Shalom Task Force is excited to announce the launch of The Purple Fellowship! The Purple Fellowship is a new national program for high school students, led by Shalom Task Force staff members Rocky Salomon (Hotline Service Specialist) and Jeffrey Younger (Marketing and Outreach Coordinator). Juniors and seniors were selected for the fellowship to gain important leadership skills while deepening students’ understanding of domestic abuse in the Jewish community.
“One of the major feedback requests we receive from high school students, to whom we teach our workshops each year, is that they wish they had more than 90 minutes to discuss the topics of our workshops. Through this fellowship, we are giving students the opportunity to expound upon these topics and to have these important conversations with students from across the country,” said Avital Levin, Director of Education of Shalom Task Force. In addition, Shalom Task Force is partnering with Project S.A.R.A.H. to bring the Purple Fellowship to New Jersey High Schools.
For the first cohort, 26 students from 12 yeshivah high schools across six states were accepted from a highly competitive group of applicants to participate in an eight-week training taught by Shalom Task Force’s committed staff and exciting guest lecturers. Topics for the trainings include healthy relationships, red flags, supporting a friend, and barriers to coming forward. The fellowship will commence with fellows planning Go Purple Day for their schools, a day for schools to wear purple to stand up against domestic abuse and to stand up for healthy relationships, which we are holding this year in February.
“The goal is for the students involved with the Fellowship to not only gain a true understanding of Shalom Task Force’s mission, but that it will also encourage students to continue to take on leadership roles in Jewish communal work,” said Dr. Shoshannah Frydman, Executive Director of Shalom Task Force.
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Shalom Task Force has been offering support and education to the Jewish community for the last 27 years. Our education department reached over 7,000 community members during the 2019-2020 school year. If you would like to request a workshop, please visit www.shalomtaskforce.org/education.
If you or your loved one has questions or concerns about relationships, or are currently in an unhealthy or abusive relationship – we are here for you. Please call, text, or WhatsApp the confidential Shalom Task Force Hotline at 888-883-2323 or chat with a live advocate at www.shalomtaskforce.org.