BUSINESS

The Marcus JCC of Atlanta is one of 19 Georgia arts organizations recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act from the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA received more than 3,100 eligible applications for the direct assistance. A total of 855 organizations — from every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico — received a total of $44.5 million in nonmatching funds to support staff salaries, fees for artists or contractual personnel, and facilities costs.

“This funding will have a significant impact on the MJCCA and specifically, the Book Festival of the MJCCA,” said CEO Jared Powers. “Support from this grant will allow the Book Festival, one of the most highly regarded literary events in the South, to continue to serve the community in transformative ways – currently in a virtual format, and later, when it is safe, with the return of physical programming. We are grateful to the NEA for not only recognizing our need during this incredibly challenging time but for also recognizing the contributions our agency has made, its Platform

StartEngine, one of the nation’s largest equity crowdfunding platforms, announced it was collaborating with Jamestown, a leading global real estate investment and management company, to introduce Jamestown Invest to its platform. Jamestown, which developed Ponce City Market, is led by CEO Matt Bronfman.

The new online real estate investment vehicle represents the first and only Regulation A+ real estate investment opportunity StartEngine has featured among its listings, typically dominated by technology startups, according to a press release. The new listing comes in response to increasing interest for real estate investments, which are seen as helpful in developing balanced portfolios, according to the release. Since its launch in 2015, StartEngine has raised more than $150 million for over 350 companies on its crowdfunding platform.

“We’re very excited to introduce Jamestown Invest to investors who have voiced a desire to invest in real estate,” said StartEngine co-founder and CEO Howard Marks. “With its focus on value-added real estate opportunities, Jamestown Invest offers our investors the ability to invest in real estate with a proven team.”

Michael Phillips, a principal and president of Jamestown, said, “Today’s generation of investors want to have a sense that

and will continue to make, to the community on an annual basis.”

Established by Congress in 1965, NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every commu

nity across America. their investments are lifting communities and building their neighborhoods; they want to know that their investment managers share their values. We launched Jamestown Invest so individuals throughout the U.S. could have the opportunity to invest in commercial real estate through a platform where there is a multidimensional return. StartEngine is an ideal partner for Jamestown Invest because they understand the importance of this type of relationship.”

Jamestown Invest is an online directto-consumer investment vehicle that offers the opportunity to invest in real estate for a minimum of $2,500. Backed by Jamestown’s more than 35-year track record of investing and managing real estate, the fund focuses on the acquisition of valueadd properties in urban locations with potential for repositioning or redevelopment, the release said.

Since its launch in December 2019, Jamestown Invest has acquired a majority stake in Southern Dairies, a historic fivebuilding, 79,000-plus-square-foot creative office campus in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. Located just steps away from Ponce City Market and the Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, the former dairy distribution plant now houses a diversified tenant mix including architectural, advertising and real estate firms.

Dr. Marianna Kovitch recently received the prestigious Fellowship Award from the Academy of General Dentistry. The award recognizes an ACG member’s commitment to excellence in dental education.

Kovitch was recognized with 340 other “dentists looking to provide the highest quality of dental care by remaining current in their profession,” according to a press release.

To qualify, Kovitch completed 500 hours of continuing dental education, passed a comprehensive written exam and fulfilled three years of continuing membership with the AGD. She joins “an elite group of more than 17,105 members of the dental community who understand that great smiles and good oral health for their patients are the result of going above and beyond basic requirements. The Fellowship Award symbolizes excellence in the dental profession and a commitment to providing exceptional patient care.”

AGD president Connie White said, “Only 6 percent of all dentists have achieved this designation, and we are proud to honor Dr. Kovitch for her commitment and dedication to provide her patients with advanced and exceptional oral health care. She is exceeding indusAward

Dr. Anna (Chanie) Steinberg has achieved the Physician Hall of Fame award from Emory Healthcare DeKalb operating unit. Steinberg’s practice is at Emory at Downtown Decatur. Out of a field of 30, she was one of six doctors chosen for the award.

Steinberg received this coveted award for her sensitivity to patient needs and follow-up with patients, in addition to her contributions as a long-time volunteer at Physicians’ Care Clinic. She was also recently named among Atlanta magazine’s Atlanta Top Doctors 2020. ì

try requirements and paving a path of success, distinguishing herself professionally amongst her peers and exemplifying her allegiance to the dental community.”

Kovitch is a member of Temple Sinai and her children attend Jewish schools in Cobb County. She is a Russian immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1989 “like so many others in order to have the chance of being a doctor and getting awards without having Jewish persecution at every step.”

She graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 2011, is board-certified in dental sleep medicine and holds a fellowship from the International Congress

of Oral Implantologists.

I now carry a card in my wallet that qualifies me to begin sentences with the phrase “I remember when.” Yes, growDave Schechter From Where I Sit ing up, I did tromp to school through snow drifts, but that’s not where this is going.

The development of a COVID-19 vaccine brought back a childhood memory of standing in line at a local school and being given a small paper cup containing a sugar cube to suck on. Added to that sugar cube was the oral polio vaccine developed by Dr. Albert Sabin.

Polio frightened parents and scared boys and girls saw other children whose legs were strapped into bulky metal braces because of paralysis caused by the virus.

Sabin and Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine, administered by injection, were heroes. They were the embodiment of American ingenuity and the exceptionalism that we were inoculated with as a guard against other belief systems in post-World War II America.

Contrast that with the divisiveness over the response to COVID-19, and the besmirching of the reputation of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, whose calm demeanor may stem from his experience navigating the fractious public atmosphere during the HIV/ AIDS crisis three decades earlier.

From a young age I read newspapers, listened to news on radio, and watched news on television. In my pre-teen and early teenage years, the evening news frequently highlighted reports from the war in Vietnam and from the civil rights front across America.

The “long, hot summer” of 1967 sparked — choose your term: riot, uprising, revolt — in some 160 cities and towns, as the anger of African Americans over issues of jobs, housing and policing reached a boiling point. Even as the smoke billowed, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a commission, chaired by federal judge and former Illinois governor Otto Kerner, to investigate the causes of the riots. Two years earlier, another commission, impaneled by California’s governor, had blamed “riffraff” for the 1965 riots in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

So there was shock in some quarters in February 1968 when the 11-member Kerner commission, including Atlanta Police Chief Herbert Turner Jenkins, issued its findings. “Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans,” the commission said. “What white Americans have never fully understood — but what the Negro can never forget — is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”

One statement in that report stood out: “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.”

Fifty-two years later, there is nothing contradictory about believing that race relations have improved in segments of American life since the mid-1960s AND that work remains to dismantle structures that buttress racism.

The America of my youth was deeply divided, I think more so than today. A broad spectrum of Americans felt that the country was tearing itself apart at the seams, and not to the dismay of everyone.

Young people (many, though perhaps not most, contrary to a popular fiction) openly rebelled against the institutions in which they had been swaddled, their dissent ranging from choices of clothing and the length of hair to marches that numbered five- and sometimes six-digits, and protests that disrupted university campuses.

African Americans sought in practice the rights guaranteed on paper in the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Hispanics developed a political consciousness grounded in an awareness that their labor was undervalued. Women called for equality in reality, rather than in lip service, from wages in the workplace to control of their bodies. The gay rights movement raised its voice after a police raid on a New York bar.

