Since being featured in Oy Chicago’s 36 Under 36 two years ago, Eve Reingold Kleinerman has been busy changing the lives of Chicago-area Jewish women.

In 2019, Kleinerman left her role as an attorney at a legal aid clinic to become the first Illinois Regional Director of Shasheret.

Kleinerman made the observation that her colleagues who were most invested in and passionate about their careers in public aid had some type of personal connection to the criminal justice system. While Kleinerman believed strongly in her work, she didn’t have a personal connection to it.

She did, however, have a personal connection to Shasheret, the Jewish non-profit supporting breast and ovarian cancer survivors, promoting outreach, education, and support.

Unfortunately, Kleinerman was familiar with Shasheret because her mother was involved with the organization when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. At that point she connected with them through the New York office and “found them to be really supportive.” Sadly, Kleinerman’s mother died from a brain tumor in 2016.

“When Shasheret was considering opening an office in the Midwest, I felt like that was actually the perfect transition for me. I didn’t feel like a person whose calling was the law necessarily. It was always about giving back to the world and society for me. Working at Shasheret was going to be a way to do not only that, the giving back piece, but also embracing those two pieces, Jewish community and cancer support, which were super important for me personally.”

Since opening the Illinois office, only the third to open nationally, Kleinerman has been busy “increasing our on-the-ground presence. We have already seen significant growth in our caller-ship, deepening the impact of our services across the state. We are continuing to heighten awareness about the increased risk for hereditary breast, ovarian, and related cancers, ultimately seeking to improve and save lives.”

Their goal is to spread the word, so the Chicago community knows that we’re here for them; anybody who is facing breast or ovarian cancer, but also those who are at risk or are concerned about their risk of breast or ovarian cancer,” Kleinerman said.

“As a support to the community, we can offer guidance. All of our services, of course, are free and confidential. Nationally, we have 11 clinical staff, 10 social workers, and one genetic counselor who all work to support anybody who calls us. Although we are focused on the Jewish community and that’s our expertise and that’s our niche, we help anybody.”

Like almost everything else during the pandemic, fulfilling their mission has been a challenge. But Kleinerman and her team have been able to pivot and do much of their outreach virtually.

“Much of the work that I do, aside from spreading the word about our programming, is outreach and education, making sure that in our community, whether that is in the Chicago area locally or statewide in Illinois, that women, that men, that everybody in the community knows what they should know to take their safest steps in terms of cancer risk. So often times, that’s programming in synagogues, high schools, college campuses, to make sure that anybody who needs to hear about Shasheret has that knowledge and awareness and then can take those steps.

“When I think back on my last two years at Shasheret, I actually embody what I described with my former colleagues in the legal aid world, which is that I am extremely passionate about my work because it resonates with me personally rather than just being a job.”

Outside of her robust professional life, Eve is active at her children’s school, Arie Crown Hebrew Day School; and is a member of the JUF Young Women’s Board.

Rochelle Newman Rubinoff is a freelance writer living in the northern suburbs of Chicago.