May 26, 2023 | 5 Sivan 5783
Candlelighting 8:21 p.m. | Havdalah 9:29 p.m. | Vol. 66, No. 21 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
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Friendship Circle launches The Beacon, supporting teen mental health
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JCC director of Jewish life remembers Oct. 27, 2018
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Page X 2 p Rabbi Ron Symons and the Rev. Liddy Barlow in 2020
Photo courtesy of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
By David Rullo | Staff Writer
p Teens will find a warm and welcoming environment at Friendship Circle’s The Beacon.
Photo by Jack Wolf Photography
Teens at JCC address life’s big questions Fodictiumqui aut entis andae asimuss
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By David Rullo | Staff Writer
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he pandemic, social media, the political climate and school shootings have all affected the mental health of teens. Add to that the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting and you have the makings of a crisis, said Rabbi Mordy Rudolph, the executive director of Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh. Noting the downturn in teen mental health over at least the last five years, Rudolph said, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation convened a group of community leaders to talk about the crisis and what could be done to help. Friendship Circle was part of that group. “Because we work with teens, we have seen the shift that’s going on,” he said. “We’ve seen how much their mindsets have changed, and we need to meet them where they are.” The organization took action. Friendship Circle’s previously underused second floor, at 1926 Murray Ave., is now a community space dedicated to uplifting and supporting teenage well-being and mental health. “It’s a space for teens to focus on their wellness and feel supported,” said Rivkee Rudolph, Friendship Circle’s director “We will have trained staff on site at all times.” The Beacon will fall somewhere between
the unstructured space provided by the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh’s Second Floor and Jewish Family and Community Service’s UpStreet, which offers drop-in consultations with therapists, scheduled therapy appointments, text-based peer support and support groups for teens. “We live in a city that has wonderful nonprofits that also support teens’ mental health and great hospital systems that support our teens,” Rivkee Rudolph said. “The Beacon is here to be a part of that and to uplift our teens. We want to put an emphasis on self-care, peer support and inclusion.” The Beacon, she said, is more than a drop-in center; it’s a place where teens can look inward to gain a deeper understanding of their emotions and to feel supported in the process. Available to all high school-aged teenagers across the Pittsburgh region, whether or not they are Friendship Circle members, the space will be open after school and will offer both unstructured time and programming, Kaitlin Hens-Greco, the clinical director of The Beacon, said. “All the programming will be centered Please see Beacon, page 10
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abbi Ron Symons was headed to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh the morning of Oct. 27, 2018, when he knew something wasn’t right. “It was 9:58 in the morning. I made a left turn off of Braddock onto Forbes Extension, and I was driving over the bridge and getting closer to Shady. I was overtaken by police cars,” he recalled. “When I got to a stoplight, I saw them heading toward Tree of Life, and it was striking.” Symons is the founder of the JCC’s Center for Loving Kindness and its director of Jewish life. When he arrived at the JCC, he pulled into the garage beneath the building, breaking from his habit of parking his car at another nearby garage. “I knew something was happening,” he said. Inside the building, Symons found Jason Kunzman, the JCC’s chief program officer, who told him about the shooting at the Tree of Life building. The two immediately put the JCC on lockdown. The rabbi next tried to contact his wife, Rabbi Barbara Symons, who was conducting services at Temple David in Monroeville and, as a result, was unavailable. He was able to speak with his mother in Buffalo and assured her that he was OK. “That began one of the longest days of my Please see Symons, page 10
Chag Sameach! tomertu / iStock / Getty Images Plus