Andrea Alcabes: leading a beloved community center.

• Author: Haraldsen, Tom
• Position: Around Utah: Spotlight

She calls herself a "recovering lawyer," but to hundreds of families in and around the Salt Lake Valley, she's more like a lifeline and trusted friend. Alcabes is executive director of the I.J. & Jeanne Wagner Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City, a gathering place for families, fitness buffs and those who wish to be more engaged in their community.

"I was an attorney for 20 years after finishing law school at the University of Utah," she says. "I didn't love it. Fortunately, my husband was also a lawyer, which allowed me to find a job that I felt passionate about."

That job was at the JCC, where their children were raised to a large extent. She calls it "the place where we learned to be parents, a great experience for our family." Though her husband wasn't Jewish and she was not a practitioner of the religion, "We found that here, everyone is Jewish. By that, I mean we are all a great community of friends and family."

She knows that religiosity "has a fairly large role in Utah. Everyone wants to be part of something larger than themselves. That's what the center offers--a community based on universal values of respect, kindness and responsibility."

She began working at the center after leaving a law practice, and once the previous director left, applied to be interim director. The title stuck, and she's been directing the center from its home at the old Ft. Douglas Country Club for over 12 years.

"Our mission is to enrich the lives of not only those in the Jewish community but the community at large," she says. The vast majority of members aren't Jewish, and in fact a large percentage of them are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"By offering certain opportunities in educational, cultural and recreational pursuits, we are a place where people of all backgrounds and...