The Jewish Fund Elects Officers, Awards 18 Grants

At its annual meeting November 1, The Jewish Fund elected two new officers:

Penny Blumenstein of Bloomfield Hills was elected Chair and Karen Sosnick Schoenberg of Birmingham was elected Vice Chair. Three new board members were also elected:  Michael Eizelman of Oak Park, Lawrence Lax of Bloomfield Hills, and Mitchell Mondry of Bloomfield Hills.The board also re-elected board members Mark Davidoff of West Bloomfield and Mark Schlussel of Southfield.

The annual Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence was presented to Southfield-based Kadima in recognition of its Child and Adolescent Program that provides individual, family and group support and therapeutic services for children with emotional and behavioral disorders and their families. The award includes a $25,000 prize.

“The Jewish Fund is very pleased to continue its support of both innovative new programs and the expansion of ongoing services that benefit vulnerable populations in our metropolitan Detroit community.  We are proud to partner with this diverse array of organizations who work diligently to assist those in great need,” said Michael Maddin, Chair of The Jewish Fund.

At its board meeting earlier that day, The Jewish Fund approved the following grants totaling $872,866.

Continuation of Multi-Year Grants:

Children with Hair Loss:  $9,600 for the 2nd of a 2 year, $19,200 grant to provide free human hair replacements for children who suffer from medically-related hair loss.

Fair Food Network:  $12,500 for the 2nd of a 2 year, $25,000 grant to demonstrate the effectiveness of incentives to encourage healthier food choices for Detroit area food assistance beneficiaries and draw on the demonstration project to inform and influence future federal food assistance policy.

Henry Ford Health System:  $50,000 for the 2nd of a 3 year, $150,000 grant to address vision problems and promote the maintenance of healthy eyes for children of low income families.

Jewish Funds for Justice:  $78,000 for the 2nd of a 2 year, $153,000 grant to plan and launch a program to train young Jewish adults in leadership and management skills and to help them implement a project with measurable outcomes meeting immediate needs in Detroit.

Jewish Senior Life:  $113,333 for the 4th of a 5 year, $521,000 grant to facilitate the merger and transition of two agencies into one in order to better coordinate and expand services to Jewish older adults in the metropolitan Detroit area.

Mercy Primary Care:  $25,000 for the 2nd year of a 3 year, $100,000 grant to provide home monitoring equipment, lab work, diagnostic imaging, medication and educational materials to uninsured hypertensive patients.

Optometric Institute & Clinic of Detroit:  $25,000 for the 2nd year of a 2 year, $75,000 grant to support the expanded need for services form medical eye care to love income, uninsured and under insured adults.

ORT America:  $15,000 for the 2nd year of a 2 year, $30,000 grant to provide scholarships to unemployed and underemployed Jewish adults to attend computer training classes for workforce re-entry.

Starfish Family Services: $10,000 for the 3rd year of a 3 year, $45,000 grant to provide initial funding for individual and group counseling and mental health services for youth in crisis and transitional living programs. 

New Grant Awards:

Affirmations:  $30,000 for 1 year to provide direct assistance and professional referrals to callers to the Helpline.

Alternatives for Girls:  $50,000 for the 1st   year of a 3 year, $150,000 grant to expand the agency’s current walk-in and phone-line service into a comprehensive suite of on-site crisis and health programming for high-risk girls and women. The second year grant would be $50,000 and the third would be $50,000.

Children’s Trust Fund:  $49,333 for the 1st year of a 3 year, $148,000 grant  to educate parents of newborns in order to prevent deaths and side effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome. The second year grant would be $49,333 and the third would be $49,333.

Crossroads:  $10,000 for 1 year to provide emergency assistance for prescription and medical needs.

Forgotten Harvest:  $50,000 for the 1st year of a 2 year, $100,000 grant to increase the organization’s capacity for distributing nearly twice the fresh food as it currently supplies by 2013.

Jewish Family Service:  $15,000 for the 1st year of a 3 year, $82,400 grant to support its partnership with the  Building Industry Association of Southeastern Michigan in providing low- income clients with pro bono repairs and renovations to their homes. The second year grant would  be $37,920 and the third year would be $29,500.

Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network:  $50,000 for a 1 year bridge grant to support operations until the proceeds from its new endowment fund is realized.

Jewish Senior Life:  $150,000 for the 1st of a 3 year, $450,000 grant to support the continued subsidy for low-income older adults primarily residing in the Meer Apartments.  The second and third year grants would be $150,000 respectively.

Karmanos Cancer Institute:  $60,000 for the 1st year of a 3 year, $170,000 grant to develop an intervention to improve the health knowledge and screenings among Orthodox Jewish women.  The second year grant would be $60,000 and third would be $50,000.

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11/2011