‘I am committed to making a difference.’

Faith Getz Rousso, Roslyn

“I always knew I was adopted. However, it wasn’t until a few years ago, when I received my original birth certificate, that I was made aware that I was in foster care for the first seven months of my life.

“When I asked my mom where I was for the first seven months of my life, she responded, ‘With a nice lady.’ The words ‘foster care’ were never used. When I saw ‘foster care’ on the legal document … it touched me. I know how blessed I was for being raised in a loving caring home. What touched me was that there are so many children in foster care who don’t have the opportunities that I had – that my children, now 25 and 29, had growing up – and I wanted to do something to give back.

“First, it started with the events that I bought tickets for and distributed to the families to attend basketball games, then, the T-shirts to wear at the game and food vouchers. All so they would feel special. That wasn’t enough. The foster care system needs work. And it became apparent to me that the ones who are suffering are the children.

The goal of foster care is reunification with their biological family.

“I am committed to making a difference. I’m a lawyer, and I do hours and hours of pro bono work representing foster parents in Family Court. It is rare for a foster parent to have representation in court prior to the adoption. I hold their hand – literally – and become their ears and their translator, explaining the process and sharing what is going on in court with the children that they are caring for.

“The goal of foster care is reunification with their biological family. However, that is balanced with permanency with the children. Sadly, the delays in the courts, unfortunately, result in children spending most of their childhood in foster care.

“My volunteer work includes my involvement in We Care, a charitable arm of the bar association. I have co-chaired the holiday party, organized 100-plus children to go to an Islanders game and co-planned a fall festival which included pumpkins, riding a mounted-police horse, fire trucks and a DJ. At a holiday party sponsored by the Department of Social Services, I reached out to my generous friends/colleagues, and I collected enough to provide 100 gift cards for teens in care. I really do love my work!”

Interviewed by Saul Schachter

‘I had to stop volunteering during COVID, and that was terrible. I missed it so much.’

Gail Case, Roslyn

“I’ve always loved helping people. When I was in high school, I was a candy striper, and I really liked it. In 2000, my daughter and son had moved out of the house, and I was looking for something to do. I thought about going to a hospital and doing that again.

“Many years ago, I worked for my dad, who owned [the clothing line] Members Only, but I didn’t want a paying job. I wanted to do something as a volunteer.

“I decided I would walk into North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and put in an application. I got a call quickly for an interview. They asked me what department I’d like to work in. Back then, I asked to help in the gift shop, and after that I worked at the front desk in the lobby, welcoming people to the hospital and helping people find where they needed to be.

“I enjoyed the gift shop, but I knew I wanted to get upstairs and work in a surgical waiting room. I wanted to walk people down to PACU, which is the recovery room, and check people in for surgery and talk to their loved ones while they’re waiting for surgery. I asked to be moved there, and they said yes.

It makes me feel terrific. Every day, it’s a different experience.

“I’ve been working in the surgical waiting room for 14 years. My job includes checking in the patients and talking to their loved ones. I also help the doctors. When they come in after surgery, I show them where the family is sitting. It makes me feel terrific. Every day, it’s a different experience.

“Recently, we had an older couple who needed to get home and didn’t know how to call an Uber, so I did it for them. That couple’s son wrote me a beautiful thank you letter. I have six awards in my house for working at North Shore Manhasset for years and for my work.

“I had to stop volunteering during COVID, and that was terrible. I missed it so much. They took us out in March 2020, and we didn’t get to go back until late winter 2022. Working in the hospital – just to give and help someone else – it’s just the biggest joy for me. I get all choked up even thinking about it!”

Interviewed by KJ Bannan

‘I wanted her to feel that she wasn’t alone, so I wrote a story thinking it was just a cute bedtime story.’

Roslyn

“It was her first birthday party when I gave my daughter a piece of cake for the first time. Within minutes she had hives from her eyelids to her toes. The doctor tested her for egg allergies and he said, ‘Egg allergies rarely travel alone.’ It took a few years to really get a handle on everything she was allergic to: peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, sesame, canola oil, flaxseed and mustard.

“I wanted her to feel she wasn’t alone, so I wrote a story thinking it was just a cute bedtime story. Statistics tell us that kids with allergies have a thirty percent higher instance of being bullied. There are many cases of food allergy bullying where kids have purposely smeared someone’s allergen on another child. It could be life threatening. You also have a chance of being left out.

“Someone might say, ‘It’s a cooking party, so why invite her? She can’t participate anyway.’ My daughter couldn’t have the cupcake that everyone else was having at school; instead, she had to bring her own. My little story snowballed quickly and I realized it sounded like a book. My daughter was 4 years old when I wrote “Nutley the Nut-Free Squirrel.” It’s now 10 years later, the book is published, and I donate all the proceeds to an organization called FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education).

Before writing it, I knew that I had a good work ethic, but when you write a book from the ground up it is so difficult to take ‘no’ for an answer twenty times before someone says yes.

“It’s also a way to educate other families in a whimsical way designed for kids. Her allergies were so much a part of her; they were in every step she took, going to school, parties, gymnastics, dance and camp. Because of fundraising and research in the last ten years, she has been treated with oral immunotherapy (OIT). In six months, she went from being anaphylactic with eggs, to eating a hard-boiled egg.

“The book became popular and sometimes people would joke around and call her Nutley. I think it gave her confidence. I have visited hundreds of schools reading “Nutley.” It always makes the allergic children feel like rock stars for the day. Before writing it, I knew that I had a good work ethic, but when you write a book from the ground up it is so difficult to take ‘no’ for an answer twenty times before someone says yes. It taught me about how persistent I am. Now I have written three more!”