Care Centres join forces
Less than fifteen minutes into the first day of a new agreement sharing emergency services with Queensland, Rabbi Mendel Kestel received his first call for help.
Ari Heber and Rabbi Mendel Kastel check out the agreement pic: Henry Benjamin
At 12:15 a.m, yesterday, on the day a Memo of Understanding was to be signed between Queensland Jewish Community Services and Sydney’s The Jewish House, Rabbi Kastel was woken after midnight by a distressed member of the Queensland community. He immediately called the QJCS community liason office Ari Heber who dealt with the matter.
Later on in the day, the two care experts met in Sydney where they signed the document which sets out the terms of an agreement under which the two organisations will mutually help each other.
Heber told J-Wire: “We have an official Jewish population of 3,000 in Queensland but the actual figure is much, much higher…and I extend my services to northern New South Wales as far south as the Byron Bay area.”
Initially, the two men see a workable benefit in Queenslanders availing themselves of the Jewish House’s 24/7 emergency hotline.
Rabbi Kastel added: “We get many cases where having someone on the ground in Ari’s area will prove to be a huge help to families and individuals in distress.”
