Having courage to come back
Penny Kecne has been named the 2001 Courage to Come Back Award recipient in the mental health category. She received the award at a Coast Foimdation Society gala dinner May 3.
Keene is a registered nurse who spent 12 years in Namibia with her husband, a doctor. She moved to Vancouver and became a successful director of public relations in the hospitality industry.
In 1981, she had her first manic episode, experiencing the highs of bi-polar disorder, but not the lows. She then went into deep depression. She lost her family, friends and career. ,
By 1994, living in a boarding house, Keene began to turn her life around, working as a cleaning lady for three years and volunteering with the Vancouver Symphony, She took train-
ing to become a mental health peer support worker, designed courses and became the co-or-- dinator of the Richmond Peer Support Program, She has been an active public speaker on mental health issues and is the creator of the Acting Up program, which teaches self-esteem to mental health consumers. In 2000, she was honored with a Canadian Psychiatric Association award for leadership in mental illness awareness education.
The Courage to Come Back Awards recognize British Columbians who have shown inspirational courage in their recovery from injury, illness, addiction or economic adversity and who now serve as models of hope.
The Coast Foundation Society provides quality housing, employment, advocacy and community services for people with mental illness.
New neighbor at Peretz Centre
The Jewish Genealogical Institute of British Columbia finds a new home.
The Jewish Genealogical Institute of British Columbia has taken office space in the new Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture at 6184 Ash St Its meetings will be held in the Peretz Centre the firet Tuesday of every month from September to June. To celebrate its new home, the institute's first program in the centre will be on Tuesday, June 5, at 7:30 p.m. The film In Uic Fiddler's House will be shown. In it, Itzhak Perlman and his father return to his father's shtetl in Poland.
All members are encouraged to come and see the institute in its new facility. A special invitation is extended to all members of the Peretz Centre and to all members of the Jewish commimity who are interested in famUy history. □
Vying for biblical glory
Vancouver Hebrew Academy and Vancouver Talmud Torah were well represented at a children's Bible contest in Montreal earlier this month. The students succeeded in regional competitions and were sent to the nationals, which were sponsored by the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre, Canadian Zionist Federation, Jewish National Fund and the Toronto Board of Jewish Education.
Hebrew Academy sent three students - Samantha Krieger, a Grade 5 student, and Ben-
jamin Barer and Rachael Pin-sky, both in Grade 6.
Vancouver Talmud Torah sent Grade 5 students Joshua Sa-tanove and Jacob Elias. Oriel Minerbi, a Grade 6 student, was eligible to go to the nationals, but he had a prior commitment for a Shabbaton in Edmonton. Talmud Torah graduate Paeir Barzilai, who is now in Grade 8, joined the others in Montreal.
Competing against top students from across the country, Elias went as far as the national semi-finals. □
VJ
Noses in books: Oriel Minerbi, Jacob Elias and Joshua Satanove study for the big competition.
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