AVODAH would like to extend a hearty welcome to our 2010-2011 Corps members, who have recently begun a brand new year with us! Here is an introduction to just four of our newest participants:

Daniel Riff, from Palo Alto, CA, studied History and Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis and spent a semester abroad in Prague focusing on Jewish Studies. Daniel was an active leader of Washington University’s Pride Alliance, serving on its executive board for three years. Daniel also organized and participated in alternative spring break trips to the Makah Native American Reservation and the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation.

Daniel works as a Housing Resource Specialist at Heartland Alliance in Chicago, which helps people living in poverty or danger improve their lives and realize their human rights. Diverse programs at Heartland Alliance serve people who are in the toughest of circumstances and are the hardest to reach, including survivors of violence, torture, and war, and people living in extreme hardship or poverty.

Mollie Flink, from Deerfield, IL, graduated from List College, a joint program of Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, with Bachelors of Arts degrees in English and Bible. She received a Seminary fellowship in Jewish Social Entrepreneurship, during which she advocated for the West Side Campaign Against Hunger. She also served as a reading aide to sixth grade students struggling with literacy issues and volunteered as a Big Sister. After graduation, Mollie worked as a counselor and resident advisor at TRY: The Ramah Jerusalem High School in Jerusalem, Israel.

Mollie works as a Shelter Assistant at the New Orleans Women’s Shelter, a facility for women and children in the Upper 9th Ward of New Orleans that provides temporary emergency housing and food. The shelter is a family-style transitional home with a focus on helping women obtain proper medical treatment and other social services to move onto successful independent living.

Ryan Gerber, from Teaneck, NJ, majored in Philosophy and minored in Economics at the College of New Jersey. Ryan was a founding member and rose to be the President of his college’s Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter. He has spent summers as a counselor working with under-served youth and also has experience volunteering at nursing homes and soup kitchens. He is an avid baseball fan and loves to travel.

Ryan is a Paralegal at the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) in their General Law Unit. NYLAG provides free civil legal assistance to New York’s most at-risk, low-income populations, including seniors, immigrants, victims of domestic violence, children with special needs, people with HIV/AIDS, survivors and families affected by the World Trade Center attack, Holocaust survivors, and others in need of legal help.

Tamara Rushovich, from Baltimore, MD, majored in Sociology and minored in Statistics at the University of Michigan. She spent a semester abroad in Santiago, Chile where she taught English classes once a week at the University of Chile. As a volunteer for the Young People’s Project, Tamara facilitated workshops for students in Detroit and Ann Arbor, MI to promote math literacy.

Tamara works as an Outreach Specialist at DC Central Kitchen, which is an organization that is dedicated to strengthening bodies by safely recovering un-served food from local foodservice businesses to feed children and adults throughout the greater Washington, DC area.

You can read about all our Corps members in our Meet our Participants section.