold
Beverly Gruber
Salli Harris
Roberta Holland
Russell Kern
Dr. Susan Krevoy
Diane Licht
Virginia Maas
Bradley H. Mindlin
Nancy Mishkin, Chairperson Emeritus
Donald S. Passman
Joan Praver
Ed Praver
Heidi Praw
Avi Reichental
Janice Kamenir-Reznik
Harriet Rossetto
David Ruderman
Ronnie Stabler
Frank Wurtzel
Jill Black Zalben
Honorary Board Members
Sheldon Appel
Donald J. Berghoff
Robert Felixson*
Herb Gelfand
Robert Gluckstein*
Brindell Gottlieb
Blair Belcher Kohan
Shelley Kozek
Chuck Maltz
Cheri Morgan
Mike Nissenson
Jan Rosen
Richard Schulman
Rena Slomovic
Craig Taubman
Lisi Teller
38
Greg Vilkin
Dr. Howard Wallach*
Brad Wiseman
Hal Wiseman*
Robert Wiviott
* Deceased
Executive Management
Harriet Rossetto, LCSW / CEO
Rabbi Mark Borovitz / COO
Dr. Garrett O’Connor, M.D.
Bill Resnick, M.D., MBA
Adam Mindel, MA, CAADAC-II
Yeshaia Blakeney, CAADAC
Rebecca Share, PsyD
Doug Rosen, MA, MFT
Eliana Katz
Human Resources
Robert Miller , PHR-CA, CPDM, WCCP /
Human Resources Director
Business Department
Gela Katrikh-Tsyrlina / Controller
Zoe Warner / Insurance Administrator
Development
Alison Gabler / Development Manager
Barbara Friedman / Events Coordinator
Brian Rivera / Development Associate / Database Administrator
Jennifer Gerber / Development Associate / Grants Manager
Fanya Cohen / PR Director
Congregation
Yeshaia Blakeney, CAADAC / Student Rabbi
Rachel Goldman / Cantor
Rabbi Matt Shapiro / Director of Jewish Learning,
Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute
Rabbi Shira Freidlin / Spiritual Director
Adam Siegel / Spiritual Counselor / Director of
Community Outreach
Rabbi Gavriel Hershoff / Spiritual Counselor
Music & Arts
James Fuchs / Director, Arts in Recovery
Laura Bagish / Music Director
Aaron Delug / Assistant Music Director
Family Program
Adam Mindel, MA, CAADAC-II / Family Program Director
Clinical
Rebecca Share, PsyD / Director, Clinical Training
and Supervision
Brandon Berry / Intake Coordinator
Martin Snyder / Clinical Administrator / Counselor
Kalina O’Connor / Program Coordinator
Kim Sherman / Clinical Coordinator
Ashley Nahai / Lead Counselor
Alicia Brandt / Counselor
Nessa Feinstein / Counselor
Daryn Fond / Counselor
Ellen Poyer / Counselor
Kelly Mulligan / Counselor
Dean Steinberg / Counselor
Lance Wright / Counselor
Andy Besser / Counselor
David Baer / Lead Program Facilitator Supervisor
Don Owen / Program Facilitator Supervisor
Lexy Nolte / Program Facilitator
Zac Jones / Program Facilitator
Diana Margulies / Program Facilitator
Lauren Meadows / Program Facilitator
Vincent Luciano / Program Facilitator
Cynthia Canary / Overnight Program Facilitator
Joe Lancaster / Overnight Program Facilitator
Youth Services
Douglas Rosen, MFT / Director
Jessica Fishel / Assistant Director /
Freedom Song Coordinator
Nicole Goodman / Program Facilitator
Zoe Ogulnick, MFT / Educational Coordinator
Gavriella Applebaum / Eating Disorder Prevention
Program Coordinator
Alternative Sentencing
Carrie Newman / Alternative Sentencing Coordinator
Janet Markowitz/ Alternative Sentencing Associate
Rachel Ehrman / Alternative Sentencing Assistant
The Elaine Breslow Addiction Institute
Garrett O’Connor, MD / Director
Jennifer Gerber / Institute Administrator
Right Action Gambling Program
Yael Landa, M.A. / Program Coordinator
Alicia Brandt / Counselor / Therapist / Group Facilitator
Creative Matters (formerly BTS Communications)
Eliana Katz / General Manager
Kendl Ferencz / Senior Art Director
Wendy North/ Business Development Manager
Martin Chavez/ Account Manager
Mory Benperlas/ Account Manager
Josh Silver / Senior Copywriter
Stephanie Lager/ Copywriter
Justin Rosenberg / Photographer
Bret Lugo / Graphic Designer
Talya Asserman / Graphic Designer
Susan and Leonard Nimoy Career Center
Alison Goldberg, M.S. / Career Services Director
Anne-Marie Beck / Career Services Counselor
IT
Jonathan Reznik / Manager
Facilities
Craig Miller / Maintenance Director
Aryeh Schuler / Maintenance Assistant
Russell Harrison / Maintenance Assistant
Kitchen
Rod Moses / Chef
Cassandra Kaminski / Sous Chef
Thrift Store
Carlton Knight / General Manager
Mordekhai Moadeb / Assistant Manager
Helen Murray / Donations Manager
Dorothy Primack / Administrative Assistant
Diana Zagha / Donations Assistant
Michelle Amesqua / Floor staff
Sara Devis / Floor Staff
Daniel Ardel / Floor Staff
Elizabeth Edmonson / Floor staff
Arsenio Garcia / Floor Staff
Kelvin Johnson / Floor Staff
Maria Romo / Floor Staff
Yolanda Sandoval / Floor staff
Andy Slavkin / Floor Staff
Mickey Baer / Driver
Jonathan Titcher / Driver
Administration
Susan Reneau / Administrative Assistant
Peri Kraft / Counseling Administrative Assistant
Ryan Kopald / Reception
Nina Jo Davies / Reception
Foundations
Foundations
The Ahmanson Foundation
Alon and Shari Friendship Foundation, Inc.
