by Bailey White
Staff Writer
Citing her efforts to promote outstanding social change in her community, the National Council of Jewish Women recently presented Arlene Yegelwel with its Hannah G. Solomon award.
The national award, named after NCJW’s founder, is not presented annually, but only when the organization finds a woman it believes is worthy of recognition for her community work.
“It was so overwhelming,” Yegelwel said of the award ceremony, which was held at Epping Forest Yacht Club. “I really want to put the attention back on NCJW.”
Though reluctant to accept praise for her work in the organization, Yegelwel is a valued member of the organization and was instrumental in bringing the Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) to Jacksonville. Now, HIPPY has been implemented by the Duval County School Board and is part of an effort to help parents and children understand the importance of education.
The HIPPY program started in Israel, where teachers and school officials believed something was needed to help parents get involved in the education of their young children. Children learned Hebrew in schools, but would go to homes where the language wasn’t spoken and were unable to seek help from their parents, which proved to be a barrier to the education process.
Similarly, in the United States, where HIPPY arrived in 1984, uninvolved parents can discourage a child’s desire to learn.
HIPPY forces parents to get involved in their child’s education. Parent educators visit a family at home, where they give parents lessons to teach to their children. “The program really empowers the parent,” said Yegelwel, who first heard about the program in 1991 at an NCJW board meeting. “I thought, if we could bring this to Jacksonville it would be the best thing ever.”
Yegelwel was particularly committed to bringing the program to Duval County because she had seen similar programs work in her eight years of teaching kindergarten at Brentwood Elementary School.
“I was involved in a federally funded program there called Follow Through. My classroom aides visited students at home to work with parents and children together on different lessons,” she said.
Though Yegelwel saw success in the program, it was eventually disbanded, leaving a void that she saw HIPPY as being able to fill.
Yegelwel knew the program would be valuable to Duval County, but initially had to seek funding from sources other than the School Board. “I started looking for funding in the early 1990s, talking to anybody and everybody that I thought would be interested,” she said.
Yegelwel made presentations and wrote grants, finally securing funding from the Urban League.
“The problem was that even though we had funding, we couldn’t find someone who was willing to administer the program and I ended up having to administer it myself,” said Yegelwel, adding it wasn’t the organization’s intent to run HIPPY. “At NCJW, we want to help the program in its infantile stage, and then feed it to the most appropriate agency in the community to carry on with it.”
Yegelwel was confident the School Board was that agency.
“We managed to keep it going for two years, implementing it through day care centers until the School Board finally took it over,” she said.
Today, the HIPPY program thrives, and Yegelwel has seen results the come full circle. Many parents who were once at the receiving end of the program have become parent educators.
“Another side effect is that as parents get more involved in education, they become more involved in their child’s school,” said Yegelwel.
Nationally, NCJW’s 90,000 members participate in research, education, advocacy and community service projects they hope will improve the quality of life for women, children and families. The organization was founded in 1893 by Solomon, to, in her words, “shape the destinies” of American lives. Since then, NCJW has focused on child welfare, women’s issues and equality and individual rights and freedoms.
In 1972, the organization published a report called “Windows on Daycare,” which studied child care in the U.S.
“It was the definitive study on child care,” said Yegelwel.
The study was cited by many politicians at the time, and in 1999, NCJW sponsored “Opening a New Window on Child Care,” which updated earlier results.
NCJW members also wrote grants that became the initial funding for the Guardian ad Litem child advocacy program.
Jacksonville’s section, 300 members strong, continues to implement community service programs, including I Will Ask and C.A.R.G.O., two projects that advocate gun safety. Local president Gloria Einstein and members take a stance on political issues they believe will be most important to the organization’s mission and advocate legislation. In the past, Yegelwel has served as the local NCJW president and recently finished her term as chairperson for the Florida Public Affairs branch of the organization.
With HIPPY where it should be, Yegelwel can concentrate on other activities. She continues her seven-year tradition of serving meals on Tuesday through the Kosher Kart program.
“I really love working in hands-on activities,” said Yegelwel, who has two daughters with husband Evan, an attorney with Brown, Terrell, Hogan, Ellis, McClamma & Yegelwel. “But after doing so much at the advocacy level, I realized how important that is too. Advocacy effects thousands, while hands-on may touch just one. But it’s a nice balance because every person counts.”