I was born in Poland at a time when my parents were struggling to reconstruct their lives after surviving the war. Like so many before them, they left for the ‘Promised Land’ with the hopes of starting a new life. At the age of 5, I remember arriving in Montreal in mid- May. That summer I recall being shipped off, by bus, with my mom to Jewish Laurentian Fresh Air Camp in St. Hippolyte. Years later, I learned that this was part of our Settlement & Integration through JIAS, now part of Ometz.

Since a formal Jewish Education was out of reach for my parents, even with generous subsidies from the community, I attended a Public School and had friends of every nationality. The Jews were a minority in my school. In order to compensate for the lack of Jewish contact that I had throughout the school year, my parents sent me to Camp B’nai Brith every summer. For years, that was my lifeline to Jewish life, establishing friendships with those who had common Jewish values. My parents never shared the fact that it was with the help of Allied Jewish Community Services (now Federation CJA), that my annual camp experiences were made possible. How ironic, or should I say besherit, that granting vulnerable families camp subsidies is the work that I proudly do at Ometz, today.

When my sons graduated from University, they took advantage of the Employment Services that were available to them at Ometz; and later, when my son Ben was seeking to hire employees, he reached out to Ometz as well.

Working at Jewish Family Services, which eventually became Ometz, has not only sensitized me to how difficult people’s lives are; it has also made me appreciate everything around me so much more. More importantly, it motivated me to give back and help our amazing Jewish Community. In addition to my professional position at Ometz for the past twenty plus years, I have somehow managed to have had a complementary second career of volunteering on the Beth Tikvah Board & Executive for 10 years, participating in several Federation Committees, being a founding Board member of the West Island Federation CJA since 1995, Chairing West Island Super Sunday, and Founding and Co-chairing the 50 plus group of CJCS in the West Island.

As I reflect my being a part of the Ometz family for the last 23 years, I am deeply aware of the impact that Ometz has had on my life and in the lives of my family. I am the product of the goals we wish to obtain for our clients. I am grateful for the personal growth that this agency has given me, along with the sense of social responsibility that has been instilled in me as a result of the efforts and decisions that were made for me by my parents, with the support of Ometz and the community, as a child.