I don’t want to abuse the privilege of saying “I remember when” and become one of those fuddy-duddies who dismisses or diminishes the challenges faced by young people today, some of which appear similar to the struggles a half century ago and others that would have been difficult to imagine in those years. Hopefully, I can avoid any inclination to view the present through the lens of the past, while still appreciating that the past can help map the direction and the distance to be traveled in the future.

Now, let me tell you about those snow drifts. ì

I do not portend doomsday scenarios, but the world in which we live is certainly getting more extreme and has been trending Michael A. Morris Publisher this way for at least a decade. If we do not recognize the trend, we cannot begin to change.

I recall having very serious debates about the rising wave of Political Correctness 10 years ago. At the time, people were concerned just how far this concept could invade our freedom. Five years ago, we were discussing whether or not freedom of speech was defined as “only speech with which I agree.” These were very heated discussions and with almost no middle ground. Three years ago, President Trump’s election severely polarized our nation. You either liked the president or didn’t, and that translated to you being a good person or an evil person; and again, with no middle ground and no option for debate. Today, amidst riots and extreme racial tensions, there is a call from some to do away with one of our most important institutions: the police. An institution that protects all of us and our rights and allows us to live in a civilized fashion. Our viewpoints, on the left and the right, are becoming narrower, with less room for discussion and less ability to compromise, leaving almost no ability to draw consensus. And if that is not enough, we have become contentious, angry and distrustful.

We are losing our basic guiding principles. We are missing the point that only in America (and a handful of other countries) can we even have this conversation. Only in America can we talk about how and why we disagree, and now, even hate. Only in America can we virulently discuss our leaders’ faults, or even elect officials in our democratic country that want to roll back our democracy, reduce our freedoms and move away from capitalism, which built this nation to be the strongest in the world. Only in America do we invite people into our country that want to radically change our country and how we live; and, only to America does the whole world still want to immigrate. Why do people still want to flock here? For two basic reasons: because of the freedoms, democracy and capitalism they do not have where they live; or, to undermine us and change us to their way of thinking. Think about that. It is either because our system is great compared to theirs, or they have nefarious intent. In my opinion, that means for all of us here, we have forgotten how great we are, we take our freedom for granted, and, we are so free that we are blinded to others’ intent.

We must begin to learn to live together again. We must begin to learn to compromise again. We must relearn to love peace more than we hate difference. Most important, we must agree again that freedom to live in harmony, without hurting or violating others, is consummate and is what made this nation different from all others and compelled others to join us. Our nation is not perfect. Each individual in our nation is not perfect. There is no perfection out there, but people stream to our borders because it is the best option. We do have to agree on some basic principles to make this system work. We all have to want freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have to agree on a democratic government to perpetuate our freedoms. We have to accept some sort of mechanism to protect us from ourselves, such as the concept of police. And, we have to accept all the faults that are inherently human. If we cannot agree on a few basic principles, our system will come crashing down. We have to agree to disagree, with integrity and respect, so that we can continually fix the faults that are embedded in our system and ourselves.

One of the hurdles that makes it harder for us to agree, even upon basic principles, is the size of our population. Let me give you an example. Under President Obama, about three-quarters of Americans agreed with him pulling out of Iraq. That means that 75 million people disagreed with that action. That is more than the population of the U.K., or Spain, or Italy. Spend a moment thinking about the difficulty in running a country when you obtain the support of the vast majority of the country, yet tens of millions still disagree.

I challenge all of us, and especially the Jewish community, to think about how to be part of the solution. I do not have the answers, but I can see the problems, I see the trends, and they do not look good right now. ì

By Robyn Spizman Gerson

Lauren Spanjer Bricks and the company she co-owns is at the forefront of COVID-19 testing. Bricks is chief operating officer of Ipsum Diagnostics in Sandy Springs, an independent medical laboratory that is one of only 12 with authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 molecular testing.

Ipsum’s lab is open around the clock and is testing thousands of COVID-19 samples per day with a 24-hour turnaround time. Bricks led her company of 100 employees to develop fast and accurate COVID-19 tests, helping to expand testing in Georgia. Founded in 2016, Ipsum specializes in clinical and anatomical testing services.

On April 1, the FDA granted emergency use authorization for the Ipsum Diagnostics COVID-19 test. Bricks and her team quickly recognized that Ipsum could adapt and share their test methodology to support other small, independent labs across the U.S. They worked with Mercer University Medical School, which is now operating Ipsum’s satellite laboratory, and helped bring testing to areas that had no COVID-19 testing. The Atlanta native on the cutting edge of lifesaving testing is a 2005 University of Maryland graduate with a degree in biology and a Master of Business Administration. She has nearly a decade of experience in the realm of lab testing and lab diagnostics. “Atlanta is very important to me and my husband; we both grew up in Sandy Springs. My mother-in-law and her siblings were all born and raised here. I went to Riverwood High School, met my husband here in Atlanta,” Bricks said. “We live and work in Sandy Springs, both owning our own businesses that are close to home and The Davis Academy, where our children attend school.”

Dr. Steven Marlowe, infectious disease doctor and chief medical officer of Ipsum Diagnostics, said, “Our COVID-19 test, like all PCR (polymerase chain reaction) reference laboratory tests, is a snapshot in time. It is the best way to know if you are carrying the COVID-19 virus. A negative test, in general, means you are not infected with the virus at that particular moment. It does not predict the future. You could get infected right after you have a negative test,” Marlow stressed.

“Ideally everyone should be tested to prevent the spread of the virus. Currently, using CDC estimates, 94 percent of those tests would be negative. Realistically, we cannot now test the entire population. We have to do what epidemiologists call ‘stratify the risk” and rank by importance of the risk of infection.”

He offered some tips for when to get tested: • If you have symptoms, talk with your primary care clinician. It is generally a good idea to get tested to confirm your diagnosis. He/she will make the decision with you based on your individual situation. • You may need two negative tests at the end of your illness as a ‘proof of cure’ to go back to work. • If you have a significant exposure and have no symptoms, self-quarantine and get tested in 14 days or later to make sure you’re not carrying the virus. • Get tested periodically if you live or work in a high-risk area. • When planning to visit a high-risk family member or friend, get tested 24 hours prior to make sure you don’t infect them.

Marlowe added, “There is a lot of confusion about the time-period of infection and when to get tested. The incubation period of COVID-19 is generally up to 14 days. That means if you are going to get sick (i.e. develop symptoms) you will know within 14 days after the exposure. Most people know in about five days. However, not everyone gets sick after getting infected.

“The CDC estimates 40 percent of people remain asymptomatic following infection. Those individuals carry the virus unknowingly and can infect others. That is presently the major reason why this pandemic is so difficult to con

Plate samples that have been extracted being prepared for PCR testing.

tain. The best way to know if you are an asymptomatic carrier and unwittingly spreading the virus to others is to get a PCR test.”

The Sandy Springs lab is now expanding its testing. Bricks explained, “PCR testing is the most sensitive testing to detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus. It is based on finding minute amounts of a piece of the virus’ genetic code (RNA). What makes this testing method so unique is that it is designed for labs that are equipped to run a large volume of test samples in one session. Currently, our lab tests 7,000 samples per day. Furthermore, Ipsum can designate other laboratories to perform our test, and we are helping to expand testing in other communities around the country.”

Ipsum’s work is important, she said, beyond identifying those that need to be quarantined. Each patient has a different important reason for testing: reuniting a newborn with his mother who spiked a fever after delivery; employees able to go back to work; a cancer patient who can be cleared to have treatment, alleviating the nervousness and anxiety of not knowing, along with other critical challenges during the pandemic.

