On April 15, I retire from Safehome. For the better part of my 19 years working at Safehome, Johnson County’s only domestic violence agency, I served as the Jewish outreach coordinator on domestic abuse. When I initially started, half my position involved this responsibility, due to Steve Israelite’s vision to fund this type of outreach and his collaboration with Sharon Katz, former executive director. The other half regarded my field of volunteer management. When the grant from Jewish Heritage Foundation ended, other places provided funding: Flo Harris Foundation, J-LEAD, and gracious anonymous donors. It remained a small but vital part of my professional life.
Like myself, the learning curve for our Jewish clergy was more straight than curved … how could this happen in the Jewish community when we believe in Shalom Bayit? No one talks about it, therefore it doesn’t exist. After a couple of years, and speaking to many groups who invited me to discuss the topic, I figured out how to explain this complex situation so it made sense, and allowed people to believe that yes, it does exist in our idyllic corner of the world.
You know what happened? As people learned about abuse, and the emergency cards started appearing in all the temples, synagogues and at The J (thank you, Marge!), people started calling, asking questions about abuse, the agency, and for resources, including names of rabbis who truly understood this horrible dynamic; i.e., someone spiritually s/he could talk with who would believe them. There were many successes with calls, some heartbreak, and definitely education. Education enables us to move forward with good decisions. As Rabbi (Vered) Harris wrote after she moved to Oklahoma, “Because of your advocacy and the educational programs you provided, I learned enough to at least help me know who to call and what questions to ask when I’m faced with a person living in an abusive relationship.”
Though I leave April 15, Safehome continues to serve the Jewish community. If you have any questions about the agency’s sensitivity to needs of people in our community, contact Babs Bradhurst, assistant finance director, who will serve as Safehome’s Jewish Outreach Resource (913-432-9300). She will answer questions involving kashrut, holidays and any other curiosity you have about the program or shelter service. Safehome’s volunteers will continue to distribute the emergency cards. Safehome’s hotline number is 913-262-2868.
Thank you to our community’s wonderful rabbis for your valuable support of Safehome’s program and learning along with me; thank you to all the wonderful groups who invited me to speak; and thank you to those volunteer groups who chose Safehome as their place to volunteer on Mitzvah Days these last 19 years.
Susan Lebovitz, CVM
Volunteer Manager
