"We're Here For You"
By Emily Raij
Six months before Madison Eckelman was set to earn a master’s degree in social work from UCF, she began searching for a job that would utilize her counseling, case-management, and research skills. During the first year of her graduate program, which she completed this past May, she interned with a grassroots counseling agency in Altamonte Springs focusing on positive psychology and clients with Medicaid. The next year, she interned at the Orlando VA Medical Center, where she worked with veterans of all ages and backgrounds with varying health needs. While Madison enjoyed helping this often underserved population, she was looking to try something different.
“I wanted to challenge myself in a new way,” she says. “I had trouble landing a job that felt like a good fit for me and that felt really meaningful, so my boyfriend recommended working in the Jewish community.”
Why Here? Why Now?
Madison Eckelman is the case manager for Central Florida’s new Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program. If you know a survivor living in the area, Madison can make sure all their needs are met.
It might seem surprising that a community with a well-known Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center didn’t already have a dedicated survivor assistance program, but when Phillip Flynn III, JFS Orlando president, got a call from Jewish Family & Career Services (JF&CS) in Atlanta about clients they were serving in Central Florida, he found an explanation – and a need.
Although areas with larger Jewish communities in Florida such as Miami, Broward County, and Jacksonville already have established Holocaust survivor assistance programs, JF&CS Atlanta oversees the entire Southeast region helping communities with smaller numbers of survivors and no existing programs – like Central Florida – connect clients to services.
Because Orlando was such a transient community, with Holocaust survivors moving in and out like so many other residents, that oversight from Atlanta has historically been enough. But as survivors are aging, they’re now coming here to stay.
“What we’re discovering is that a lot of survivors are coming to live with their children and their grandchildren,” says Phillip. “They’re relocating here. The weather’s better, but they come here and lose the services they had in other places.”
Phillip’s phone call from Atlanta happened in January of 2020. A few months later, as with many other social-service organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic forced JFS Orlando to prioritize the larger community’s food-assistance and mental-health needs and put the HSAP on hold.
“In 2022, we began to slow down with the COVID priorities and move the focus back into our core competencies,” says Phillip.
Finding Survivors
At the beginning of this year, JFS was ready to start up the HSAP, and in May, Madison was hired as the program’s case manager. When she began the job in June, she started working with a JF&CS Atlanta staff member to transition services for seven Central Florida survivors to JFS. She has also been made aware of four other area survivors. Due to confidentiality and HIPAA compliance, it can take a while to get all of the survivors’ consent forms, files, and contact information. In the meantime, Madison is talking to every social-service organization in Central Florida that she can.
“I have been doing a lot of community outreach, speaking with a lot of different program directors in Florida, and making as much contact as possible,” says Madison. “This is my focus.”
That outreach includes connecting with all of the local synagogues, the Senior Resource Alliance, The Jewish Pavilion, Shalom Orlando, and Kinneret as well as survivor-assistance program directors throughout the state. Once Madison gets in touch with survivors and they confirm they want services, she can set up home visits, complete intake forms, and begin case management to meet a variety of needs including food assistance, rides to medical appointments, home healthcare, and socialization.
“What frequently happens is a lot of survivors are existing in the community but don’t identify themselves for a variety of reasons such as fear or they already have support with family,” Madison says. “Our goal is to essentially meet the survivors where they are.”
Through her outreach and by publicizing the program’s existence, she hopes to hear from more survivors and improve their quality of life.
“Our goal is to essentially meet the survivors where they are.”
“If there are isolation issues, we’re looking to put together a core of volunteers to visit,” says Phillip. “With the Holocaust Center, if someone hasn’t given their testimony, we refer them there to have that conversation. Thirty-three percent of all current Holocaust survivors live in abject poverty. And Florida, with all of our elderly, we are right on that mark. We want their families to be aware, too. If you have a concern or question, call us.”
When she’s not busy working, Madison plays the guitar, violin, ukulele, and a little piano. She and her boyfriend Zev recently moved to Orlando’s Milk District, and the couple enjoys leading services at Temple Israel and taking their dog Jasper on walks. Settling into her new job along with her new home has been a big transition, and Madison is up for the challenge.
“I hope my caseload grows,” she says, “and I’m able to help as many people as possible.”
Those in need of services themselves or with family members in need can email Madison.Eckelman@JFSorlando.org or 407-644-7593, ext. 230.
This story was originally published in print in Fall 2023.