When asked about ramping up testing after the FDA granted authorization, Bricks said, “The hard part swiftly followed. The entire supply chain was disrupted. We had developed the paperless COVID portal where orders could be entered, created aggregate reports

Loading plate with buffers for RNA extraction.

Preparing reagent being used for testing.

that would compile all positive reports did they develop the test, they came into one file to up with a usermake reporting friendly portal to different state for patients and health departproviders, and ments simple, she was also the provided metfirst to cater to rics on positivthe Spanishity rates, turnspeaking comaround time, and munity by ofhad many other fering the test well-thoughtreport in Spanout solutions to ish. make the entire She said her process seamgoal is to help less,” she said. save as many “What we hadn’t prepared Dr. Steven Marlowe, infectious disease doctor and chief medical officer of Ipsum Diagnostics. lives as possible because everyfor was that there one deserves to would be no swabs and all the basic have access to fast and accurate medilab consumables would be a challenge cal testing. to procure. I never in my life thought “Testing is a keystone to controlI would be up all night stressed out ling and conquering the COVID-19 panover a swab. We had to come up with demic. Pending the discovery of more solutions. We found swabs, but there effective treatments and vaccines, it is were no transport tubes available. We the best way to stop the spread. Only found a solution. The lab added 24/7 by testing and identifying cases can kit production assembly. We had ‘clean we isolate and quarantine people and rooms’ and sterilization capabilities, break the transmission chain,” Bricks we could make our own kits and put said. “Given the extent of the worldquality measures into place. We were wide pandemic, most experts feel COable to provide the state with the colVID-19 will be with us for quite a while. lection kits they needed, going up every More technology and innovation are single week: 12,000, 25,0000, 35,0000 being done in our industry and we are then 65,000.” hopeful for future progress.

Bricks and her team were innovaBricks added, “I am very proud that tive in their approach to forging foras a small lab we can accomplish signifward with their own FDA EUA. Not only icant feats.” ì

By Jan Jaben-Eilon sized behind her right ear. Just before the diagnosis, her husband Flavio – a

No one is having an easy time adgastroenterology specialist -- said she justing to the new normal of living withlooked strange, and she felt dizzy. “The in the constraints day before the surand fears of the gery, I had a panic global coronavirus attack. I thought, pandemic which, will I wake up? Will according to the I have major personlatest figures from ality changes?” Johns Hopkins UniA dancer, versity of Medicine, Manela had been has taken the lives an Atlanta Balof more than 3,000 let teacher. FortuGeorgians, 140,000 nately, the surgery Americans and was successful, and 600,000 worldwide. she proceeded with But for those who chemotherapy and have compromised radiation – both of immune systems which compromise due to past diagnoa person’s immune ses, the challenges system. Anti-seizure and vulnerabilities Zoom doesn’t replace the active social life medicine, which she are even greater. that cancer survivor Dora Manela and will have to take for

More than five her family had before the pandemic. the rest of her life, years ago, Dora Manela was diagnosed put weight on her thin body. And she with a brain tumor. “Mine was pretty was impacted in other ways. She had to big,” she said, describing it as potatorelearn how to button buttons and type

on a computer. her for. “It’s weird because lupus symp

“The drugs make me loopy. My face toms can present themselves as differgets more numb, but I’m very lucky. ent diseases in different people. If you I walk. I exercise,” she said, but she is, have four of the 11 blood work criteria, understandably, very you can be diagnosed self-protective during with lupus.” this pandemic. “I buy Even now, her everything on Amadoctor isn’t totally zon,” she joked. sure she has lupus,

Not yet 60, which is a chronic Manela said her diautoimmune system agnosis changed her disease. That means sense of time and her the immune system is husband’s. “We don’t dysfunctional and can know how much time attack healthy tissue. we will have. He had The immune system had a massive heart is thus less effective in attack 10 years ago.” fighting infections, in

The couple, who cluding bacteria and grew up in Brazil, viruses like COVID-19. have lived with an Moreover, the medicaappreciation of life tions that people with even before the threat Dora Manela is a former ballerina lupus often take can of COVID-19. Manela and Atlanta Ballet teacher. This also limit the body’s said the pandemic had photo was taken around 1985. ability to fight infeca different impact on them. “My hustions. band and I were super social.” Friends, But Minsk’s biggest difficulty durformer students and her two children’s ing the pandemic is even getting the friends would visit all the time before drug she must take daily. Hydroxychlosocial distancing was required. “Zoom roquine had been heralded by some as doesn’t work well for me,” she said. “But preventative for COVID-19, resulting in the mind has to stay curious and we an increased demand for the drug on need to always keep learning from any which Minsk is dependent. Although resituation.” search has shown no evidence that the

Cancer patients who underwent drug can prevent a person from getting weeks or months of COVID-19, Minsk has various treatments had to rely on undermay be accustomed standing pharmacists to taking one day at who have made sure a time, living in the she has the drug she present. In fact, that needs. may help them adapt Referring to CObetter to the ongoing VID-19, Minsk – the trauma of living durmother of two teenaging a pandemic. But, ers – said emphatically, for those with lupus, “I cannot get this disliving in today’s realease. Corona wouldn’t ity is very different. be good for me. I’ve

In the nearly 30 always tried hard not years since she was to get sick. My body is diagnosed with lupus, not strong.” A couple Julie Kaminsky Minsk of times when she has said she’s “never had Although Julie Kaminsky Minsk gotten sick, she said the fear of dying, and has been fighting lupus for decades, she knew she’d get betnow I am afraid of dyshe said she had never before feared ter. “If I got dehydrating.” death. “And now I’m afraid of dying.” ed, I could go to the

Minsk was serving in the Peace emergency room for fluids. It was a quick Corps in Africa when, as a 23-year-old, fix. Even with the flu, there are things you she started experiencing achy joints, can do.” fevers and rashes. “The first thing we Nowadays, she feels “there’s not so thought was malaria,” she recalled. much to do to protect yourself.” ì Bounced back and forth between doctors, Minsk explained that she was Jan Jaben-Eilon is a nearly 14-year tested for everything they could test survivor of late-stage ovarian cancer.

By Flora Rosefsky chologist, works with those impacted by cancer and other medical challenges. A

When Karen Botnick Paz had an key tenet of her approach is that there is MRI, she never imagined the scan would no one right way to face life’s challenges. reveal a cancerous brain tumor. FollowInstead, it is about finding an authentic ing a brain biopsy, the pathology showed way to cope. She often recommends that there was a good chance the tumor her patients develop a coping “toolkit,” would respond favorcoming up with a vaably to chemotherapy, riety of strategies they due to certain genetic can use when they are markers. “Although the feeling anxious or dedoctor said my tumor pressed. For example, was well behaved and a patient might use a had a good personality, combination of social receiving the news of support, relaxation having a brain tumor strategies, exercise and on Dec. 31, 2015, was enjoyable activities to nowhere on my radar cope during difficult screen,” she said. times. She also works

From that day with patients on proforward, despite learncessing feelings such ing that her particular as sadness, anger and tumor had no cure Emma Stein helps cancer fear, and accepting and was too risky to patients find coping tools that these are normal remove, Paz dug deep that work best for them. parts of the cancer exinto her own positive outlook on life. perience. Stein runs a private practice in After completing a year of three types Buckhead and facilitates support groups of chemotherapy, she was determined to for those impacted by cancer at Piedmont find more resources in Atlanta, across the Hospital's cancer wellness program. country and the world to explore how to Today, about 700,000 people in the live a productive and healthy life. United States are living with a primary

