December 2008
For more information, contact Margo Pernick, (248) 203-1487
More than 130 non-profit organization grantees, community leaders and Jewish and general community agency representatives attended The Jewish Fund Annual Meeting on December 9, 2008.
Outgoing Chair, Robert Naftaly noted numerous accomplishments of the Fund, which has granted over $40 million in awards to metropolitan Detroit agencies in the areas of health and social welfare since its inception in 1997. Mr. Naftaly gave special recognition of the Fund’s accomplishments in supporting the growing needs of the Jewish elderly and of families profoundly impacted by the downturn in the economy over recent years. As incoming Chair of the Fund, which has seen a significant decline in its investment pool due to the economy, Michael Maddin spoke of the need for the Fund to find the most important causes, grant limited dollars as effectively as possible, look for ways to provide challenge grants, and observe even more carefully the performance achievement of grant recipients.
This year, the Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence was presented to JVS and Jewish Home & Aging Service’s Dorothy & Peter Brown Jewish Community Adult Day Care Program. The award was developed to honor the memory of Robert Sosnick, a founding board member and chair of The Jewish Fund. The Brown Program was launched with financial support by The Jewish Fund, which continues to be a primary funder of the program. The Brown Center provides socialization and therapeutic activities for adults with dementia related disorders and respite to caregivers. JVS CEO Barbara Nuremberg, JHAS Executive Director Carol Rosenberg, and Brown Center Director Peter Ostrow accepted the award presented by Mark Schlussel and Karen Sosnick Schoneberg. The awardees received a check for $25,000 to support the operations of the Brown Center.
Michael Maddin was elected new Chair of the Fund and Penny Blumenstein was elected Vice Chair. Dorothy Benyas was re-elected Secretary/Treasurer. Three-term Chair, Robert Naftaly, will continue to serve as a board member. The following board members were re-elected to an additional three-year term: David Aronow, Mark Davidoff, Selwyn Isakow, Mark Schlussel, Jerome Schostak and Gary Torgow.
At its board meeting held just prior to the Annual Meeting, The Jewish Fund approved $1,479,000 in grant payments for 10 primarily health and social welfare programs. They are:
- Child Abuse and Neglect Council of Oakland County (Pontiac, MI): $10,000 for the second year of a three-year, $30,000 grant to train state–mandated reporters on identifying child sexual abuse.
- Freedom House (Detroit, MI): $50,000 for the first of a two-year, $90,000 grant to provide medical care and health services to homeless refugees who reside in Freedom House.
- Friendship Circle (West Bloomfield, MI): $50,000 for the second year of a three-year, $150,000 grant to create a residential program for Jewish adults recovering from substance abuse.
- Henry Ford Behavioral Health Maplegrove Center (West Bloomfield, MI): $22,000 for the second year of a two-year, $67,000 grant to engage families living with active addition into the treatment process of their addicted family member.
- Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital (Commerce Township, MI): $118,000 for a one-year grant to support the renovation and update of its Intensive Care Unit.
- Jewish Apartments and Services and Jewish Home and Aging Services (West Bloomfield, MI and Oak Park, MI): $170,000 for the first of a three-year, $521,000 grant to facilitate the intended merger (pending the agencies’ boards’ approval) and to assist with the start-up of a new lead agency to better coordinate and expand services to Jewish older adults.
- Jewish Community Relations Council, MI Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, and ADL (various Metro-Detroit locations): a matching grant of up to $114,000 for the second of a three-year, $342,000 grant to develop cross-cultural relationships between Jewish and African American and Latino communities.
- Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit (Bloomfield Hills, MI): $930,000 in combined matching and operating funds for the second of a three-year grant of up to $2,782,000 to support in-home support services, escorted transportation and adult day care in the Jewish community.
- Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network (West Bloomfield, MI): $10,000 for a one-year grant to support a coalition of caregiving professionals working with the public who face end of life issues.
- Summer in the City (Berkley, MI): $5,000 for the third of a three-year grant of $21,000 to expand the organization’s youth work in Detroit.
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12/2008