The Annenberg Foundation
Sheldon and Carol Appel Family Foundation
Berger Family Foundation
Lynn & Les Bider Family Foundation
The Saul Brandman Foundation
Warren and Elaine Breslow Family Foundation
Culver City Rotary Community Foundation
Dart-L Foundation
Eileen and Harold Brown Foundation
Erwin Rautenberg Foundation
The Feintech Family Foundation
Frank and Toby Berman Family Foundation
Sanford M. Gage Foundation
Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown Charity Fund
The David Geffen Foundation
The Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Foundation
The Goldrich Family Foundation
The Goldsmith Family Foundation
Goodman Family Charitable Trust
The Green Foundation
Harris Family Foundation
The Morris A. Hazan Family Foundation
Held Foundation
Henry Friedricks Foundation Inc.
Hitter Family Foundation
Jewish Child and Family Service
Jewish Community Foundation
Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
Judi Kaplan Foundation, Inc.
The Karsh Family Foundation
Keiter Family Foundation
Louis & Clara Kennedy Family Foundation
Kissick Family Foundation
The Hyman Levine Family Foundation: L’Dor V’Dor
Liberty Hill Foundation
The Libitzky Family Foundation
B.N. Maltz Foundation
Marcia Israel Foundation
The Maurice Marciano Family Foundation
Michael Koss Charitable Foundation
The Milken Family Foundation
Todd M. Morgan Foundation
Muskin Family Foundation
Nathan Family Foundation
Needham Foundation Trust
Niznick Family Foundation
Ornest Family Foundation
The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation
The Polinger-Cohen Charitable Foundation
Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation
Resnick Family Foundation, Inc.
Robbins Family Foundation
Robert Margolis Foundation
Ruby Family Foundation
The Richard and Ellen Sandler Family Foundation
The Mark Schulman & Esther Schulman Foundation
The Sidney, Milton and Leoma Simon Foundation
(Florida)
Alan B. Slifka Foundation
Snyder Family Foundation
The Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation
The Greenberg Foundation
The Mae & Marvin Goodson Family Foundation
The Steven and Ilyse Teller Charitable Foundation
Wallis Foundation
Weingart Foundation
Weisman Family Foundation
Weiss Family Foundation
The Edna & Mickey Weiss Family Foundation
Witherbee Foundation
Ziegler Family Trust
The Angell Foundation
Corporate Donations
207 Anderson, LLC
A & S Metal Recycling, Inc.
Active Network
ADCO Roofing
Am Shalom
Anonymous Donor
Authentic Recovery LLC
Bank of America Commercial Real Estate B
Beats Electronics, LLC
CBS
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Comerica Bank
Congregation B’nai Israel
Corleto & Ackerman LLP
Cosmic Cowboy Trading LLC
CR Investments
Elektra Records
Endeavor
Fox Entertainment
Francis, Sadikoff & Nachson LLP
Fred Leeds Property Management
G. Adler-J. Frydrych Charitable Fund
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
Robert I. Gluckstein Investments
Goldrich & Kest Industries, LLC
Goodman Family Charitable Trust
Irving and Dorothy Gordon Living Trust
Greenberg Traurig
HBO
Health Champions
J Brand, Inc.
JAKKS Pacific, Inc.
Jewish Family and Childrens Service
Levin & Stein
Luminous Capital Holdings, LLC
Main Street Advisors, Inc.
Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills
Meridith Baer Home
Mount Sinai Memoral Parks & Mortuaries
NBC Entertainment
Network For Good
NOS Communications Inc.
NSBN
PayPal
Pringle, Inc.
The Real Estate Principals Organization
SGD Enterprises
Shady Records
Showtime Networks INC.
Snyder Diamond
Sony Music Entertainment
Sun-Lite Metals, Inc.
Thrifty Oil Co.
Topson Downs of California, Inc.
Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.
Union Bank
United Talent Agency
Universal Media Studios
Universal Music Group, Inc.
Warner Bros. Entertainment
William Morris Agency
Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer
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