The Jewish Fund Approves $757,500 in Grants

August 2002

For more information, contact Jodee Fishman Raines, (248) 203-1487

At its Aug. 19th board meeting, The Jewish Fund approved $757,500 in grants for 20 health related programs.

The majority of the programs will benefit the local Jewish community.

The total grants approved are slightly lower than last year, a result of the floundering economy. Notes Jewish Fund Chair, Mark Schlussel, “In these difficult times, nonprofits need to be especially creative in trying new approaches to serving their clients – to rethink the way they do their business. The Jewish Fund is a resource for such efforts. We are a source of venture capital, if you will. We will provide seed funding to help organizations test bold, innovative ideas. We have to be willing to take some risks.”

One new initiative features matching funds to help local synagogues and temples purchase Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). The Jewish Fund is joined in this effort by The Sinai Guild, with each organization authorizing up to $38,000 to help purchase up to 30 AEDs. The Fund and Guild will administer the program with the assistance of community volunteers. According to Schlussel, “This initiative epitomizes what The Jewish Fund is all about. Our grant funds and leadership efforts will provide state-of-the art equipment and training and mobilize community resources to help save lives.” The Jewish Fund also will partner with Sinai-Grace Hospital to help purchase AEDs for Federation member agencies.

In keeping with its mission to support vulnerable populations, over one-third of the August grants will benefit the frail elderly.

One of the leading causes of accidents and premature institutionalization of the elderly is falls. A two-year, $130,000 grant to the Jewish Apartments and Services will help reduce the incidence of fall related injuries by Apartment residents. The Commission on Jewish Eldercare Services (COJES) and the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center will work together with JAS staff to provide individualized plans and assistance for each resident.

Jewish Fund support also will help Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital expand its new Kreiger Geriatric Center to provide on-site health and wellness services at the Fleischman, Hechtman and Meer Jewish Apartments on the West Bloomfield Applebaum Campus. Services will include monthly educational classes and support groups, an interactive kiosk with direct access to health care professionals, health screenings, geriatric assessments and on-site appointments with a Geriatric physician and nurse practitioner.

Jewish Fund grants also support health care programs beyond the Jewish community and help strengthen relations between the Jewish and general communities.

ALS of Michigan was awarded a $25,000 grant to create a regional center to provide augmentative communication services to patients with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). Currently, speech pathologists and therapists have limited access to the numerous new communication devices that can assist their ALS patients, primarily because the equipment is so expensive. The new center will be open to all practitioners and will assure that patients are prescribed the best device possible.

The Jewish Fund is partnering with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and United Jewish Foundation to support the United Way Community Services’ new Nonprofit Facilities Center. The Center will help human service agencies throughout the region build and maintain high quality facilities. The combined grant totals $100,000 over the next three years for the program.

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 $18.3 million in grants to expand health and human services to residents of metropolitan Detroit.

Following is a complete listing of the dollars allocated and purposes of the latest awards.

  1. ALS of Michigan, Inc. – $25,000 for one year to create a regional center to provide augmentative communication services to ALS patients.
  2. DMC/Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital – $50,000 for one year for a health and wellness program at the Fleischman, Hechtman and Meer Jewish apartments.
  3. DMC/Sinai-Grace Holocaust Survivor Program – $25,000 for one year to develop and implement a long-term funding plan.
  4. DMC/Sinai-Grace Hospital – $6,500 for one year for the 15th annual Bernard L. Maas Lecture.
  5. DMC/Sinai-Grace Hospital – $10,000 for one year for matching funds to help Federation agencies purchase Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).
  6. Detroit Neighborhood & Family Initiative – $20,000 for a third year to assist low-income residents of Detroit transition from welfare to work by providing education and job placement in the health care industry.
  7. Friendship Circle – $45,000 for a second year to support the continued enhancement of the volunteer program.
  8. Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit – $12,500 over two years to contract with Jewish Family Service for social work services for 6-10 year old children who have ADHD and other impulse control problems.
  9. Jewish Apartments & Services/COJES – $130,000 over two years to work with the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center to prevent falls by residents in the Jewish Apartments.
  10. Jewish Family Service – $107,000 for a fifth year to provide escorted, door-to-door transportation to frail Jewish seniors.
  11. Jewish Fund Initiated Project – $44,000 in matching grants to provide Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to local synagogues, temples and Federation agencies.
  12. Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network – $75,000 for a third year to provide pastoral care, spiritual guidance and emergency rabbinical intervention to Jewish patients and families facing terminal illness.
  13. Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network – $40,000 for a fourth year for the Certified Pastoral Education program operated in conjunction with the Michigan Board of Rabbis.
  14. JVS/COJES – $45,000 for a third year to combine efforts to recruit and train efforts regarding in-home support and care staff for JVS, Jewish Apartments and Services, Jewish Family Service and Jewish Home and Aging Services.
  15. Kids Kicking Cancer – $75,000 for a third year to continue and expand a karate program for children with cancer.
  16. Michigan Jewish AIDS Coalition (MJAC) – $6,500 for one year for HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs for adults aged 50 and over.
  17. St. Joseph Mercy Hospital/JFS – $50,000 for a third year to provide in-home visits to improve the parenting skills of families with young children served by Jewish Family Service that are at-risk of poor child outcomes.
  18. Temple Beth El – $26,000 for a third year for the Reach for Hope youth suicide prevention program.
  19. United Way Community Services – $50,000 over three years for the Nonprofit Facilities Center to assist nonprofits whose mission is to improve the health of the residents of metropolitan Detroit.
  20. Yad Ezra – $10,000 for a third year to add basic toiletries to monthly food packages distributed to over 2,500 Jewish individuals in need.

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