Five Cent Miracle

In this heartfelt story, Alan Goldsmith, Ph.D., reveals the formation of his global nonprofit charity, the Jewish Renaissance Family of Organizations (JRFO). Working with writer Susan Fauer, this grandson of immigrants and son of a humble family from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, tells his story in Five-Cent Miracle. His biography shows Dr. Goldsmith building his nonprofit organization out of the back room of the family shoe store. From the fifteen-million-dollar, state-of-the-art health care center built in his hometown, to the Jewish Renaissance Foundation's (JRF) ties to the United Nations, Dr. Goldsmith recounts the miraculous pathway he followed to make something monumental out of nothing more than an idea. Above all, Five-Cent Miracle examines what happens when one person follows his heart to try to make the world a better place. Reaching back into his childhood memories, it explains how one small act of kindness motivated by his beloved grandfather impacts the course of Goldsmith's life. Today in his hometown of Perth Amboy and around New Jersey, the Jewish Renaissance Family of Organizations provides a safety net of medical and dental care, vocational training, after school programming, financial counseling, and housing assistance for the most underserved populations. The Boys & Girls Club, Jewish Renaissance Foundation, Jewish Renaissance Medical Center, and the Jewish Renaissance Community Development Corporation have become central in the lives of many people in need. The outreach of this Foundation goes far beyond the boundaries of New Jersey. The Jewish Renaissance Foundation is actively involved in providing humanitarian support, care, and provisions around the world, most recently in the earthquake-ravaged island nation of Haiti. We live in an era in which an entire wealthy nation seeks the understanding of how to help its struggling citizens attain access to health care, job training, and affordable housing. Yet Dr. Goldsmith has always been ahead of his time, a visionary who knows how to form the necessary social infrastructure to provide the medical and educational assistance to communities in need. A vivid portrait of a man who dreams big ideas and makes them happen. Five-Cent Miracle is the biography of an individual committed to helping others by making miracles real. Dr. Goldsmith always says that a life is worth living if it's lived to help others.

Alan Goldsmith, Ph.D., is the founder and president of the Jewish Renaissance Family of Organizations. Born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, he is the grandson of immigrants and the son of a shoe store owner. A college athlete, Peace Corps veteran, and teacher, he built up the Jewish Renaissance Family of Organizations from the back room of the family store. Susan Fauer was born and raised in New Jersey and earned a B.A. at Rutgers University and M.A. at Montclair State University. She has been a public school teacher in the Bronx; a public relations account executive in Madrid, Spain; and a teacher of language arts/writing in Florida public schools. She currently resides in Chicago, Illinois, writing and pursuing other interests.