Above: A year after her father died, Molly wrote him this letter; she continues to write him.
Molly Rott } jewish@edu writer
After dad’s tragic death, Hillel, JFS offer solace.
About 3½ years ago, there was a huge flood in Huntington Woods and surrounding communities. It rained for days and days, and for us the rain didn’t end when the weather cleared. My father was missing. He was found in his car. He had passed away.
People from all over were coming into houses like ours to help with the clean up as we recovered from the standing water in our homes. Everything we owned was floating. And, while the clean-up efforts were a huge help to recovering the material items that we lost, we had lost something much more important.
Because of the people at Hillel of Metro Detroit, I was back to school within weeks of this devastating time in my life.
A representative from Jewish Family Service was the first person to reach out to me and my family to see if there was anything they could do for us. They were amazing. Even now they continue to help. They have provided us with resources that we might not have had otherwise. While this is secondary to having lost a father, husband, brother and son because it cannot bring him back, it was and is such a big help.
At the same time, Hillel of Metro Detroit was also there for me, a bright light in my life and the lives of so many students in our community. Because of the people at Hillel of Metro Detroit, I was back to school within weeks of this devastating time in my life. I knew it was a safe place if I needed to come and talk or cry. It was through Hillel of Metro Detroit that I met another student, Manny Cohen, the man I will soon marry.
The fact that there was a community for me to be with, was really, really important for me to continue my life, to move on and to go back to school. The strength and support of Jewish Family Service and Hillel of Metro Detroit made all the difference. @
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Molly Rott graduated from Wayne State University last year and is in the Physician Assistant Program at University of Detroit-Mercy. Molly and Manny are getting married this summer and will live in Oak Park