Paz admitted that it wasn’t about brain tumor, according to the National the cancer controlling her life; instead, Brain Tumor Society. About 80 percent she felt empowered. She discovered that of all cancers have the ability to spread she could create endorphins by laughing, to the brain. These include melanoma, loving and living with lung, breast, renal and gratitude. Using exercolorectal cancer. Decise, meditation, ritual spite the number of mikvah immersion brain tumors and their and yoga, Paz learned devastating prognoses, how to gain mental, there are only five FDA emotional and physiapproved drugs – and cal strength. Using her one device – to treat last name (pronounced brain tumors, the NBTS ‘PahZ’) as inspiration, reports. For many tushe developed the manmor types, surgery and tra “be PAZitive” to emradiation remain the brace each day with a standard of care. positive attitude. The goal of NBTS

The PAZitive phiPhoto courtesy of Karen Paz // is to “defeat, connect losophy took off after Karen Paz and Roy Cranman and change,” accordshe met Roy Cranman on JDate in early Deat the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation’s annual walk in September 2016 to raise ing to its website. One way to connect cember 2015. Three awareness and research funds. is through its Patient weeks later, Cranman Navigator program, met her entire family for the first time which includes support programs such at Northside Hospital. A week after that, as educational materials and organized Paz had brain biopsy surgery at Piedpatient/family conferences. mont Hospital. “Roy lovingly stayed by “Having a brain tumor is overwhelmmy side and has supported me every step ing,” according to the American Brain Tuof my journey.” mor Association. “Having the support of

Last month, on June 14, the couple others is life-affirming.” The nonprofit’s exchanged wedding vows in Atlanta. website goes on to say that from diagno

Emma Stein, a clinical health psysis, surgery and treatment side effects,

A few days before her brain biopsy in 2016, friends gave support to Karen Paz at a yoga session near the Chattahoochee River in Roswell.

to recovery and for some — recurrence — many patients and caregivers feel anxious and isolated. Support groups can improve emotional well-being and quality of life by providing information, emotional support and resources.

Atlanta-based Sharecare, founded by digital health pioneer Jeff Arnold and TV personality Dr. Oz, offers a video on YouTube with cancer patients and survivors. It recreates the inspirational speech of former North Carolina Basketball Coach Jimmy Valvano with positive viewpoints, an example of how sharing stories can be part of a supportive network, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycwD7p2-o4

Such networks and a positive attitude such as Paz promotes can pave the medical road map for patients struggling with cancer to lead a more hopeful life. ì

For more information about brain cancer, visit www.braintumor.org/ or www.abta.org/.

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By Bob Bahr

Earlier this month the British medical journal Brain published a report that warned that doctors may be missing signs of serious and sometime fatal brain illnesses that were showing up in patients that had only mild symptoms of a COVID-19 virus infection.

We asked Dr. Michael Frankel, professor of neurology at Emory University School of Medicine, about the new findings.

The journal reported that among 40 patients that were studied, 12 had inflammation of the central nervous system, 10 suffered from delirium or psychosis, eight had strokes and another eight had serious nerve disease.

The main author of the July 8 study, Dr. Michael Zandi at the University College London’s Institute of Neurology, was particularly concerned that these conditions developed even though patients had, in his opinion, “only trivial lung disease.”

“We’re seeing things in the way COVID-19 affects the brain that we haven’t seen with other viruses.”

The cases reported in Britain have added to what some doctors believe are the

COVID-19, even if it is slight, may cause brain disease, according to some researchers.

longer-term effects of COVID-19, which include numbness in the body, weakness and memory problems even when other symptoms of the disease have disappeared.

Frankel, an international authority on brain health, has been chief of neurology and director of the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Hospital since its founding.

AJT: How do you see this study?

Bernie Marcus established the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady Hospital with Dr. Michael Frankel, chief of neurology and director, and Dr. Raul Nogueira, director of neuroendovascular division.

Frankel: There are two pieces to the puzzle. Does the virus cause direct neurological or neurovascular or other types of neurologically-related pathology or is it indirect, meaning does it cause something to happen somewhere else in the body that triggers the neurological illness? Most commonly you would think of inflammation that the virus might trigger or a tendency for forming blood clots that may create more neurological illness. So we are, I think, still at that early stage of recognizing that it is possible that it causes both direct and indirect neurological illness.

AJT: How concerned are you that COVID-19 can increase the incidence of stroke?

Frankel: We’re very concerned about stroke. We understand that there is a tendency for clotting that I think is very apparent now. This virus does create a tendency towards forming blood clots, which could lead to more strokes or more deadly forms of strokes, which are in larger blood clots blocking larger arteries.

There was a report from Mount Sinai Health System in New York in May about young patients developing large artery blockages or occlusions in the brain, and that was they were seeing more of that than they felt that they would ordinarily. But it’s another numerators study, like the one in Brain, meaning, here’s what we’re seeing, now we have to put it in context. Is it just a random issue or is it really happening in significant numbers?

AJT: Is there some historic precedent for the neurological effects of the COVID-19 virus?

Frankel: It’s been known for over 100 years that the influenza virus can trigger neurologic disease. I mean, the most famous one was back in 1917 and 1918. There were, at that time, patients who developed serious central nervous system disease. It looked a

Researchers are concerned that brain damage related to COVI-19 may not be apparent for a considerable time.

lot like Parkinson’s disease.

There are people who get the flu and then a week or six weeks later, they develop encephalomyelitis [brain and spinal chord inflammation]. So we know that these organisms can trigger these responses. The question is, is it happening at a greater rate than we would expect? And is there a particular pattern this virus is creating? And we don’t know that yet. We are still very concerned about it. And we were very aggressive with trying to understand it at the patient level.

AJT: How concerned are you about how the fear of COVID-19 infection is affecting how and when people seek treatment for stroke?

Frankel: We have this collateral damage phenomenon because of the fear factor that people have that if they go to the hospital they could be exposed to COVID-19 illness. We are seeing patients coming to the hospital later than they should with stroke symptoms. That means that they may not benefit from the treatment as much as if they had called 911 immediately.

AJT: How important is time when you’ve had a stroke?

Frankel: Every second counts when the brain is in trouble. We want to get the word out that treatments are time-dependent and that when you develop weakness on one side of your body or difficulty speaking, you need to call 911 immediately.

AJT: So how important is the work of the Marcus Stroke Center?

Frankel: This is a truly valuable resource, and now more so than ever, because, we’re in a war zone. And, you know, the enemy is this virus. And having this jewel of the Marcus Stroke Center at Grady for Atlanta and surrounding communities is a true blessing. ì

By Chana Shapiro

Leanna Ehrlich came to Emory University to get a Master of Public Health degree in the global health department. Her focus was on chronic disease related to diet and physical activity, and she planned to complete summer requirements for the degree in her field. Ehrlich had worked in other public health venues, which included a year in Nicaragua for Global Brigades, a nonprofit health and sustainable development organization, followed by four years at a Boston public health research and consulting company, all focusing on chronic disease. “I had very little interest or experience in infectious disease,” she noted.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, it was almost impossible to leave to work in global health, yet opportunities opened in the fight against the pandemic here. “That’s how I got involved in contact tracing,” Ehrlich explained, “and I’m glad I did!”

