The Jenny Friedman Foundation

It’s easy to act! Hard to find work! At age fifteen, Jenny sought to be an Actress. She signed up with an agency and got a job in a Sears TV commercial. It had a Mommy and a Daddy, and four little children so happy with their Sears products. And for one day’s work from 7 AM to 7 PM – for a sixty second commercial -Jenny made big bucks minus the agent fee. She was next up for the TV movie of the man who kidnapped a busload of children in Miami. "Jenny, can you scream?" "Sure!" But she didn’t make the cut. Acting is unkind. That fee would have been $30,000. The picture lives on and demonstrates her Mona Lisa smile. And it also proves, we don’t take no excuses. Got a disability? We don’t care. You can still find something you can do! Everybody can do something!

In June, 1995, Little City held their Annual Dinner at the Hyatt in Chicago with over twelve hundred people in attendance. Little City invited Jenny Friedman to perform her own "Jazz Ballet" which she created and choreographed herself to the recordng of "I Will Always Love You". She was the only resident asked to perform. Jenny kept her cool throughout even when losing a shoe she picked it up as part of the dance. Quite Amazing. This shows that everyone has something they can do; and nobody should be pre-judged. Everyone is an individual with self-worth and can still be a part of the community.

The Audio Visual department of Little City in Palatine, Illinois, produced a video of Jenny in which she light-heartedly teaches how to make Matzo Balls! However, in the background, Jenny speaks of her plans for the future. It was unscripted; they just let her go. She talks about her boyfriend; says the prayers over the candles like her Aunt Rena taught her;  and she tells her Hope for the future. She wants what everyone wants; "A Kosher Home, A Proper Home"; which as you know is from the play, "Fiddler on the Roof".  A happy home. We saw the Broadway production live on stage with Theodore Bikel; and Jenny played the music and watched the movie many times. She knew all the lyrics to all the songs, and could play all the parts!

Little City submitted the video to a contest by the CITF Chicago Instructional TV Foundation, Youth Film and Video Festival. The contest was open to all high school students in the Chicago area, hundreds of thousands of students. We were invited to attend an Awards Ceremony at the Harold Washington Public Library building. All the other winning students created films about going somewhere, like a visit to the firehouse. Jenny’s video is about her Hopes and Dreams for the Future. She won a cash award and a trophy. Enjoy!