At The Selfhelp Home, our community bridges generations, celebrates connection, and honors acts of kindness big and small. One of the most inspiring examples of this spirit is our Mitzvah Mensch program, an award-winning volunteer initiative that invites soon-to-be b’nai mitzvah to create personalized projects that bring joy to our residents.
One of our latest remarkable Mitzvah Mensches, Lou Roberts, sat down with us for a quick Q&A leading up to her project and her Bat Mitzvah at the end of the month. Get to know Lou’s inspiration and her favorite parts of her Mitzvah project so far!
Tell us about your Mitzvah Project…
I will be performing at The Selfhelp Home with a couple of my friends and musical collaborators. I will be singing 8 or 9 songs that relate to my life and the lives of family members I interviewed, as well as some Selfhelp residents who I interviewed.
I have picked the songs, arranged the parts of the music and organized rehearsals with my friends to prepare for our performance.
Why did you choose The Selfhelp Home for your Mitzvah project?
I chose The SelfHelp home because my great grandfather was a resident here during the last period of his life. He was also a great lover of music, like me!
My mom suggested I do something at The Selfhelp Home for my project, and I watched the video Refuge: Story of The SelfHelp Home to learn more. I really liked the idea of giving back to a place like Selfhelp which has been a big support and resource to the Jewish community since the end of Holocaust.
I love that Selfhelp has a lot of Jewish traditions and a lot of music as a part of the community programming. I’m excited to be a part of that!
If you’d like to watch Ethan Bensinger’s moving documentary, you can stream Refuge: Story of The Selfhelp Home here.
Why music?
I love to sing.
I really like doing activities that challenge me to meet new people and I love communicating and learning about others. I consider myself an extrovert so performing is natural for me.
I have been a part of the Chicago Children’s Choir/Uniting Voices for 5 years and have had the chance to sing and perform all over the city and out of state with kids from different neighborhoods around Chicago.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your project so far?
I have liked getting to learn about other peoples lives and why music is important to them — both my family and people at The Selfhelp Home.
I have had a lot of fun putting together a performance that will honor my love of music and what I’ve learned from my interviews. I’m excited to be able to show people what I’ve put together and express parts of my identity through music.