Epiphany Brings Change and Charity
Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Tuesday, March 30 2010
Junior Snapshot: Hannah Salwen
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| Photo by Allison Shirreffs |
Hannah Salwen, 17, had an epiphany two years ago while driving with her father in Atlanta. She saw a Mercedes stopped next to a homeless man sitting on the curb. She told her father: If the man would drive a less expensive car, the other guy might have a good meal. That observation led to a family discussion and a life-changing move. The family decided to sell its historical $1.8-million house, buy instead a home at half the price, and donate the difference to a worthy cause. After many more family discussions, debates, and research, the family did just that. The proceeds are to be channeled through The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta over a six-year period, ending up helping some 20,000 people in Ghana. Hannah and her father wrote a book about the experience and have been on book tours to promote The Power of Half.
Hannah, a student at the Atlanta Girls’ School, lives with her younger brother, Joseph, and her parents in a house half the size of their previous home.
Womenetics: What has been your favorite part of this experience?
Hannah Salwen: Going to Ghana (to see where and how the donation would be used) and also creating the relationship with my family. That’s been the biggest surprise and the biggest reward. I feel I can share just about anything with them.
Womenetics: How has the experience changed your family?
Salwen: Not only are we living in closer quarters, but we have more meaningful conversations; we know each other’s values. The project has brought us closer and at a time when teenagers are not supposed to be close to their families.
Womenetics: How hard was it to choose which charity you’d give to?
Salwen: It took us over a year to decide. That’s why we wrote the book. We stumbled through the process and wanted to provide a road map for others. On Sunday mornings, Mom would sit us down and bring a worksheet, and we would answer questions and discuss things like whether we want to help a few people a lot, like homeless here in Atlanta, or help many people. Each person had the same authority and power in this system that my parents did. We chose four charities and then went to New York and interviewed them, and then we voted again. If there was a tie, we’d discuss it and answer each other’s questions until we came to an agreement.
Womenetics: What do your friends say about what you did – and your new fame?
Salwen: I have a few friends who decided to clean out their closets and give their clothes to Goodwill or give part of their babysitting money to environmental organizations. Famous? I wouldn’t use that word to describe myself.
Womenetics: Before your realization that a man’s Mercedes could feed a homeless man, had you ever given away any of your clothes to the homeless?
Salwen: Of course, even before I had this epiphany. I cleaned out my closet every year and gave away clothes, and I did a lot of work in the community for homeless men and women. But it seemed like I should be doing more.
Womenetics: What is your favorite thing to do with your friends?
Salwen: I love movies and love to eat so I go to restaurants all the time. I’m not always going out and volunteering. There are times to have fun. Besides, giving shouldn’t be sacrificial.
Womenetics: Have you always received an allowance? What did/do you do with it?
Salwen: My brother and I used to joke that we got enough allowance to buy a gumball. We received one-half our age every month and then we had to split it into three groups: saving, spending, and mitzvah [Hebrew for good deed]. At the end of the year we bought food for the food bank, and my parents would triple it. I always felt there were injustices in the world, and my parents did a good job of exposing me to different things.
Womenetics: What career do you want?
Salwen: I’m definitely going to become a nurse. Two things confirmed this for me. When we went to Ghana, I saw the nurses who had such a huge impact on the community. These people wouldn’t have gotten care without the nurses. Also, last year, my best friend who was 17 had a heart attack and was in the hospital for seven weeks. I saw him sink into a terrible depression, and he said the only thing that kept him going were the nurses.
Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.
