Speak to any native Baltimorean, and they will tell you how much our community has changed over the years. True, the city has grown, and you no longer know everyone, as you did back then, but the opportunities to perform chesed have grown as well. We are blessed to live in a community small enough to be called “out-of-town” yet large enough to support all-volunteer chesed teams like the ones found primarily in New York and other large cities worldwide. With much gratitude, WWW would like to spotlight those organizations that keep our wonderful community safe and sound.
A Friend in Need.
As I sat in on the Chaverim meeting, last month, looking at the predominantly male members, it hit me that this is what Baltimore is all about. The men – who sported reflective Chaverim jackets, covered their heads with everything from a black hat to a kipa sruga to velvet and suede yarmulkes to a baseball cap – had convened to ask shailas (Torah questions) of their shtreimel-wearing posek, Harav Nesanel Kostelitz. It immediately struck me as an example of Baltimorean achdus (unity) at its finest!
The Rav opened the meeting by saying that, although he personally does not possess the many skills that Chaverim members do, he is proud to be a member and partner in Chaverim, by answering their halachic questions. Their questions took close to an hour to answer. They covered everything from who should respond and how to respond during Shabbos and Yom Tov, to rescuing a child/handicapped/elderly person who is in a locked room. The protocol for when Shomrim requests their assistance on missing persons searches was also discussed, as well as all the fine halachic details regarding how to return home after a call on Shabbos or Yom Tov.
Chaverim is a volunteer group comprised of approximately 25 units (individuals) and five dispatchers (three of whom are women), who are on call 24/7 to come to your rescue in a variety of situations, within minutes. Since its inception, almost four years ago, Chaverim has received over 3,000 phone calls – an average of 300 calls a month, 10 to 20 calls per day. They change flat tires, jumpstart dead car batteries, fill the tank of your stranded car when it is out of gas, direct traffic for large car accidents, pop locks on your car or house door when you are locked out. Members even help make a minyan at a simcha or, r”l, a shiva house. They join forces, when needed, with Baltimore’s other chesed organization team players, who volunteer for NWCP, Shomrim, Hatzalah, and CERT.
Chaverim is always looking for dedicated volunteers to be responders or dispatchers. They will provide all training and equipment. All you need is some flexible time and a strong desire to help your community! If you are interested, please call 443-928-5361, or email chaverim34@comcast.net.
If you need Chaverim’s help, you can reach them 24/7 at 410-486-9000.
The Eyes Have It
The Northwest Citizen’s Patrol is the oldest of these organizations, founded in 1982. Its many important services include victim service, vehicle theft prevention, bicycle safety classes, and victim advocacy. The patrol also works continuously behind the scenes as a liaison to further enhance services and safety for our area.
“The NWCP has heard from many sources that criminals avoid the NWCP patrol area because of the visible patrol cars, which are out on our streets night after night,” says NWCP President Nachman Schachter. “Given a choice, a criminal would rather do his `holiday shopping’ in an area that does not have a dozen extra eyes looking for him. They also know that behind those eyes is a Baltimore City police officer, patrolling in the immediate vicinity, who is ready and waiting to put him behind bars. The NWCP has been involved in the apprehension and conviction of many criminals.”
Our rabbanim have said repeatedly that all members of the community should join the NWCP, and, in fact, it is made up of a wide spectrum of the community – over 400 volunteers who daven in different shuls in our community, and who include businessmen, doctors, lawyers, government workers, and rabbanim. Mr. Schachter notes that, “Rabbi Heinemann has been quoted many times saying that because of the remarkable unity in our community, Hashem watches over our neighborhoods.”
To contact NWCP, call 410-664-6927.
Guardian Angels
Because of the recognition of NWCP’s important role in keeping crime away from our neighborhoods, City officials have a strong relationship with the NWCP; the same is true of Shomrim. Its 36 volunteer incident responders provide security and safety in the Northwest Baltimore neighborhood, which encompasses parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore County. They are the additional “eyes and ears” in our neighborhoods, working closely with both police departments in areas of burglaries, larcenies, missing persons, and other matters.
Responding to hotline calls 24 hours a day/365 days a year, Shomrim’s all-volunteer members are normally on-site within minutes. In an average month, they respond to 130 to 150 calls, concerning theft of property, assault, and hit-and-run accidents. Calls are also received from people who come home to find a front door or back window open, and from those who see someone looking in the window of their car, or coming up onto their property. Shomrim also responds to calls about suspicious picture taking of children, homes, and shuls. The organization ensures that everyone is safe and property is secured. In case of an emergency, however, they encourage you to call 911 first.
