Coordinator hands full shaping history

by Sharon Levinsohn Journal Staff Writer

Sherrie Raz has her hands full. As project coordinator for the Russian Resettlement Program at the Jewish Family and Children's Service in West Palm Beach, she is in charge of coordinating the resettlement of approximately 25 Soviet families who will be emigrating to Palm Beach County in the next few months.

Raz and her group of volunteers, in conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County and JF&CS, hopes to have the families set­tled by the end of June of this year.

"The organization and the meshing of three bodies (Federation, JF&CS and volunteers) was my idea," Raz said. "The community is being very supportive but we need a lot more.

The first volunteer recruitment meeting was held at the West Palm Beach's Morse Geriatric Center on March 19. "We had about 200 people show up. We had volunteers ranging from 12 years old to 87 years old. We're looking for people of all ages," she said.

Volunteers learned about the entire resettlement process and about the wide variety of needs that must be met. Training sessions were held on March 25' at Temple Beth David (Palm Beach Gardens), March 26 at Aitz Chaim Synagogue (West Palm Beach), and March 27 at Temple Emanu-El (Palm Beach). Future training sessions, for all interested vol­unteers, will be held on March 28, from 8-10 p.m., at Temple Judea in West Palm Beach and on March 29, from 10 a.m. - noon, at The Lake Worth Jewish Center.

According to Raz, all volunteers will be trained and oriented according to their areas of interest.

"Each Russian refuge family will be matched with one American family who will take care of them for one week out of the month for four months," Raz said. "They will call them; every day, take them places, and help them out."'

Raz feels uniquely qualified for her job, which she has held for the past month. She has a master's degree in psychology and is currently working on her., Ph.D. in this field. She spent the ten years in Israel, where she worked'' as a social worker and as an artist, and has been back in the United States for the past 11 years. She has also written and published a book, "In A Strange Land," an anthology of poetry L about Jews who have traveled and resettled - in different places. Additionally, she is fluent in four- languages -English, Spanish, French and Hebrew, and she speaks Yiddish. She also plans to add Russian to this impressive list.

Raz said she hopes to inspire volunteers to join the program. "Our motto is, 'Be a part of history'."