It Takes a Village
By Emily Raij
“This is where Jewish values and the Jewish community come together.”
You’ve come a long way, baby
Growing the Grove
The Heller name is likely familiar to many Central Floridians. The Heller Bros. Company was founded in New York City in 1911. The wholesale fruit and produce distribution business moved to Orlando in the early 1930s and became one of Florida’s largest citrus growers.
Harvey Heller, grandson of one of the original Heller brothers who founded the company, moved to Orlando in 1964 and began learning the citrus business. He eventually became president of the operation, which today owns groves in Polk, Collier, and St. Lucie counties.
So how and why did Harvey decide to move from growing groves to supporting Shayna’s Village at The Heller Family Grove? All of Harvey’s nine children attended the ECLC and The Roth Family JCC summer camps. His older children have since worked at the J, as well.
“It’s almost like a lifetime of interaction with the institution,” says Harvey. “Every single one of my kids always looked forward to going there.”
A few years ago, while both of Harvey’s youngest children with wife Dayna – seven-year-old Juno and five-year-old Phoebe – were attending the ECLC, Harvey became aware of the planned renovation of Shayna’s Village. He saw it as an opportunity to support a resource that has supported his family over the years.
“It’s an appropriate way to say thank-you to this place that has really provided so much for so many of us,” says Harvey.
Not only is Harvey the Shayna’s Village at The Heller Family Grove namesake, he’s also a student! After Harvey and Dayna’s daughters started guitar lessons at Shayna’s Village, it became a family affair with Harvey, Dayna, Juno, and Phoebe often attending class and playing guitar together.
“I’m just very happy with the outcome of this undertaking,” says Harvey. “Events happen, sometimes with great planning, and some seem to assemble themselves. This was the right project at the right time.”
The Shayna Cai Presser Parenting Center was originally opened in 1994 within The Roth Family JCC’s Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC). The Presser family wanted to honor the memory of young Shayna, who passed away from a brain tumor shortly after starting preschool at the ECLC. Shayna’s mother, Esther “Es” Cohen (formerly Presser) had been the JCC’s membership director, and her two sons attended preschool, enrichment programs, and camp there.
In 2007, the center underwent a major renovation guided by its senior director of programming and parenting support, Karen Duncan, to officially become Shayna’s Village. That transformation brought to life Karen’s vision of creating not only a village for parents to feel a sense of community but a village for kids to learn and play in spaces outside of the classroom – such as a teaching kitchen, library, and science area. For nearly two decades, Shayna’s Village has offered enriching classes for kids, parenting support workshops for adults, and sessions for kids and adults to enjoy together. From art, movement, and music classes for babies to gardening, guitar, and games that model friendship skills for preschool-aged kids, Shayna’s Village fosters the kind of social-emotional learning from which all children can benefit.
With its grand opening on July 31, the newest iteration of Shayna’s Village at The Heller Family Grove adds professional and therapeutic services under the leadership of licensed pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. Juliana Bloom while Karen continues to lead programming and offer the beloved classes and workshops for kids and parents.
“This was an opportunity to build in an area where there is a dearth of this type of offering, to have something akin to a therapeutic hub,” explains Karen Spector, the senior director of therapeutic services and engagement at Shayna’s Village, whose role focuses on creating a warm and inclusive space for families to receive a wide range of services. Karen helps coordinate care for families while vetting and overseeing the therapists, and she works with the entire therapeutic team.
All of the new services and spaces were thoughtfully planned by Karen Duncan, Karen Spector, and Melissa Youngblood, the chief education officer of The Roth Family JCC.
A local solution for a national challenge
As Dr. Bloom explains, there is a mental-health crisis in this country with higher rates of depression and anxiety in children than ever before. There are also more diagnoses of autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other developmental differences. Unfortunately, access to care does not necessarily increase in tandem with diagnoses.
“It can take so long to get into either public or private services,” says Dr. Bloom. “There might be an eight-month waiting list. Your family doesn’t have that time to wait. The goal at Shayna’s Village at The Heller Family Grove is to have the evaluation services, which is my domain, and the intervention services all together and available. We are also growing to include parent support.”