The cost to fully equip new Shomrim members with such equipment as two-way radios, batteries, battery chargers, flashlights, and digital cameras is approximately $1,500 per member. Currently, there is a waiting list of applicants to join Shomrim. The organization is selective, however, in its strategic design of the optimal mix of volunteers who can best protect our community, based on professional expertise. For example, its blue collar members, who work predominantly in our community, are in a great position to provide unsuspecting daytime security. Likewise, Shomrim’s volunteers who are mental health practitioners can best assess the family dynamics in a missing persons situation. Shomrim has a customized selection of volunteers, taking this goal into consideration.
“It’s exciting to work in a community where we know we can count on different agencies with whom we have cross-communication – Chaverim, Hatzalah and CERT – in situations such as a missing persons call, knowing that they are all available on a minute’s notice,” says Shomrim vice president, Ronnie Rosenbluth.
Shomrim’s hotline number is 410-358-9999.
Saving Lives
Like Shomrim and Chaverim, all Hatzalah members are on call all the time, 24/7.
Hatzalah began in March of 2007 after the initial class of members graduated their EMT training. This past July they initiated transport services with three ambulances. In 2009, Hatzalah responded to over 900 calls. Now, completing its fourth year, Hatzalah’s more than 25 responders (including six paramedics) and 15 dispatchers (many of whom are women) are on pace to respond to over 1,100 calls.
Unlike a city or private ambulance service, Hatzalah does not charge a penny – nor does it bill your insurance company – for its services. Annual expenses have jumped to over $200,000 a year to pay for medications (many of which have to be replaced yearly), supplies, vehicle expenses, and insurance. Hatzalah depends on the community to offset these costs. When halachic and hashkafic shailos arise, Hatzalah consults its Vaad Harabbonim: Rabbis Berger, Hauer, Heinemann, and Hopfer.
Hatzalah members are trained to recognize and treat life-threatening and potentially life-threatening situations. Some of the more common emergencies for which Hatzalah has been called upon include cardiac emergencies/chest pain, diabetic emergencies, breathing difficulties, allergic reactions, burns, severe bleeding, severe wounds, and slips and falls resulting in serious injury. Hatzalah recently responded to, stabilized, and transported a patient with a fractured neck, all within 25 minutes of the initial call to the emergency number.
“Since a rapid response time is crucial in a medical emergency, the closest responder is dispatched to the location of the emergency” explains Hatzalah spokesperson Manny Topper. “The responder can often be there within one minute of the call coming in to the dispatcher. Our goal is to have an average on-scene arrival of less than two minutes.” The organization is in direct communication with the city and can call upon them when needed.
Hatzalah is currently putting together a second class for daytime responders; training as Emergency Medical Technicians will start at the beginning of December. Daytime responders are more difficult to find than evening responders, since most potential members work outside the neighborhood. Only men married for at least one year are accepted. Additionally, EMTs attend continuing education classes twice a month and practice their skills in Hatzalah’s Training Center, to ensure that they are ready when called upon.
Hatzalah’s non-emergency office line is 410-585-0054. In an emergency, please call Hatzalah at 410-358-0000.
CERTain to Help
Through the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program, the Baltimore City Office of Emergency Management has teamed up with communities across the city to help us stay safe during a natural or manmade disaster and to promote disaster preparedness. The Northern Park Heights CERT team is comprised entirely of observant Jews, and is the largest team in the city, according to chapter president Barry Schleifer. Like Chaverim and Shomrim, CERT asks its shailos to Rav Kostelitz.
This CERT team covers the area above Northern Parkway, including the county, and elsewhere in the city, if they are called upon to help. In a non-emergency capacity, it educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact our area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. The emergencies CERT has responded to include missing persons calls and shoveling out those trapped in their houses during a blizzard.
“On an emergency basis, it is a pretty sophisticated team,” says Mr. Schleifer. “We have a medical component too. Our team is comprised of a couple of nurses, six or more current and past EMTs, a medical doctor, a holistic practitioner, and even a former combat medic. Because of them, we are more in a position to handle an emergency.”
The Northern Park Heights CERT team now has 40 volunteer members, and its goal is to increase that number by ten, considering that not everyone may be available in a true emergency, chalila. To become a CERT member, you are required to take the CERT training from a local sponsoring agency, like an emergency management agency, fire department, or police department. CERT works with the Red Cross, and its members can take any kind of Red Cross training free of charge.
For further information about CERT, contact Barry Schleifer: 410-358-3799.
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We are proud to live in a community where there is such extraordinary teamwork to keep us safe, and where such a big kiddush Hashem is being made. Rav Kostelitz emphasizes that what Chaverim and CERT and all the other volunteer team organizations do is really an obligation of everyone in our community. “Kol Yisrael chaverim is really the obligation for klal Yisrael,” says the Rav. “These volunteers took the initiative and are the shlichim for the whole town. They are working to do what we all are obligated to do but might not have the time or expertise to do.”
May those who so selflessly devote themselves to our communal needs reap the multitude of rewards that the Ribono Shel Olam (G-d) has in store for them!
© Margie Pensak-2010
