By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent
The snowstorm that snarled the region on Tuesday did not give any relief to the area’s Jewish agencies. Early morning phone calls, televisions blaring school closures, and empty parking lots at synagogues and other organizations took precedence over normal business activity for the day. On Wednesday, some — but not all — of Jewish Seattle tried to return to normal.
Students at all of the Seattle-area Jewish day schools returned from their winter break only to get two more free days off. Both the Seattle and Mercer Island preschools of the Stroum Jewish Community Center made last-minute decisions to close for a second day, though the JCC’s main facility on Mercer Island did open on Wednesday. It had opened at its regular time on Tuesday but closed that morning due to worsening snow conditions.
Two 5:30 a.m. messages came from Barry Goren, Executive Vice President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, on the agency’s voice mail system: one announced the agency’s Tuesday closure while the message on Wednesday announced its reopening — with a plea to drive in safely.
While the snowstorm, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in the Puget Sound’s lowlands for nearly eight years, laid a beautiful blanket of white on the region, below-freezing temperatures made for difficulties at area shelters.
Since temperatures began hovering in the 20s over the past week, the city of Seattle made approximately 75 more beds available to the homeless. Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle has been offering 10 beds as overflow for women from the Catholic-based Noel House for about 10 years, but volunteer Gail Alexander said “I know there has been [demand] in every shelter.”
Because the De Hirsch Sinai shelter, which keeps its beds inside the synagogue, only has capacity for 10, it was not able to offer further accommodations.
Still, said Alexander, “Our goal is to provide a quiet, small, warm safe environment” for women who are mostly down on their luck to spend the night. A shuttle takes them to Angeline’s day shelter in Belltown each morning.
Jewish Family Service closed on Tuesday because of the storm, but the food bank was up and running its regular schedule by Wednesday morning, according to Assistant Director Claudia Berman.
“We have not seen anything so far,” said Berman, referring to increases in need for services, but “we do anticipate there will be greater utility assistance needed.”
As of press time, none of the agencies or schools around the city reported any damage from the snow or the heavy rain that followed, and by Wednesday afternoon, most of the roads had cleared, the sidewalks around the region no longer had any need for shoveling, and it was back to business as usual.
The Temple De Hirsch Sinai Women’s Shelter is in desperate need of volunteers. The shelter hosts 10 women nightly, Monday through Friday from September to May. Women are prescreened for drugs and alcohol at Noel House. Volunteers are asked to spend one night a month with the women and help serve snacks and a light breakfast. Contact Gail Alexander at 425-646-9436 or [email protected] or call Temple De Hirsch Sinai at 206-315-7389 for information and details.