A Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Jacqueline Cohen. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Seventeen-year-old Jacqueline Cohen loves theater and reading as ways to experience someone else’s life and build empathy, skills she uses consistently to help others. Her older brother and fellow Daily Point of Light, Maxwell Cohen, started volunteering for The Miracle Project years ago and remains dedicated to it today. When she was finally old enough—a high school freshman—Jacqueline followed suit. The Miracle Project offers theater and creative expression classes to help people on the Autism spectrum develop social skills and build community. She’s never missed a class, even after losing her home in the Palisades fire this January.

Despite the added challenges, Jacqueline continued to put her effort into helping others. Now in her second summer interning with the lead strategist at LA4LA, she’s helping complete stalled affordable housing projects and assisting with the fire recovery process. Inspired by an incident in middle school, she also founded Friendly Numbers in 2023 to encourage young girls to stay engaged in math. And, using her own math skills, Jacqueline has tutored peers for the last four years, designing games to improve understanding.

What inspires you to volunteer?

Connecting with people when volunteering was what initially inspired me to do it and continues to do so. You get to grow relationships with people you probably otherwise wouldn’t meet, and you could impact their life. If an hour of my time a week leads to that, it seems like a no-brainer.

My older brother does The Miracle Project, so I always knew I was going to do it. When I started, it was over Zoom. Every week, people would be excited to see me and would ask me to perform with them. The fact that I can offer comfort for people who might see this as one of the only spaces where they can be fully themselves is special to me. I can be someone who celebrates them when, in the outside world, people like me don’t always do that.

I started Friendly Numbers because, in fourth grade, my teacher took me out of an advanced math class halfway through the year. She thought I’d be uncomfortable that all of the other students were guys, and she made that decision–without talking to me–because of my gender. She had good intentions, but it highlighted how women in the education system are continuously at a disadvantage. They aren’t encouraged or are even actively discouraged from pursuing a more advanced mathematical education. My parents have been so supportive of me, I wanted to do something for young girls who aren’t given that.

Tell us about your volunteer role with The Miracle Project.

I’m a co-actor at The Miracle Project. During activities, it means leading by example. There are teachers and facilitators. That’s not what I am. I’m a friend offering a smile and someone who students can chat with about things going on in their lives. I’m just there to support them, laugh with them, sing with them.

In Triple Threat classes, we act, sing and dance and then do a performance at the end of the year. In that class, I might be on stage or perform a duet with them. Sometimes there are kids who need more attention, so I offer that as a friend. Live performances are a huge part of it, so it’s important to instill confidence.

In Social Skills classes with younger kids, I’m just there to be uplifting. They’re broken up into music and improv games, the latter of which I help create. Games help kids understand and develop social awareness.

What is something that people might misunderstand about the population that you serve?

Not to generalize, but they’re the kindest people I’ve ever met. Many people are telling them to be ashamed of part of their identity, but it’s that part that makes them so emotionally open, excited to get to know new people, intelligent and perceptive.

Describe your role with Friendly Numbers and LA4LA.

I’ve connected eight pairs of fourth and fifth grade girls with older female mentors. We’ll be with them however long they want to stay in touch with us, so it was important to find people they’d look up to. I monitor those connections, making sure the kids continue to feel that way about their mentors and that mentors continue to be in touch with the kids. I also work with two of my own connections. We’re here to offer encouragement and support in math, but we’re also here to make sure that they never feel alone. We’re at one Title I elementary school right now, but we’re becoming a club at my school, so with the influx of mentors, we‘ll be expanding.

Last year, with LA4LA, we were able to offer 58 new units of affordable housing through a project called the Eaves. We’re also working on fire relief–re-starting the rebuilding process, making sure it’s equitable and putting together seminars to help people understand available opportunities. We’ve been doing fly-ins for congresspeople to see Altadena and fly-outs for fire victims talk to people in D.C. We’re working on things from a policy perspective, too.

I take meeting notes, update Google Docs, handle communications, help manage social media and provide insight as a survivor of the fires. Basically, I do anything I can to make other people’s jobs easier. I’m helping with fundraising initiatives, too.

Do you have any advice for how to support girls interested in math and people on the spectrum in readers’ own areas?

Meet people where they are, and don’t project your life experiences onto them. Don’t assume that they’re not qualified for something, because they probably are. And offer any support possible that they’re asking for. It’s not our job to tell people what sort of support they need.

What do you want people to learn from your story?

Connecting with others brings value into your life. And the most help you can offer is being there for them, and not just temporarily.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Jacqueline? Find local volunteer opportunities.