“It takes a community to protect a child, and it takes a community to allow abuse,” says Debbie Fox, founder of Safety Kid in Los Angeles. Eli and Shani Verschleiser, a dynamic couple from Flatbush, want to make sure their own city’s schools are safe, and have brought Safety Kid to yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs in Brooklyn as well. With parents and educators involved, they want to make sure there are no holes in the safety net.
Eli Verschleiser has zero patience for bureaucracy dawdling or even public recognition. Recipients of his incisive no-fluff arriving-within-seconds e-mails get the gist quickly: this is a man who gets things done — and fast.
Born and bred inLakewood and today the president of United Realty Trust Inc. a public company on Wall Street this well-spoken father of four has built a reputation as a savvy investor doing deals with moguls the likes of Donald Trump.
But behind the shrewd businessman lining is a golden heart fueling a fiery passion for helping out those less fortunate and he and his wife Shani have become particularly drawn to tackling underdog causes and stuffed-under-the-rug initiatives that promise little glory. For years the Verschleisers have been mainstays of Our Place a Brooklyn–based center for Jewish teens struggling with substance abuse and related issues.
This past year the Verschleisers have added to their chesed repertoire perhaps their most ambitious — and timely — project yet: Magenu theBrooklyn children’s safety initiative.
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