She's a Jewel

by Emily Raij

Jenny Ruben Forero has always enjoyed making jewelry and, looking back now, it’s no surprise she continues to use her hobby for good. She first started selling jewelry years ago at a Jewish Pavilion event table when she was just 13. Through Jenny’s Chain of Giving, as she called her budding business then, she eventually donated more than 3,000 bracelets to area nursing homes.

“I always make jewelry when I need a moment to decompress – it’s been my release,” says Jenny, who lives in Maitland and works as a speech-language pathologist, often with kids at The Roth Family JCC.

More recently, Jenny has taken on a new cause through her bracelets – suicide prevention – after a personal loss prompted her to examine how mental illness is talked about and addressed, particularly among boys.

“My brother passed away on February 1, 2020, due to depression,” says Jenny, who notes that suicide is three times more common in men than in women. “It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to my family’s heart, and it’s not talked about enough.” 

Jenny’s brother Andrew had just turned 22 and was attending the University of South Florida. Jenny says her brother listened to motivational speakers who would say things like “shake it off” or “get over it.” She wishes people knew how damaging those messages can be and would share a different perspective, instead. 

“It’s OK to talk about it, to say how you’re feeling, and not be afraid to say how you’re feeling,” says Jenny. “Mental illness – and even those very words – are beyond stigmatized, especially with men and boys. They’re told to be tough, to be a man. Instead, if we can bring their issues to the surface, then they become surface issues, and those are easier to deal with.”

To help end this stigma, Jenny designed a Not One More suicide-awareness bracelet, which she sells through her Etsy shop, JewelsBuyJenny. It was Andrew who encouraged his sister to open the online store, and Jenny made it happen a couple of months after he passed away. Jenny has since donated a percentage of her profits on a regular basis to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Orlando. And, during a recent month-long fundraiser, she gave 100 percent of her sales to the organization. To date, Jenny has donated more than $5,000.

“The ribbon for suicide awareness is teal and purple, so I wanted to pick stones that sort of corresponded,” explains Jenny.

The deep purple agate of the Not One More bracelets felt grounding to her, and Jenny finds the teal apatite stone to be calming. But the middle stone, opalite, felt the most personal.

“I really like that it reflects the light – like a shine, aura, someone is there with you,” Jenny says.

As Jenny shares the stories behind her bracelets, people share their stories with her, sending pictures of themselves wearing her bracelets through social media and talking about their experiences with mental illness and suicide. 

“When I promote these suicide-awareness bracelets, I’m sharing a piece of myself,” says Jenny. “I try to give a little bit more than necessary, so something sticks. It’s been so nice hearing from people all over, thanking me for reminding them why they’re still here.”

Throughout all areas of her life, Jenny shares that piece of herself, whether it’s including a personal, handwritten note to each customer expressing her gratitude, talking to teens through NAMI, or reassuring the kids she works with that it’s OK to have big emotions and ask for help from a friend.

And Jenny now feels like part of a community that supports her.

“I have a very large, nice network of mostly women on Instagram,” she says. “It literally takes a village, and this village did good!”

Jenny’s local village includes her husband as well as her parents, who live nearby in Winter Park. Chabad of North Orlando’s Rabbi Yanky Majesky calls often to check on Jenny and her family. And she regularly checks in with her brother’s friends. Maintaining those connections and letting people know they’re not alone is critical, Jenny believes.

“I think anybody who’s suffering, whether it be in silence or not in silence, needs to know that they’re not alone,” she says. “There are people who feel the way you’re feeling.”

By turning beads into bracelets and silence into support, Jenny is honoring her brother’s memory and helping others heal.