My name is Natasha Torres and I am an AmeriCorps VISTA serving at Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services in Boca Raton, FL. My agency's primary goal was for me to help sustain programs that have recently been established for our Holocaust Survivor clients. I work with 4 social workers who provide services to over 300 Holocaust survivors in our catch man area. Each is given a program to coordinate. I help sustain, organize, and improve these alongside them.
 

 I work on the development of our Dental Assistance program for Survivors of the Holocaust. We launched DASH this year, partnering with dentists in our community who are willing to provide pro-bono services to our Holocaust survivor clients. In one year our agency has recruited 17 dentists and has saved over $50,000 in pro-bono services.
 
 

As I've settled into this agency I became further involved in our socialization programs for our survivors. Socialization is very important to our survivors; many of them constantly mention looking forward to our next socialization event, even while leaving from one. It makes us realize how important it is for their quality of life to be given opportunities to socialize with one another as well as with other members of our community. As a result, our agency has made it a priority to provide numerous socialization events alongside The Jewish Federation and Donna Klein Jewish Academy.  We have developed programs such as From March to Miriam, connecting our Holocaust survivor clients to High School students with the purpose of strengthening the bond between different generations, while promoting culture and education. We also host our Nosh & Nachas, a quarterly, mini Café Europa for Holocaust survivor clients of our agency to eat and schmooze. In addition to our Nosh & Nachas, we manage numerous other events with local synagogues and schools in order to educate, socialize, and perform mitzvoth between our holocaust survivors and our community.