What An Inspiration

Emmy Award-winning news anchor Elizabeth Vargas will be the keynote speaker at this year’s JFS Reflections of Hope Luncheon on Feb. 13 at Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton.

This compelling program was created in an effort to break the stigma associated with mental illness, a critical issue affecting one in four adults. Proceeds from the luncheon will benefit the JFS Counseling & Mental Health Services, including the Welcome Home Program. 

Vargas will share how alcoholism and depression affected her life and why she publicly discusses her struggle and her ongoing recovery. 

“This powerful event provides hope and inspiration and opens the door to a world of possibilities,” says Abbe Becker, who is co-chairing the luncheon with Lori Gottsegen and Lorraine Udwin. 

Grand Benefactors of Reflections of Hope are Robin and Gary Rubin and Olivia and Gerald Shapiro. 

Adds Udwin: “The community has provided overwhelming support of our efforts to raise awareness of mental illness, which, in turn, helps us provide much needed services.”

Says Gottsegen: “Mental illness can affect us all as it doesn’t have socioeconomic or demographic barriers.”

JFS offers psychiatric care; psychological evaluation; counseling; support groups; and the Welcome Home Program, South Palm Beach County’s only daytime drop-in center for adults with long-term mental illness. The program offers socialization opportunities and therapists who teach life skills, health education, art therapy, self-esteem and anxiety workshops, goal-setting and educational groups. O

For more information, call 561-852-5013 or email jillw@ralesjfs.org.