To Our Community,
The Shehecheyanu is a Jewish prayer said to mark important occasions, and gives thanks to God for giving us life, sustaining us, and allowing us to reach this time and place. As BaMidbar welcomes the new Jewish year, we are reaching out to our community full of gratitude, to share with you an important Shehecheyanu moment for BaMidbar. On September 1st, BaMidbar officially filed its 501(c)3 application with the IRS. Ramah in the Rockies will continue to serve as a fiscal sponsor for BaMidbar until we receive our final determination letter, but for all intents and purposes, BaMidbar is now operating as an independent entity!
This community has supported BaMidbar from the beginning, and has been truly instrumental in sustaining BaMidbar and helping us reach this moment. From early conversations about the need for mental health resources in the Jewish community, to the launch of our first wilderness therapy program in 2018, you have been there helping make our work possible! As we expanded our focus in 2020 to mental health prevention and education programs, you believed in us! Through the strength of this community, over the last year BaMidbar has served:
441 Community Members through 23 Prevention Programs
2,473 Jewish Community Professionals through 100 Mental Health Education Programs
9 Young Adults through an immersive, 40-Day Wilderness Therapy Program
Image: Two students smiling by the fire
As we celebrate BaMidbar’s successes in 5781, we also are looking forward to significant growth and new programming in the coming year. BaMidbar works to address mental health and wellness in the Jewish community through a three-pronged approach, focusing on prevention, education, and treatment. In 5782, BaMidbar will:
Pilot the Wellness Cohort of the Peer Leadership Fellowship, in partnership with Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP) and the Jewish Teen Initiative of Boston (JTI). During the 9-month fellowship, 23 10th-12th graders will work to increase awareness and decrease stigma around mental health in the Jewish community.
Image: The CJP and JTI logos
Expand our educational offerings, including the Mental, Emotional, and Social Health for Experiential Educators (MESH-EE) program, a four-part course for Jewish communal professionals focused on expanding mental health literacy and exploring facilitation through the lens of social and emotional growth.
Image: Fingers holding a lens
Continue to support young adults struggling with mental health challenges through therapeutic, wilderness-based journeys of self-discovery, hope, and healing. Registration for our 2022 summer season will open on January 3rd, 2022.
Image: A student sits and looks out at a vista
We could not have done this work without the community’s belief and commitment to our mission and vision. BaMidbar will be celebrating this momentous milestone with additional announcements and reflections throughout September. As we welcome the New Year, we want to begin the year by expressing our profound gratitude for all this community has done to make our work possible! Shehecheyanu – thank YOU for giving BaMidbar life, sustaining us, and allowing us to reach this time and place.
Shana Tova U’Metuka,
The BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy Team