The Adoption Connection at Jewish Family Services of Greenwich in conjunction with the NJ Y Camps has opened registration for the second annual Forever Families Weekend, a family weekend experience for Jewish families touched by adoption.  The program will run from June 11-13, 2010.

      Families will have the opportunity to think consciously about their roles in both the Jewish community and the adoption community while enjoying a weekend at one of the largest Jewish summer camps in North America.  Since 1960, the Center for Jewish Family Life at the NJ Y Camps has provided top-rated programs for people looking for family fun and the chance to meet new people.

      Parents will have the option to participate in workshops such as Children’s Books and Stories of Adoption, Identity Issues for Adoptees Approaching Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and Acceptance of Transracial Families in the Jewish Community, while their children participate in age-appropriate activities such as “Teen Adoptees Advocating for Adoption” or skill-building workshops to teach them how to respond to comments and questions about adoption.  Adoption-specific workshops will be facilitated by Adoption Connection Director Steve Baranowski and Program Coordinator Debbie Schwartz, along with other adoption professionals who will share their experiences as Jewish parents by adoption, including Lisa Schuman, LCSW, director of Adoption Cooperative Consultants and staff psychotherapist for Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York, Maris Blechner, LCSW, Executive Director of Family Focus Adoption Services in Little Neck, NY, and Allison Stearns, LCPC, MPH,  Deputy Director of The Center for Adoption Support & Education in Maryland.  Rabbi Lina Zerbarini, Director of Operations at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, will also be participating in the weekend program.

      NJ Y Camps, which has been running Jewish summer camps in Pennsylvania for more than 80 years, will provide space and programming support.  Participants will be able to take full advantage of the NJY facilities, including the high and low ropes adventure courses, boating, swimming, arts and crafts, athletics, and much more.  All meals at the camp are kosher and optional Shabbat services will be offered on both Friday evening and Saturday morning.  Forever Families Weekend will take place at Camp Nah-Jee-Wah in Milford, Pennsylvania.

      For more information about this program, or to receive Forever Families literature, please contact Debbie Schwartz at (203) 622-1881 or dschwartz@jfsgreenwich.org. Contact the camp for additional information as well.