Detroit Jewish News, July 6, 2009
Citing the economic woes of the metropolitan area, the Jewish Fund has approved $661,000 in emergency grants to meet the "urgent, special and unmet needs" of the Jewish community in Metro Detroit.
The Jewish Fund, established to respond to the health and social welfare needs of the Jewish and general community needs of Metro Detroit in 1997 after the sale of Sinai Hospital of Detroit, approved the grants during a May meeting.
Based on that approval, the Jewish Fund made a $600,000 grant to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, requesting that it prioritize the most pressing community needs. Its planning department has since allocated the funding to the following programs:
- $290,000 to Jewish Family Service’s Project Chesed to maintain the current Jewish Fund grant level;
- $52,000 to JFS to retain an intake worker;
- $160,000 to JFS towards three additional family case managers at JFS, with the caveat that JFS find the funding to hire a fourth case manager to bring the caseloads to a more manageable size;
- $65,000 to JVS in Southfield to hire an additional employment specialist;
- $33,000 to meet the shortfall in older adult services funding at the Foundation for Our Jewish Elderly.
Yad Ezra, the kosher food bank in Berkley, will receive a $61,000 grant for its grocery program. Although Yad Ezra is not a Federation agency, "they are feeding our poor," said Michael Maddin, Jewish Fund chair. "The numbers are just staggering and keep going up, but their resources continue to decline."
Once the urgent needs were realized during the economic meltdown across the country in the fall of 2008, an ad hoc committee of the Jewish Fund’s Grants Committee reviewed the community’s urgent needs and determined what the proper response, if any, would be developed, said Margo Pernick, Jewish Fund executive director.
Pernick cited Maddin, Mervin Manning, Urgent Special Unmet Needs Subcommittee chair, and Penny Blumenstein, Grant Committee chair, as being instrumental in making the special allocation available.
Maddin said, "We were certainly aware of the fact that there were going to be some excruciating needs, but we weren’t sure where they would come from."
A similar $500,000 emergency allocation was made on behalf of four Federation agencies in 2004 for financial assistance, career development, eldercare and medical services to families in need.
Each grantee will supply the Jewish Fund with progress reports every six months and a final report, "just like any other grant."
Pernick said. "We are proud to have been able to make this special one-time emergency grant, even though the Fund’s resources have been severely impacted by the economy."
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7/6/2009