My name is Steven.
I was born in Los Angeles, California, June 12th, 1950.
I was a musician, but I was also a pretty good student.
Graduated in 1968 and the lure of rock'n'roll got strong.
Marijuana, occasional use of LSD.
I went on the road with a rock'n'roll band, brought me up to Seattle.
I met my wife Mary, playing in a nightclub in Lynnwood, which led to our first child.
I could see that this was not going to be a way to support a family.
I knew that trains would be a growing industry.  And I loved them.
It was a job I could get up and do every day.
Growing up with my dad, I found it was kind of like walking on eggshells,
or trying to keep the peace.
I must have been in denial about being bipolar.
I didn't deal with it.
Things got out of hand, or started to get out of hand after my divorce – 2001.
I found myself drinking and hanging out in bars.
After my retirement it would be easy for me in a day to spend up to
$500 with drugs and alcohol.
Meanwhile I've wreaked havoc within my family.
He did OD, and I said to him,
"This is it. This...this is it."
He was most definitely months away
from passing away.
Desperation brought me to JFS for help.
Working with the JFS addiction counselor
it was suggested to me about treatment programs
and I was adamant at first against it.
I grew up with the misconception that, well,
Jewish people don't have such problems.
Coming here and finding out that I wasn't the only one
was in some strange way comforting.
We went through a list different treatment programs, recovery centers,
and we came upon Beit T'Shuvah in Los Angeles.
JFS loaded up what little belongings I had.  We stopped at a store and I bought some more underwear and socks a few things like that.
They gave me some spending money, put me on the plane and made sure the airline knew that I was not to have any alcohol and they stayed with me.
I've been there for 14 months working on the program.
Jewish Family Service received my check 
from the rail retirement board
and took care of all my financial obligations.
This enabled me to concentrate on
the recovery part of my program.
At the behest of my family all communication
was to be done through JFS.
It underlined the seriousness
of the damage I had done.
It started slowly with letters and cards 
and grew into a visit.
And I was like, "Huh. He's kinda getting it.
It's allowed me to be invited up to spend 
Thanksgiving with my family.
I am the father and grandfather
of a great collection of people.
I didn't have any contact last year
at this time with my family.
So to get back to where I can be trusted
 again – this is a big thing.
Works not over yet, maybe it won't be ever over.
He has really used JFS as like a foundation
and a support beam for his life.
I would have gone down.
Most certainly I would have gone down.
My dad was headed to the grave.
JFS gave him back his life.
Well, I spent the last 30 years doing social work.
I worked with veterans, children.
One of my jobs was working with JFS
in Tucson, Arizona.
Seeing people go forward, and not backwards.
That was the most important thing to me.
I came to Seattle in 1993.
About five years ago, I went to my doctor 
complaining of dry skin.
She called me on the phone
and told me I had kidney disease.
Before I knew it I was getting weaker
and it just went downhill.
I got to the point that I could not work.
I lost my housing and I was in my car.
It dawned on me that I was really homeless
and I had worked all my life.
It's just very embarrassing.
I found a program that put me
in a motel for four months.
It was really frightening – drugs, prostitution, violence.
I was starting with dialysis and trying to eat properly.
It was tough and that’s when I reached out to JFS for counseling help and support.
With JFS they reached out to me,
but not just one thing, but the whole me.
Emotional concerns, my medical problems, they helped me with food,
helped me with transportation.
I have no relatives.  My family is all gone. 
And they became my family.
Eventually, JFS helped me with a Section 8 Program and the housing deposit that allowed me to get this beautiful apartment that I have right now.
It gave me the ability to cook the foods
 that I needed to eat for my disease.
It gave me the stability to follow through
on all my medical care.
And it basically made me feel like a whole human being.
My hope for the future now is to be able to contribute.
I am no longer in that survival mode.
JFS helped me know that there was a future.
My family is from Belarus. Many generations.
When my parents got married they moved
 to a tiny town in Siberia.
My dad was the head electrical engineer 
throughout an oil and gas refinery.
It was something he was very proud of.
Antisemitism was quite prevalent in the Soviet Union.
It came up when it was time for promotions
or time to apply to schools.
At the same time Jews weren't allowed to leave the Soviet Union which gave rise to the term 'refusnik', when individuals would attempt to leave
then be met with heavy repercussions.
In the early 90s the Soviet Union was collapsing.
Finally, Jews were permitted to leave.
My parents pursued the opportunity, and left
with the hopes and dreams for the next generation.
In August of 1992, we immigrated
to Tacoma, Washington.
We were incredibly fortunate to be sort of embraced
by JFS in collaboration with
Barbara and Herman Kleiner upon arrival.
JFS was instrumental in
setting up my family in all aspects,
from a place to live and food, enrolling me and my sister in school,
to helping my parents pave their new professional lives.
My father like many Soviet Jewish immigrants
came to U.S. with extensive professional experience, higher education.
And like many immigrants had to start over professionally,
taking on jobs that did not maximize his potential,
making substantial sacrifices for the next generation.
About a year and a half ago I began volunteering at JFS
working to launch a new program called Tatweer.
Helping refugee clients with professional backgrounds and higher education match as closely as possible to their job in their country of origin.
We're seeing engineers who are able to find job placements as engineers.
We are seeing dentists from Iraq utilize their professional experience.
Tatweer is helping individuals maximize
their professional potential and the
trajectory of generations to follow.
The opportunity that JFS has given me 
now to give back to fellow immigrants
reminds me of how fortunate I am to now be
on the other end of the immigration journey.
My wife Tracy and I just had a baby girl.
Her name is Nava.
She is the first generation American in our family.
I think for my parents Nava is a reminder
of why they made the sacrifices they did.
You know Russians give toasts at every meal.
You raise a glass and you give a big long-winded toast
and every toast that my grandfather gives today
ends with, one of the only things he knows
 how to say in English, which is
"God bless America".
The work that JFS does touches so many people
in so many different ways.
Thanks to JFS we were able to plant roots.
JFS was amazing and helped me get the 
courage and direction I needed.
Jewish Family Service gave me back my dad.
I will spend my lifetime
figuring out how to repay them for that.
