Mentee Spotlight: Bina Colman

Take a minute to get to know WLI mentee, Bina Coleman, by reading the Q&A below!

Please tell us about your project?

Very unfortunately I was not able to complete my project due to Covid-19 and the pandemic. My project was to work with the Jewish Family & Children’s Services (JFCS) to create a room for young children to play in while their parents are meeting with counselors or other employees of JFCS. We did try to get it completed once after the pandemic was “over”, however, with personnel changes and more variants of Covid-19 appearing it never came to completion. I personally was very disappointed about the project not being completed, but have found another way to give to JFCS by donating.

Please share a few of your favorite things you have learned in the class sessions?

I enjoyed being in my cohort and what we learned during our time together. I feel very lucky as we were just ending our time together when the pandemic stared, even though we did have to do our graduation on Zoom.

How have you stayed involved with WLI since your year ended?

I sadly have not stayed involved with WLI since my graduation. This stems from a few different reasons such as the pandemic not being completely over as well as my life going in a lot of different directions. With my children both in elementary school I have joined the PTO and been their class room mom as well. I would love to find the time as the years go on and the kids get older to get involved again.

What is your occupation and have you been able to apply what you learned in WLI to your job?

I am a gerontologist and have been working in the elderly field for just about 10 years now. Within this industry I am a care coordinator and help the clients and their loved ones understand what next steps are and what resources they will need to make the transition as easy and seamless as possible. Since working in this profession I knew that there was one service or resource that was missing and I could not pinpoint it for the longest time. Recently I have started Compassionate Callers (www.compassionatecallers.com) which I believe will fit a need for the elderly and other people who live alone. Compassionate Callers is a service that will call your loved ones 1-5 times a day to check in on them so you can continue to live your life. This is an economic solution to confirming your loved ones are home safe when moving them to a community and hiring outside caregivers are not an option.

Please tell us more about yourself, your family and/or your involvement in the Jewish community.

I am an Arizona native who was raised right here in Scottsdale and went through the Paradise Valley School district, which is where my children are at now! I will be married 10 years on October 27th to Zack, who I brought to Arizona from Michigan. We have two kids together, Aiken who is 7 and in 2nd grade and Jae who is almost 5 and in Pre-K. It is so nice that they are now at the same school and can see each other throughout the day. We belong to Temple Kol Ami and are really enjoying the community and the friends we knew and the new ones we have met. Aiken will be going to Camp Stein for his second summer this coming up summer and attends Sunday school with temple. Once Jae is old enough she will be following in her big brothers footsteps!

In your spare time what are some hobbies or activities you like to do? (and/or share some fun facts about yourself)

I enjoy doing some hobbies and activities and some are alone, with people and other times with my family! One hobby that I have been doing for a few years is needlepointing, and I love it! Just recently I’ve met women in the valley who also needlepoint and are all (give or take 5 years) my age! It is so fun that we have a little group forming and always open and welcoming new members, of any age. Another activity that I enjoy is hiking and this one I love to do with my family. It is so great to have the kids get outside and hike with my husband and I, I love how accomplished the kids feel when we get to the top. Since it is sweeping the nation, I have taken some pickleball lessons and do love it, however, cannot seem to find the place to keep a consistent game going. Hobbies and activities are so important to me, but now with kids I am enjoying seeing what interests them and what they want to be a part of!