Contact tracing is the process of reaching people who tested positive for COVID-19 and asking them to identify others with whom they have had close contact. COVID-19 is categorized as a “notifiable disease,” meaning that the results of all COVID-19 tests in each state are reported to the state’s Department of Public Health. From there, the results are filtered to separate counties, and contact tracers follow up by reaching those who tested positive for the virus and locating people who have been in contact with them.

Those who have tested positive don’t always receive notification in a timely manner. A tracer can speed up the process by being the first person to tell someone their coronavirus test was positive. If they have no symptoms, they may be surprised. Ideally, they agree to self-isolate for the required period of time during which they might infect others.

Ehrlich works two or three shifts of three to five hours weekly. There are two different online portals in which she enters information. The first, case interviews, is for people who have tested positive. The second is contacts, for people who have been in close contact with those who tested positive. Each interview is over the phone, and all information is entered in secure and HIPAA-compliant (health information privacy) portals. The tracer’s task is to get information and a list of symptoms that both groups of people are experiencing.

The job is not always easy. “I’ve received a whole range of responses,” Eh

COVID-19 contact tracer Leanna Ehrlich makes calls and records data from home, accompanied by her cat Ashie.

rlich said. “First, it can be hard to get folks on the phone. I often play phone tag and might never make contact. Once on the phone, people react in a wide range of ways, depending on their personality. When we get in touch with a contact, people are understandably worried, especially when we are the first to deliver this news. Fortunately, because COVID-19 has been in the media for so long, most people know the drill. Most important, we always give cases and contacts an opportunity to ask us any questions they have, make sure they have the ability to safely isolate or quarantine themselves, and clarify which symptoms warrant going to a hospital versus recovering at home.” All interviewees are sent helpful follow-up information, she said.

Tracers collect as much data as possible, helping epidemiologists discover why some demographics may have worse symptoms than others. Tracers ask a long list of personal questions, including living and work conditions, age, gender, ethnicity, underlying medical conditions and travel. There is no requirement that they answer.

Responsibilities include correctly entering all information in the secure online portals. Other tracers work at the local, state and national levels to aggregate data about who is affected and where they are located. For example, knowing where someone who tested positive goes to school can help epidemiologists look for an outbreak there.

Summing up her experience, Ehrlich said, “This summer has been a completely unexpected, rewarding learning experience, definitely not what I thought one of my summer jobs would be in grad school, or ever. I have learned a lot, hopefully helped contain the coronavirus pandemic in Fulton County, and had a memorable professional public health experience I will never forget.” ì

Note: Ehrlich’s observations are personal and do not reflect the official position of the Fulton County Department of Health.

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By Robyn Spizman Gerson

Adrienne Clark runs a company with a memorable name. If you’ve heard about it, it was most likely in reference to getting tested for COVID-19.

Since 2018, her company Qualified Quacks has served as a to-your-door service that provides primary and urgent health care services for individuals and businesses. Most of her time now is focused on testing for the virus as her company arranges for the test to be read and reported back. Growing at a rapid speed, Qualified Quacks started as a small, Direct Primary Care concierge practice that brought back an old-school model of healthcare by only making house calls.

As founder and clinical director, Clark shared, “I’m a tomboy-farm-gal that transformed into an observant Jewish woman and mother of three children. I’m quirky, love the little miracles in life that are everywhere, and jumping in where I feel I can help make a difference.

“After I graduated from Johns Hopkins Nursing School, I moved to Atlanta with my family – to be nearer to my now ex-husband’s family – and started my job as a labor and delivery nurse at Northside Hospital,” she said.

“I decided to become a nurse after I had a less-thanpleasant experience when I was delivering my first born (daughter). I decided I could be at least one person helping women to have a positive experience during, what I believe, is the most vulnerable and intimate time of a woman’s life. This seems to have become a theme over my 13 years as a nurse; I identify a need and set out to try and make a positive difference.”

The story of Qualified Quacks is two-fold. “First, I was frustrated with what I was witnessing and experiencing as a nurse: healthcare becoming businessfocused and losing sight of patient care. I reached out to some physicians I knew who shared a similar vision, close friends, and asked them to take a leap of faith with me.”

So how did she pick the company name? “I have a quirky sense of humor and my mother is an English teacher. I wanted a name that embodied both my quirkiness and attention to small details. Qualified Quacks is paradoxical, and an oxymoron. It’s memorable. People either love or hate the name, yet they remember it.”

She added, “My logo is the ‘real story.’ Years ago, I lived in Birmingham, Ala., where I met an artist named Don Stewart. As I was speaking to him, he shared that he had gone to med school, then residency, and when he finished, he decided he had no desire to be a doctor and wanted to pursue his art instead. I’ve always followed my intuition or marched to my own beat. Here was someone who had done so and was completely grounded. One of his pieces of artwork, which he describes as his ‘self-portrait’ is titled ‘Quack!’ As soon as I decided on the name, I knew there could only be one logo for me. I emailed Don, told him what I was doing, and asked if I could pay for the rights to use his artwork. He told me to use it (free of charge) and I was blown away.”

Clark continued, “When COVID hit, I recognized

Adrienne Clark is founder and clinical director of Qualified Quacks.

the faultiness in the logic about only testing people who were horribly sick to the point of needing hospitalization. I wanted to get people tested before they hit that point. So, I investigated what the barriers were to testing, networked and hit the ground running with testing.

“We offer direct primary care memberships, which provide patients with all their primary healthcare needs and sick calls. We also provide urgent care services such as stitches, IV hydration, physicals, blood work, X-rays and ultrasound – all in the comfort of patients’ homes. Most importantly, we aren’t on a time clock. We get to take our time, educate and address patients’ concerns.

“We use a molecular PCR COVID-19 test and use a nasopharyngeal (NP) [nose swab] sample, which is considered the ‘gold standard.’ Our labs are run by Ipsum Diagnostics, one of only 12 FDA-approved COVID-19 molecular labs in the U.S.”

When it comes to educating the public, she added, “Every time someone calls to book a test there are always questions, or they request a rapid test, or a blood spot test. We educate them right then about the difference between the reliability and accuracy of the variety of tests, and the rationale behind why we test the way we do. That education continues on-site at the patients’ homes, and we stay until we have answered their questions,” she said.

“Typically, results are available within 48 to 72 hours and if their results are positive, we notify patients when their tests are positive. We send them a handout with warning signs or symptoms they should seek emergency help for if they occur, and teach them how to contact trace and notify individuals who may be affected. We also explain about quarantining and when to retest to ensure they are negative prior to coming out of quarantine.” ì

By Bob Bahr of the Year Award last year from the National Council for Behavioral Health, de

Spiritually based mental health proscribed Southern states as among those grams have an important role to play in a that are likely to suffer the most. nation facing a serious substance abuse “In the wake of the coronavirus pancrisis, according to Gabrielle Spatt, execdemic, communities already affected by utive director of The Blue Dove Foundarising deaths of despair — the Midwest, tion in Atlanta. South, and Northeast — will probably be

Spatt shared that message at a nafurther razed by the economic and psytional meeting of health care professionchological consequences of COVID.” als earlier this month via Zoom. She was According to a report released by speaking July 13 to the National Alliance the American Medical Association July on Mental Illness about “Engaging Faith 21, there has been a massive increase Leaders in Addressing Mental Illness.” over the past four years in deaths from

