Dina Greenbaum, 36, serves the community through her work with Chai Lifeline, an organization that helps families living with serious illness.
After growing up in Toronto and receiving an undergraduate degree in education there, Greenbaum began working full-time at Chai Lifeline as a case manager. She has now been with the organization for 14 years and loves helping families with their needs.
Greenbaum lives with her husband and two children in Pikesville. They belong to Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim and Congregation Ohel Torah.
What is a case manager?
A case manager’s job is to be the point of contact to the Chai Lifeline family. My job is to figure out what they need and what we can ask Chai Lifeline to help them with. The goal is to build a really strong relationship so that they have an easy phone number to call and get whatever resources they need from that number. My goal is to build those relationships and to see specifically what each family could use on their own. It’s not one size fits all for everyone.
When did you realize that you wanted to get into this type of work?
I grew up in a family that has a very strong value of helping the community and giving back to people. That was something we were raised with. It was super important to my family. We’re always open, always having people over. My parents spent their lives giving to the community. In addition to that, I started off as a volunteer after high school. I had a car. I had a lot of free time. I was single. It was the perfect setup. Once I entered that world, I felt very aligned towards it.
Is it hard separating the sometimes sad things that are happening at work with the rest of your life?
Absolutely. I’m a mom, so I have my own children. There are times where you’re like “Wow, those kids are my children’s age.” When people ask me that kind of question, I always say that when it gets easy is when we need to stop and when I need to look for another job because that means you’re losing your humanity along the way.
I think it’s super important to keep in touch with your human self. I make sure to take care of myself. I make sure to do things that are healthy and have outlets and have support and speak to the people that I need to speak to.
What advice would you give to somebody who’s struggling to create that division?
Find support, find the outlets for yourself, look for the beauty in everything. If you’re able to look for the positivity along the way and look for the people that are helping, it’s something that’s incredible that you probably don’t see in other communities. That’s the strength that keeps me going, seeing the way we all take care of each other.
What’s something that somebody would be surprised to learn about you?
I love building things. During COVID-19, I refurbished furniture. You peel the paint, peel the wood off and sand it down and paint it. Things like that. I really enjoy putting together furniture. I’ve done some DIY work as a hobby when I have time.
Do you feel like that’s a good creative outlet for you?
Absolutely. I think it’s super relaxing when you’re able to shut everything else off and sit down with paint or with some tools and put some things together. It feels very productive and it’s always a good chill for me.
How would you describe your relationship to Judaism?
I’m a super spiritual person. I’m very religious, but I’m also spiritual. I think those are two separate things. My background is Sephardic, so I think that comes with the territory. I love connecting to Hashem.
I think it’s really important for me to keep growing as a person. It helps me also to stay in line with everything that I see all the time in my work. I listen to all sorts of podcasts and a lot of them are Jewish, primarily.
What’s your favorite podcast?
I’m a big fan of the Halacha Headlines podcast. I find that it discusses different Jewish topics that are always current, interesting and somewhat controversial. It opens my mind to different topics that I didn’t think about.
Do you see yourself working with children with different struggles in the future?
I see myself always in a position that will be helping people. I do that as my strength and as something I’ve been told I’m very good at. Wherever I end up, it will be somewhere that is giving. I always feel like my greatest honor is that I’m able to do a job that’s also a big mitzvah. So, I do hope to see myself in this sort of position.
Shira Kramer is a freelance writer.
