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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2003)
40 *“• Mt • july 18.20Û3 PEOPLE ▼ Dy, gevall! Again with your kvetching? Visit Your Jewish Fairy Godmother already by P at Y oung he speaks in paragraphs, not sound bites. But if you’re kxiking for a bumper stick er, just let her know and she’ll come up with one. She doesn’t know how to tell it short, she says with a laugh. But that’s OK because a conversation with her is a very rewarding experience. You’ll come away from it feeling like you’ve known her for years. Or perhaps it’s the other way around. She has an uncanny ability to get to know you and help you find solutions to your problems. She is, after all, Your Jewish Fairy Godmother. Officially, Your Jewish Fairy Godmother started in 2000, but it t<x>k a while for the idea to jell and before Helen Rosenau could devote her full attention. She had been a manager of a consulting firm for almost 18 years when she said to her self, “I can’t do this anymore.” She had creative things she wanted to do but didn’t know exact ly what fonn they should take. So the Eugene resident began to write without the worry of being published. It became part of an exploration of her spiritual values. In the midst of this, Rosenau found her self involved in caretaking—first for her ex partner and then for her parents. After six months, she was exhausted. Needing a mental health break, she decided not to worry about work or her writing. She was going to sit in the back yard, have a glass of wine and chill out. "And about four days later,” she recalls, "I was sitting in the back yard staring at this big oak tree and literally a voice in my head said, ‘www.yourjewishfairygixlmother.com.’ One of my friends said, ‘She called you in.’ ” And that’s what put this Jewish lesbian, who will be in Portland on July 20, on the path to becoming a free-lance adviser, advo cate and ally. S The Fanno Creek Clinic is Recruiting for a New H I V Research Study We are currently studying the safety and effectiveness of an investigational formulation of marketed HIV drugs when given in combination with other HIV drugs. If you are 18 years of age or older, are HIV positive and have not ever taken any anti-HIV drugs, you may qualify to participate. All study related office visits, medical exams, and study medication are provided at no cost to patients. Lisa Zeigler at 503-452-0915 x30 Accenting New Patients . o-g«-"£ Nu,rienb , i Pest Contr°’ . Naturo» . Growls*5 • Garden,i19 . pondSuPplie$ When an ordinary Realtor simply won’t do... 3144 SE Belmont Portland, OR 97214 office: 503-238-7617 . Hydr°P°niC$ our Jewish Fairy Godmother is really her alter ego. She refers to herself as a private person who has chosen a very public per sona. “The Gcxlmother represents all the things that I have intuitively done for people my entire life in terms of problem solving, net working, emotional support and creative mar keting ideas,” she explains. Rosenau found a gixxl Web designer and exactly the right artist to render her animated portrait. She has a monthly advice column that appears in several Jewish newspapers, and clients from all over the country who seek her help with problems and issues in their lives. She offers serious services but delivers them in a playful package. “It’s fun, and I love it. I am curkxis about people, and my goal is to make everyone’s life better, one-on-one,” says Rosenau. “It is very rare that I encixinter someone whom I can’t help." Knowing a client’s values is critical as she develops a strategy for each person to accom plish goals. “There is something rewarding about talking with people and hearing them tell their stories," says Rosenau. “1 tend to ask a lot of questions—it’s a very nonlinear process—as 1 gather information about their values and goals.” Rosenau is in her mid-50s and draws on a Y ILLUSTRATION BY JAMES CLOUTIER FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: wealth of life experiences to help others. As she puts it, “You can’t be a gixxl fairy gixlmoth- er at age 25.” And when people are willing to make a change, “It’s like coming out. I see most peo ple’s lives as a series of small and large coming- outs,” she notes. “And my job is to help mid wife that in a way to help them get to where they want to be." Her clients are gay, straight, men, women, Jewish and non-Jewish. She definitely has a Jewish, not to mention a queer, sensibility, but she diK'sn’t think either gives her any signifi cant advantage. “The best people in the world to work with are people who have a sense of themselves, a sense of humor about what life throws at them and are willing to take a shot at creating some thing—to bounce with it if it goes into a direc tion that can’t be predicted," she exclaims. “If 1 can help create the situation where it will change, I love that." However, if she’s not successful at pressing the right levers and changing a person’s situa tion, she finds that frustrating. "I genuinely think there are ways that people can learn to make their lives better and more successful, and I am not measuring that by dollars," explains Rosenau. “I am measuring that by how do you want to feel at the end of the day.” JM HELEN R osenau dispenses her irreverent wisdom 3 p.m. July 20 at Keshet, a monthly gathering for sexual minority Jews. Call 503-226-7079, ext. 14, for location. Visit the godmother at www.yourjewishfairygodmother.com. PAT YOUNG is a Portland free-lance writer.