“We believe a compassionate and illegally manufactured addictive drugs. knowledgeable approach to mental illFrom 2015 to 2019, deaths from synthetic ness can strengthen any community. fentanyl increased from just over 5,700 The way we really see ourselves is as an to more then 36,000, the AMA reported. organization that is a comSpatt knows firsthand munity quarterback, that the consequences of menwe are bringing the Jewish tal illness and drug abuse. community together for Her younger sister, who these conversations.” suffered from severe de

Spatt was joined at pression and bipolar disorthe mental health convender, died of an opioid overtion by Shannon Royce, dose containing fentanyl director of the Center for when she was 30. Faith and Opportunity The story is part of a Initiatives at the U.S. Debook called “Quieting The partment of Health and Silence” The Blue Dove Human Services. Royce described the desperate need Gabrielle Spatt believes that the Jewish process Foundation published in April. It tells how 19 peofor mental health care serof psychological healing ple, many of them in their vices and how that need is, is a lifelong effort. own words, overcame a vaincreasingly, not being met. riety of mental disorders and substance

“In a small congregation of 100 peoabuse issues. ple, which is the average size of congregaThe book joins an education video tions around the United States, 20 people presentation the foundation produced in that congregation will be dealing with that describes the mental health issues some kind of mental illness. Only eight that Jewish community leaders in Atlanof those, in a typical congregation, will ta have encountered. The video, which be getting any care at all.” premiered at the San Diego Jewish Film

The COVID-19 pandemic has only Festival last year, features the personal made matters worse. Because of the panmental health experiences of Rabbi Alvin demic, it is estimated that an additional Sugarman of The Temple and Cantorial 75,000 Americans could die by suicide, Soloist Beth Schafer of Temple Sinai. drugs and alcohol. “Who we are is rooted in the idea of

A report released in May by the Well storytelling,” Spatt said. “It’s our cornerBeing Trust and American Academy of stone; it’s what we’re all about. We want Family Physicians projected that so-called to create a space where people can share “deaths of despair” could be even higher their stories and show others they are not if the country fails to act decisively to adalone.” dress the mental health issues caused by Raising awareness of the consethe isolation and social and economic unquences of mental illness and substance certainty the health crisis has created. abuse is sometimes difficult because

Dr. Lloyd Sederer, an eminent public many don’t believe these are Jewish comhealth care authority, wrote in the online munity problems, Spatt pointed out. publication Medscape, “We may be in for Since there is this denial of how addica perfect storm of factors driving subtion affects Jews, there is sometimes a stance abuse rates higher than we have lack of understanding and support for seen before – the ‘triple trouble’ of a panthose confronting drug and alcohol probdemic, unemployment and diminished lems, she said. personal and community supports.” “I think shame and stigma is some

Sederer, who received the Doctor thing that exists in every community;

Death due to fentanyl overdoses has increased seven-fold over the past four years.

maybe it’s a little more prevalent in the Jewish community. A lot of times people are struggling internally by themselves. It’s the reason I share my story every single time I get a chance to. Because as we begin to normalize these topics in society, in the Jewish community it makes others feel like they’re not alone.”

Spatt, who has just joined NAMI’s FaithNet Advisory Group, told the national convention that the repair of psychological trauma never ends.

“Judaism has a long tradition of recognizing that healing is not just physical. It has a holistic meaning. It includes physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual components that are all interconnected. And even when mental illness is under control, healing and our return to wholeness is ongoing. It’s a lifelong journey for us.” ì

By Paula Baroff

Play can be a powerful therapeutic tool – for adults as well as for children. According to Murray Dabby, a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist, relationship coach and director of The Atlanta Center for Social Therapy, “play can be a really transformative activity” for adults and adolescents. When it comes to children, play therapy is a common type of therapy that is “a medium that can help kids have a way of expressing themselves through play, through symbolism, and when they can’t fully express what’s going on for them, play can be a useful medium for communication.” Though Dabby does some work with young children, most of his play therapy is done with teenagers and adults.

He uses improv, in particular, as a method to encourage play among adults, especially those with social anxiety. Dabby says it can be greatly therapeutic. “Improv is a wonderful vehicle for change,” he said. “Its value is that it helps to free oneself from the critical voices we can have in our heads.”

According to Dabby, the mechanisms and effects of improv have a lot of benefits for adults who have trouble socializing. Doing improv with a group of people who have anxiety in common pushes them into fun situations where they can make mistakes and let go of internal judgmentalism and criticism that “can rob especially adolescents, as well as adults, of spontaneity,” he said. Improv also frees people from the idea of potential failure; when somebody in the group makes a mistake, it is celebrated by the group. Dabby says this helps people overcome the fear of being shamed.

“A lot of times young people are worried about saying the right thing in groups, not looking silly, worried about being made fun of,” he said. Improv allows both teens and adults with social anxiety to let go of this and discover their inner creativity and enhance the way they relate to themselves. “People with social anxiety will suddenly discover, ‘oh I have a voice, I can say things spontaneously and people enjoy it, people applaud, build on what I’m saying.’”

He said that with the rise of social media, people can more easily look at

Murray Dabby uses improv as a vehicle for building confidence and social skills in teenagers and adults.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the improv programs are being run on Zoom.

others’ lives and compare themselves to apy groups called Curtain UP! Anxiety what they’re seeing online. “People will DOWN! in the last few years, including often present their best selves, their funwith creativity coach and manager of niest selves, the sides of themselves that Theatre on the Prowl Lesly Fredman. are successes. And people get a distorted “Everything plays. I just read an arsense of what people’s lives are like,” he ticle about how animals play. It seems said. “There’s a lot of feeling badly, feeling that’s just a natural instinct. It’s a way ashamed, comparing oneself to what you that we become social. It’s a way that our see in the media. Indeed, I think it can be brains can develop. Play is just essential a very painful thing for a lot of people to growth and development.” to live their lives through that, as many She said that she’s found play to be people do.” vital, especially considering the stress of

Along with teen and adult groups, the pandemic. Dabby does one-on-one counseling and In improv classes, close bonds form couples’ therapy. “I think playing tobetween people that allow them to begether is important; being able to play gin to understand they’re not alone in with conversation and move out of crititheir experiences and take more risks, cism into listening and learning. I try to Fredman said. “In classes, what I have use those principles in doing noticed is there’s a generosity couples work,” he said. “One that happens; accepting what of the rules of improv is it your partner gives you as a helps people to listen better to gift. When you’re out in the your partner. A rule of improv world and dealing with other is you have to make your partpeople and situations, it’s rener look good, and you have to ally helpful to remember that. listen to what they’re saying.” It’s really helpful to see other

For adults, there are people you’re in conversation 12-week-long improv therapy with as a partner.” classes. He described one of Lesly Fredman She said one reason some his clients who was very introverted, socially anxious manages Theatre on the Prowl and the Cold Soup Dinner people may fear improv is the idea that you have to be funny, and self-conscious because of Theatre, and works which isn’t the case – scenes his body. He came to the class with Dabby to provide can be serious, and humor because he wanted to be able improv for adults will organically happen. “Peoto dance at his brother’s wedwith social anxiety. ple don’t have to force funny. ding. “He was able to not only dance [at It really is about being really present in the wedding] but started dancing in a that moment. That’s another life lesson: regular way and going to dances,” Dabby being present with each other.” said. “In the 12 weeks there isn’t a person Currently, Fredman and Dabby are who hasn’t been shifted, changed or tocontinuing to run their improv therapy tally transformed by that experience. I’m groups for adults over Zoom. Dabby is kind of amazed by it; I didn’t expect it to also involved with an organization called be as powerful a medium as it has been.” Global Play Brigade, which started in

Dabby also runs a nonprofit proWuhan, China, in response to the pangram called Atlanta All Stars Talent Show demic and offers sessions in every time Network, which uses performance to zone around the world. “We think of it help young people in underserved comas a world transformative activity, bringmunities work on developing confidence ing play into people’s homes and people’s and leadership skills. lives,” he said. ì

Dabby began doing improv himself For more information about play in the mid-90s and recognized how it therapy, visit www.atlantasocialtherapy. strengthened his public speaking skills. com/ and www.curtainupanxietydown. He began to run explicitly improv thercom.