Many of the services can even be integrated into the classrooms at the ECLC, normalizing and destigmatizing the need for therapy and support while providing critical early intervention. However, families do not need to have a membership to the JCC or have a student enrolled in the ECLC or Gotlib Jewish Academy (formerly Jewish Academy of Orlando) to utilize the services at Shayna’s Village at The Heller Family Grove. In line with its mission of inclusivity, it is open to the entire community.
A new look with a familiar feel
Therapists’ offices at Shayna’s Village at The Heller Family Grove are intermingled with interactive areas for children, which Karen Duncan and Melissa explain was an intentional choice to blur the distinction between therapies and enrichment classes. Everyone can feel free to use this new space without worrying about judgment from others.
Stefani Rabideaux, the Shayna’s Village director of art and social media, is in charge of the facility’s new Arts Academy, an inclusive space that offers art therapy for children and families, hands-on learning for all ages, community-based learning led by working artists and musicians, and a gallery wall. Stefani also lent her artistic touch throughout the hallways, creating wooden tree artwork and a butterfly motif.
The state-of-the-art Florida Blue Nutrition Kitchen is equipped to serve as a demonstration kitchen with movable islands providing cooking and baking opportunities for learners of all ages and abilities. Those opportunities include cooking classes for children and families, evening classes and cultural community events for adults, and job preparedness programs for adult employees with special needs participating in the RAISE work and social-skills training program.
Additional classes focusing on educational, social, and emotional learning – including the classic and much-beloved Shayna’s Village offerings – will take place in the Community Classroom. There, babies through kindergartners and their caregivers can experience interactive parent/child classes to build connections and children-only classes to develop independence. Parents can also take advantage of the Shayna’s Village Family Lounge for new-parent education and support groups, prenatal yoga, or connecting with other parents. Michael Slone, co-owner of Slone Brothers Furniture, was integral in helping on a pro bono basis to design that space, which looks like a café but has furniture that is easily movable to make room for the yoga classes and other programs.
One of the new spaces specifically designated for therapies is the Sensory Spot, an immersive sound and light environment inspired by the Dutch therapist-created Snoezelen model. This calming, low-lit space was developed by teachers and occupational and physical therapists. It offers therapeutic stimulation for people of all ages with sensory-processing disorders and provides a multisensory experience to aid in learning and development for all children.
Leaving a Legacy
Although young Shayna only got to experience the ECLC for two weeks before passing away in 1991, The Roth Family JCC left a lasting impression on Shayna’s family – one they knew they wanted to pay forward.
“Both of my boys grew up at the J, from the preschool to after-school to camp counselors – and they eventually served on the Board of Directors,” says Es Cohen, Shayna’s mother, who was also the former membership director of the JCC for 15 years. When Karen Duncan approached Es about giving Shayna’s Village a new look, expanding its offerings, and making it even more inclusive, Es was all-in.
Like Harvey, Es also has grandchildren at the ECLC, and her sons went to camp with Harvey’s sons.
“Now there’s this connection with The Heller Family Grove and the kindness of what Harvey and his family have done,” says Es. “It couldn’t have been a better fit. There is a full circle moment for both families. The history will continue. It takes a village... Shayna’s Village.”
That is a lot of change at Shayna’s Village, but families who have come to count on Karen Duncan’s expertise will not lose any of the warm familiarity they know and expect.
“All the classes you know and love and the parenting support you had from Karen will remain, just in expanded form,” says Melissa.
The community comes together
In addition to the Heller Family, financial support for Shayna’s Village at The Heller Family Grove has come from the PresserCohen Family, Florida Blue, the Yarmuth Family, Lindsey and Andrew Gluck, the Shapiro Family, the Baumgarten Family, Donna and Barry Render, Steve Isaacs, Mid-Florida Endodontics (the Isler and Lipkin Families), and anonymous donors.
“This is where Jewish values and the Jewish community come together,” says Karen Spector. “We all look out for one another. We welcome in strangers because we know what it feels like to be strangers in a strange land. To me, the Jewish values fit beautifully. For this all to take place under the auspices of a Jewish Community Center feels right.”
This story was originally published in print in Fall 2024.