By Gail Small and Howard Berger, Co-Executive Directors

Happy New Year!

2014 has already set in and with it most of us have made some heartfelt resolutions that we plan to keep…only this time we really meant it!

Well Ometz is really no different! We are a group of people who want to help and we really mean it too!

Year in, year out we try to help our fellow community members who may need assistance settling in Montreal, finding work, adapting to a family crisis or living with the challenges of school, of bereavement, of divorce, of poverty or of mental illness in a family. These are real, daily and daunting challenges but our resolution is to offer the best possible services we can to support our clients and help them become more resilient.

At Ometz we have made a promise to our clients – to deliver accessible, personalized, and culturally-sensitive human services, founded on Jewish values, and to be responsive, compassionate, engaged, innovative and inspiring. We try to deliver on that promise every day.

We cannot do this alone and in truth we are not alone. As they say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – and our parts include a Board of 15 passionate volunteers; a staff of 100 devoted professionals; and close to 400 volunteers who mentor, tutor, drive, deliver, source out donors for missing items for needy clients and generally make themselves available for whatever needs to be done.

So how are we doing? Here is a note that we received just before the holidays.

From Josh

“Finding a job would have been nearly impossible without the help of Ometz. Its Employment counselors do a lot more than simply find jobs for people. They help develop communities as well as assure that communities remain intact and strong. I can go on for hours recounting countless stories about cousins, friends or various other individuals who had to take their families elsewhere. For many people, patience is a word that is hard to understand. Ometz helps people understand the importance of that word …. “

While it’s nice to get this feedback, it is the knowledge that we can make a difference that inspires us to re-dedicate ourselves anew each year. Our resolution to you and all who may seek our help, is to fulfill our promises and to strive to better our services in every way we can.

Happy New Year – may it bring good health and a sense of fulfillment for us all.