By Terry Segal You’re not required to sit in pretzel position and pracfulness for one week. tice mindfulness in combination with meditation. You can Altered Perceptions flip the way you view things from

As we move forward on this unpaved road, it’s imperasimply turn your attention inward to focus on what’s presyour thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in style, work, relationtive that we make self-care an important necessity and stop ent for you in your mind, body or spirit. As you observe ships and what matters to you. It requires being open-mindviewing it as a luxury for which there’s never yourself, you can decide if you’d like to act ed as you consider energy that “is,” without putting it in the any time. My work focuses on the reduction on something that would serve you and othcategories of “good” and “bad.” of stress and anxiety through the practice ers or keep it unexpressed. Things are not always as they seem. “Bad” things may of 10 techniques, or keys, that are enjoyable, Mindfulness can be used with regard bring you insight, teach you by contrast, and allow you to contributing to the success in using them. to eating, by slowing down and tasting the create change. “Good” things may have been good at one

For the original statistical research on food, experiencing it with all of the senses. point but no longer serve you. You get to review them with the use of the keys, 350 preschool teachMaybe you’d like to have a mindful meal fresh eyes and decide which thoughts and actions continue ers became my subjects for more than six in which you do nothing but eat, without and which get discarded or transformed. months. The efficacy of the keys, if even one conversation or technology. See, smell, hear, How to practice altered perceptions: of the keys is used, was shown to be statistaste and appreciate the textures of your Combining your mindfulness practice with altered tically significant in the reduction of stress food. perceptions, imagine a world in which everyone communiand anxiety in the short and long term. Observe your breath. Do you breathe cated mindfully, aware of feelings and the impact of words

The 10 keys are: mindfulness, altered evenly on the in and out breaths? Do you before speaking them. Instead of words that are hateful, deperceptions, journaling, sensory experiencWhen stressed, sad or breathe shallowly or hold your breath? Nostructive, punitive and agitating, choose words that are loves, reduced clutter, humor, movement, art, grateful, place both hands tice when your emotions are triggered, put ing, healing, compassionate and comforting. nature, and meditation. over your heart and feel your hand to heart, send compassion to Take a stance of open curiosity to understand the rea

For decades, I’ve offered workshops to its rhythmic beating. yourself, and breathe rhythmically. son someone feels the way they do or believes what they professionals and the general public, and taught clients how Take a mindful walk, not focusing as much on the do, whether it involves politics or mask wearing, without it to use the keys. I don’t go anywhere without my own imagidestination as the details along the way. Is the pavement threatening your beliefs. nary keyring. smooth or gravelly? Do you notice a dandelion or a penny Pick an issue or behavior to consider and alter. See

The premise is that life is intended to be an enchanted on the path? where you’ve become stagnant and try on an altered perjourney but there are Dragons of Stress teeming just beIn the wake of COVID-19, mindfully assess your stress ception. ì neath the bridge that we must cross each day. We need to and energy levels, quality of nutrition and sleep. Check in keep the keyring handy so we don’t get pulled down into with yourself a few times each day and stay present to sigDr. Terry Segal is a licensed marriage and family therapist the Pit of Negativity or the Dungeon of Doom. We don’t slay nals of imbalance so they’re not overlooked. with a doctorate in energy medicine. She is the author of “The the dragons because then there would just be dead dragSelect one area in your life in which to practice mindEnchanted Journey: Finding the Key that Unlocks You.” ons everywhere. We need to chart our course, redirect the dragons, harness their energy and use their power to pull our chariots in the direction of our dreams. The Land of Enchantment becomes the attainment of a healthy, happy FOREVER PLAN perspective on life in spite of its challenges. Practicing use of the keys becomes self-nourishing and "Limited Time RATE LOCK" even fun. I’ll share the basic information about how to use the keys in these trying times in a few separate articles on the topic to give you a chance to experiment with them.

Mindfulness is awareness in the present moment, being where you are right now, noticing your breath, tension, physical sensations, thoughts and emotions. Observe them with neutrality or love, but without judgment. Jon Kabat-Zinn and Thich Nhat Hanh are two of the pioneering teachers of mindfulness. Kabat-Zinn is an AmerInvesting in Your Care and Lifestyle Pays Off ican professor emeritus of medicine who found that mindAt Inspired Living the welfare of our residents, employees and families is our top priority. During these times, fulness can be applied to a wide range of areas that cause we are here for you as you consider whether assisted living or memory care services is the solution for you, or people significant stress, including medical symptoms, a loved one. Our Inspired Living amenities include: physical and emotional pain, anxiety, panic, time pressures, relationships, work, food and events in the outside world. Resort Style Living We can check the box on each of these issues in our current In-House Gourmet Meals times. 24/7 On-Sight Nursing Care

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He teaches that, “We could all find happiness in the simple things — in mindfully peeling an orange or sipping tea.” His definition of mindfulness is “the practice of being Inspired Living at Alpharetta 11450 Morris Rd, Alpharetta, GA 30005 470-297-6866 fully present and alive, body and mind united.” Visit us at inspiredliving.care

How to practice mindfulness?

By Paula Baroff

This year, Georgia 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer Experience is going virtual. “Instead of walking 30 miles in 2 days, participants can join us for a virtual journey” Sept. 21-Oct. 4 for $35, the walk announced in a press release. This payment includes access to the event platform, credentials, a button and T-shirt.

Knowing that planning a large-scale walk was “wishful thinking … we pulled the trigger on a virtual event back in May,” said Whitney Pack Jones, It’s the Journey communications and marketing manager. “Once the decision was made by Atlanta not to hold large outdoor events, we knew we needed to pivot,” she said.

The fundraiser is partnering with a platform called MoveSpring, an app that is made for large events to be organized virtually. Each person can log in individually, which allows people to participate in the walk from anywhere in the world. Participants can use a tracking device like Fitbit or Apple Watch, or they can use the health app on their smart phones, the press release said. “Along the way, they’ll receive special messages from our traditional 2-Day Walk volunteers and sponsors, unlock ‘Milestones’ revealing Atlanta landmarks, and compete on our leaderboard for bragging rights,” the press release said.

At the moment, there are about 800 people registered for the walk, with hopes to increase that to over 1,000 participants.

Pack Jones said the 2-Day Walk has received great feedback from people about the decision to hold it virtually. “Right now it’s hard for people to make decisions and make plans. What we have felt and heard is people are appreciating others taking proactive action.”

Photo of participants from last year’s Walk for Breast Cancer. This year, the walk will be open to people globally to sign up virtually.

She said the goal is still to hold a great event that raises money for organizations that help breast cancer patients. “Whatever decisions we have in order to try to facilitate that and do the best we can by those organizations is what we’re going to do,” she said. “Our participants recognize that and respect it.”

