Judy Wolf
Judy Wolf helped create a resource center for children with disabilities in the city of Dnepropetrovsk that not only transformed the lives of families there but became a model for special education throughout the Ukraine. Wolf’s work with a sister cities program through the Jewish Community Relations Council and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism brought her to Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, with her daughter, Sue Wolf-Fordham. Both mother and daughter noticed that children with disabilities faced deep prejudice there: most were confined to their homes and eventually institutionalized. In collaboration with Bet Hana Teachers College and Jewish Families & Children's Service, Wolf and her daughter spearheaded the development of the Educational Resource Center, where families with disabled children could have access to innovative learning programs, an accessible playground, and adaptive toys. One parent said, memorably, “I never knew my child could learn.”
Judy Wolf was honored at the 2005 Women Who Dared event in Boston.