Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM) is a unified effort among Jewish organizations worldwide to help raise awareness and foster acceptance of people with disabilities and mental health conditions in the Jewish community. Occurring each February, JDAIM is now in its 15th year.
Sasone, the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City’s program to help support access to a Jewish education, is leading the charge in community JDAIM celebrations.
“JDAIM serves as a jumping off point for not only raising awareness about disability inclusion, but as a way to start the conversation around what we are doing well and what we need to do better in the Jewish world,” Sasone Director Lindsey Lipsky said.
This year, Sasone is excited to be bringing in Shelly Christensen, original JDAIM co-founder and senior director of faith inclusion and belonging at RespectAbility, for a special keynote and community workshop on Sunday, Feb. 25, at the Jewish Community Campus (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park, KS 66211).
The workshop will feature excerpts from Christensen’s book, “From Longing to Belonging: A Practical Guide to Including People with Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions in Your Faith Community,” as well as two concurrent workshops. Christensen will present a workshop for educators and program professionals on the tenets of disability inclusion, while Kathleen Halling, LCPC, RPT, and staff therapist at Jewish Family Services, will be presenting a workshop for families and self-advocates to help support mental health, balance and advocacy.
Because of the White Family Supporting Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City, this event is free to all members of any faith organization in the community.
Registration for the JDAIM Sasone Keynote and Workshop can be done at https://form.jotform.com/JFEDKC/JDAIM2024.
In addition to Sasone’s Feb. 25 event, Sasone will be partnering with several community organizations throughout the month to help promote disability awareness and inclusion:
- Friday, Feb 9: Share Shabbat at The J
- PJ Library JDAIM preschool disability read-aloud across Kansas City
- Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. at the White Theatre: Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy’s JDAIM Film Night with special pre-screening of “Thirteen”
- Saturday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. at The Golden Scoop: JDAIM Beth Torah Havdalah Service at the Golden Scoop
“This message of JDAIM is so important,” Lipsky said. “Inclusion does not just happen in a vacuum. It takes the commitment of us all to make it a reality.”
More information about Sasone is available at sasone.org or by contacting Lipsky at .