Pack Jones said that with the coronavirus pandemic, many cancer patients have lost their employer-provided healthcare along with their jobs, leading them to turn to other programs to get the diagnostics and treatment they need. “They need these assistance programs more than ever. We need the community’s support,” she said. If people are unable to register, they can make a donation or provide a sponsorship at whatever level they’re capable. There are no fundraising minimum, but organizers request people fundraise to the extent they can “to help us fund our 2021 breast health and breast cancer grants for programs all throughout the state.” ì

For more information about the walk, visit www.itsthejourney.org/get-involved/.

The dining room painting (left) by Laura Park was commissioned for Lindsay’s 40th birthday. The dining room set is from Roche Bobois and sideboard from Restoration Hardware. The light fixture is by Hinkley from Colonial Lighting. The accent wall was custombuilt, paint Le Luxe by Behr. The hamsa collection peeks through on back left. Chai Style Home

Photos by Duane Stork // The Levins enjoy the porch of their replica of an 18th century Pennsylvania stone farmhouse with Greek revival columns. Front and center is newly adopted mini Aussie Allie.

Lindsay and Ron Levin’s home was custom-built Ron: I am part of family-owned commercial real estate by Deane Johnson, a fourth-generation Atlanta builder. company Levin Properties. Lindsay and I have very similar A replica of an 18th century Pennsylvania stone farmdesign aesthetics with clean lines and bold artwork. My house with Greek revival columns, it’s ideal for entergoal was comfortable elegance. My favorite room is the taining with a walkout backyard awaiting swimming kitchen because of the view to the walkout backyard, the pool construction. heart of the home where we have hosted many gatherings.

“I wanted the home to feel livable and the furnishings to not resemble other homes,” Marcia: How does entertaining flow? Lindsay said. The art was handpicked from Lindsay: We host an annual Chanukah local artists, and almost every piece of furparty for 150, held a bris for 100, countless niture is from a different store.” Ron added, birthday parties, and neighborhood events. “We bought here in 2012 prior to Mountaire We call the party “Chanukah Glitz,” as it’s becoming one of the most desirable neighadults only in cocktail attire and sophisticatborhoods in Sandy Springs. We are both ed décor. All types of people attend, and we Sandy Springs natives and high school sweetlight the chanukiyah and explain the Chanuhearts (North Springs). We were looking for a kah story. Our kitchen is open to an expandneighborhood with a large tree canopy, wide Marcia ed breakfast area where we remove the table streets for family walks, neighborhood swim Caller Jaffe for space like a restaurant event room. club and proximity to stores and parks.”

Lindsay, a Berkshire Hathaway residential agent Marcia: Your style is “happy art?” and former attorney, was recently named by Newsweek Lindsay: The colorful piece in the foyer is by a local magazine as the 18th best realtor in Georgia. “I’m proud artist MarianneB van der Haar. We had an art show, and to be Chai!” it was hung in that place. I loved the bold, powerful col

Take a tour of the Levin home, which was featured ors and bought it. Der Haar is known for layering ink, in a Property Brothers commercial. sand, copper and marble powder with firewood ashes. In the vaulted ceiling master bedroom, we commis

Marcia: What’s your role in the design? sioned Deeann Rieves to create an ethereal vibe. Rieves is known for organic shape-driven pieces inspired by nature that are both bright and soothing.

The dining room painting by Laura Park was commissioned for my 40th birthday. She also designed the wallpaper in the mudroom cubbies. Park’s work is about “eye dancing” with brush strokes and sophisticated palettes that she extracted from her grandmother’s patchwork quilting.

“Troubles Gone” above the fireplace is by Lynn Sanders (Gregg Irby Gallery in Midtown). Sander’s work is known for its impatience and impulsivity working with negative space with synthetic polymer on canvas.

Ron: We had a carpenter create the accent wall in the dining room, the basement shiplap bookcase, and the accent above the pool table. Next are barn doors into the home gym. The office cast stone fireplace was built by Phil Saylor (Tuscan Stone Mantels). We designed the piece, and he created it.

The dining room table and chairs are from Roche Bobois and sideboard from Restoration Hardware. The fixture is by Hinkley from Colonial Lighting. The accent wall is Le Luxe by Behr.

Marcia: What are your sentimental furnishings?

Lindsay: The antique spool chest in my office is from my family’s trade fixture that displayed thread for retail sale. The upright piano is my grandmother Whitney’s (1940). My mother, sister and I all learned to play

The study fireplace painting (center) “Troubles Gone” is by Lynn Sanders. Lindsay’s family’s antique spool chest is on the left. Painting (right) Ford Smith, known for his representation of trees. Chandelier by Schonbek with Swarovski crystals

on it. It has ivory keys! I wanted to display it since they don’t make pianos like this anymore. It was originally an ugly brown, so a Roswell specialty painter revitalized it as my favorite vignette in the home. My grandmother would be proud that it has this prominent place.

My mineral collection curio dates back to the 1930s. My grandfather and his brother found many of the minerals during their travels. It includes quartz, amethyst, fossils, garnet, tigereye and calcite.

Marcia: Share your Judaic pieces?

Ron: The soft art in the family office near the mudroom was purchased from ArtNova Gallery in Jaffa, Israel. We brought it home and stretched it. It is one of my favorites. This technique was developed in Israel by local artists. Synthetic acrylic fibers are used to substitute for watercolor and oils in traditional paintings. They are essentially “painting” with burlap, felt and colorful acrylic strings. They can be found in synagogues, private yachts and aircraft.

The hamsas in the family office were collected dur

ing trips to Israel.

Marcia: Your children’s space has been featured in national publications.

Lindsay: “Home schooling” has given many families

The vaulted ceiling in the master bedroom displays a Deeann Rieves ethereal vibe painting above the bed.

Lindsay’s family collected the minerals from all over the world in this antique curio.

The expansive Levin kitchen is used for entertaining upwards of 150 for their Chanukah Glitz party. Lindsay states that islands are high priority in family homes.

The soft art in the family office was purchased from ArtNova Gallery in Jaffa, Israel. ArtNova installations are seen in synagogues, private aircraft and yachts.

Shaina’s cheerful room has a Pottery Barn rug and beaded chandelier from Ro Sham Beaux.

Elijah’s room has a spunky Buzz Lightyear theme. The children’s rooms have been featured on Cartoon Network and Cox Communications channels.

a unique perspective on kid’s areas. Our teen lounge is a “virtual space” where they have their own work stations for virtual camp and homework. Their bedrooms have been featured in commercials for Cartoon Network, Cox Communications and more. Elijah and Shaina’s rooms were designed when they were toddlers as I wanted them to have fun, sophisticated rooms that they would not outgrow quickly. Our mudroom has a drop off zone with eight cubbies for backpacks, shoes and pet accessories.

Marcia: What’s next?

Ron: The pool under construction will be concrete decking with turf, very sleek, resort-like, with a gas firepit, spa, and long enough for laps.

Marcia: Last word with your realtor “hat.”

Lindsay: The experience of sheltering in place will forever be imprinted in our collective memories. Homebuyers will remember how much they enjoyed or would have enjoyed an outdoor living space and home office. Buying is more a process of elimination and prioritizing wish lists on which to compromise. “Must haves” for families are: mudroom, open floor plan, useable backyard (preferably walkout), kitchen island, move-inready updates with neutral color palette, friendly neighborhood, and good schools. ì

Elijah and Shaina have enjoyed their teen lounge for online classes.

The upright piano is Lindsay’s grandmother Whitney’s (1940) with ivory keys. Lindsay had it repainted by a specialist in Roswell.