The Jewish Fund Approves $850,000 in Grants
August 2001
For more information, contact Jodee Fishman Raines, (248) 203-1487
At its Aug. 20 board meeting, The Jewish Fund approved $850,500 in grants for 18 programs that will expand health and human services to residents of metropolitan Detroit.
Of the recommended grants, 30 percent will benefit the elderly and 23 percent will benefit individuals with special needs.
Funded programs for the elderly include $117,000 for escorted, door-to-door transportation to and from medical appointments for over 1,400 frail older adults in the Jewish community, most of them living alone. According to Mark Schlussel, Jewish Fund chair, “Support services to the frail elderly are among the top priorities within the Jewish community and of The Jewish Fund. The lack of transportation is one of the top barriers to living independently.”
Another critical program serving the elderly, also provided by Jewish Family Service, includes translation services for elderly Russian immigrants during medical appointments. A Jewish Fund grant of $65,000 will support this program. It is estimated that 20 percent of the Russian immigrants in the Detroit area are seniors, a large number of which require health care to address long-term and chronic medical issues.
Helping individuals with special needs is another high priority of the Jewish community and The Jewish Fund. The August grants include $45,000 to Friendship Circle to expand and improve its network of 360 volunteers that work one-on-one with children with special needs; two grants totaling $80,500 to Jewish Association for Residential Care (JARC) for housing and respite programs; and $25,000 to the Jewish Community Center for social activities for young adults with mild developmental disabilities.
Other funded programs include Jewish Hospice and Pastoral Education training programs; and social activities at the JCC and psycho-social counseling for Holocaust survivors through the Detroit Medical Center Department of Psychiatry.
One highly innovative and effective program to receive funding is called “Kids Kicking Cancer.” Karate techniques are taught to help children with cancer cope with the disease. “The Kids Kicking Cancer program epitomizes what The Jewish Fund is all about,” noted Schlussel. “It is a bold and exciting approach that empowers otherwise frail individuals to help themselves with the support of a network of caring professionals and volunteers.”
The Jewish Fund was created in 1997 from proceeds of the sale of Sinai Hospital to the Detroit Medical Center and has since awarded over $16 million in grants to expand health and human services to residents of metropolitan Detroit. Among the recipients of grants from The Jewish Fund are programs that improve the quality of life for older adults and children with special needs, and that provide health supports for people of all ages.
“We’re extremely gratified by the enthusiastic response to The Jewish Fund,” said Schlussel. “It gives us enormous satisfaction that the original mission of Sinai Hospital’s
founders – to improve the lives of all citizens of Detroit – is being furthered through this fund.”
Following is a complete listing of the dollars allocated and purposes of the latest awards:
- Friendship Circle — $45,000. Hire staff to coordinate and train volunteers who work with children having special needs.
- Jewish Association for Residential Care — $53,000. Continue funding a transition home to provide a semi-independent living setting for four adults with developmental disabilities
- Jewish Family Service — $117,000. Continue funding an escorted transportation service for older adults.
- Jewish Family Service —$65,000. Continue providing translation services to meet needs of elderly Russian immigrants in medical settings
- Jewish Vocational Service/Commission on Jewish Eldercare Services (COJES) — $135,000 over three years. Hire one individual, employed by JVS, who will recruit and train in-home support and care staff for Federation agencies in the ElderLink network of services to older adults: Jewish Apartments and Services, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Home and Aging Services and Jewish Vocational Services.
- Kids Kicking Cancer — $75,000 ($50,000 outright grant and $25,000 challenge grant). Continue and expand program that uses karate techniques to help children cope with cancer.
- Detroit Medical Centers/Sinai Grace Hospital — $20,000. Continue programs that address psychosocial needs of Holocaust survivors and their families.
- Greater Detroit Area Health Council for the Northwest Empowerment Center — $50,000. Continue a community-based initiative designed to improve the health and wellbeing of residents in northwest Detroit through health education and other primary prevention activities. The program was created four years ago through the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Council’s Detroit Jewish Initiative.
- Jewish Hospital and Chaplaincy Network — $85,000. Provide pastoral care, spiritual guidance, advocacy and emergency rabbinical intervention to Jewish patients and families facing terminal illness, infirmity or personal crisis.
- Michigan Board of Rabbis/Jewish Community Council — $40,000. Train and certify rabbinical and other chaplaincy personnel to provide clinical pastoral care to sick, frail and other vulnerable populations.
- Michigan Jewish AIDS Coalition — $10,000. Improve the health of northwest Detroit youth and adults by reducing their risk-taking behaviors that can lead to HIV/AIDS.
- St. Joseph Mercy-Oakland, in partnership with Jewish Family Service — $110,000 over two years. Provide in-home visits to at-risk families with young children served by Jewish Family Service, seeking to improve child health and development.
- Detroit Neighborhood and Family Initiative — $60,000 over two years. Assist low-income residents in lower Woodward Corridor in Detroit to transition from welfare to work by preparing them for careers in the health-care industry.
- Jewish Association for Residential Care — $27, 500. Provide respite care for 30 families caring for a family member with a disability.
- Jewish Community Center — $25,000 to continue the Tuesday’s Friends program, which provides educational and social programs at the JCC for approximately 100 adults with mild developmental disabilities.
- Jewish Vocational Service — $30,000 for the MedLink program, which helps homeless individuals in Detroit overcome medical barriers to employment by providing clinical assessments and referrals in conjunction with a Detroit partnership of agencies that work with the homeless.
- Rose Hill Center — $20,000 for The Jewish Fund Creative Arts Therapy Program for adults with mental illness.
- Temple Beth El — $60,000 over two years for a youth suicide prevention program designed by Rabbi Daniel Syme.
For information, contact Jodee Fishman Raines, director of The Jewish Fund, at (248) 203-1487.
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8/23/01