Take a moment and put yourself into the shoes of Jonah, a child with special needs.
Imagine you are Jonah. You see letters differently than others. You have difficulty following along in class. You are embarrassed to ask questions in front of your classmates for fear of being made fun of. You try hard at school, but you just can’t seem to succeed. You have a constant need to be moving. You find it hard to sit still. You’re easily distracted.
All this gets you into trouble. You’re not trying to make life tough for your teacher, but you are. Recess is even worse. You have a hard time catching the ball or playing any game as well as your friends. And no one wants you on their team. You are often bullied in the bathroom.
What can you do to be like everyone else? It’s so frustrating! That’s the pain Jonah lives with. You can see how easily this child can fall through the cracks and fail in school — and fail in LIFE!
But Jonah can be helped. Professionals can diagnose the core problems and then, in a methodical way, work with him on his specific challenges. It might be a vision problem. Or trouble with reading and comprehension. Or help for the fidgeting or social issues. Jonah can start to get his act together, feel good about himself, and be part of the crowd. He can even shine!
It comes when we value and respect each “Jonah” in our schools. It comes when we cherish his human dignity and nurture him for the treasure he carries — his Jewish identity.
This can be literally life-saving! But it’s also very expensive. That’s why I’m asking for additional help.The need is bigger than you might think. With 20-35% of our children needing services at a cost of about $2,000 per child, it means we need about $2,000,000 just to cover these resource room services.
Will you make a special gift that will help get Jonah’s life back together? You can help, in some measure, to give Jonah some of the professional help he needs, not just to survive, but to actually thrive at school. You can help him feel more normal. Jonah is a great kid. But without your help, he might drown.
There’s no doubt that if Jonah was your child, you’d call it ‘pikuach nefesh’, a matter of life or death. Well it is! And, it’s your donation that is helping to save him. But he needs so much more funding to finish the task. Please click below and make a special gift. It will be designated to help the many Jonahs in our system. Become a Monthly Member One Time Gift Increase And NEW! Now, you can double your impact. All new gifts thru 1/31/18 will be matched for one year. Nesanel P.S. You have been saving our children’s lives and we thank you. Read what further needs to be done.
