The Jewish Fund Approves $2,468,898 in Grant Payments

January 2005

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

At its February 4th board meeting, The Jewish Fund approved $2,468,898 in grant payments for 19 primarily health-related programs.

Among the grants is $300,000 over 3 years to the Jewish Community Council in partnership with Kids Kicking Cancer for the new Heroes’ Circle program. Based upon Kids Kicking Cancer’s success with using martial arts to empower children with cancer to conquer their pain, the Heroes’ Circle will use similar techniques to empower Detroit Public School students facing unique challenges created by poverty and other adverse situations. The program will be implemented as part of the Jewish Community Council’s Detroit Jewish Initiative. “A part of The Jewish Fund’s mission is to foster relationships between the Jewish community and the broader community,” explained Jewish Fund Board Chair David Page. “Past efforts of the Detroit Jewish Initiative have been successful at building those relations, and the new partnership between the Council and Kids Kicking Cancer provides a promising venue to further strengthen relations while helping vulnerable youth.”

Another grant will provide $100,000 in matching funds to the Detroit Institute for Children for any new or increased gift of $1,000 or more. According to Jewish Fund director, Jodee Fishman Raines, “The Detroit Institute for Children provides high quality health related services to children with special needs and their families, primarily low-income families in Detroit. The matching funds will help the DIC build an engaged leadership donor base and position them for future growth.”

Over $800,000 of the grants will benefit the Detroit Medical Center, including grants to Sinai-Grace Hospital to purchase state-of-the art equipment for its Critical Care, Intensive Care and Emergency Departments and to Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital to purchase cardiac equipment.

Jewish Fund grants also will enable Jewish Family Service to develop a bereavement program in partnership with Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network that will provide individual grief counseling with a Jewish perspective; will help the Girl Scouts of Metro Detroit to develop nutrition and fitness education and activities for low-income girls in the City of Detroit to address the growing problem of obesity among youth; and will support the continuation of 9 other programs that have multi-year grants from the Fund.

The Jewish Fund was created in 1996 from proceeds of the sale of Sinai Hospital to the Detroit Medical Center and has since awarded $27.5 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. Anti Defamation League of B’nai B’rith (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan): $50,000 in continued support to provide the World of Difference® program in the Detroit Public Schools.
  2. Arthritis Foundation of Michigan (Southfield, Michigan): $50,000 in continued support to develop a comprehensive arthritis education and management program in the Detroit Jewish community.
  3. Children’s Dental Health Foundation (Farmington Hills, Michigan): $30,000 in continued support to provide dental services to uninsured children and families in Detroit.
  4. City Connect Detroit (Detroit, Michigan): $20,000 in continued support to increase federal and national grant support for the City of Detroit and the metro Detroit nonprofit community.
  5. City Year (Detroit, Michigan): $75,000 in continued support to sponsor the Jewish Community City Year team in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, United Jewish Foundation and Jewish Community Council.
  6. Detroit Institute for Children (Detroit, Michigan): $100,000 challenge grant to match new and increased gifts of $1,000 or more to subsidize services for low-income children with special needs.
  7. DMC/Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital (Commerce, Michigan): $45,684 from the Heritage Ball Fund to purchase cardiac biphasic defibrillators and a transport monitor.
  8. DMC/Sinai-Grace Hospital (Detroit, Michigan): $627,625 from the Gershenson Fund to purchase and upgrade beds and monitors for the Critical Care Center.
  9. DMC/Sinai-Grace Hospital (Detroit, Michigan): $54,314 from the Gershenson Fund to purchase ventilators for the Respiratory Care Department.
  10. DMC/Sinai-Grace Hospital (Detroit, Michigan): $27,379 to purchase Dinamap Monitors for the Emergency Department.
  11. Friendship Circle (West Bloomfield, Michigan): $30,000 in continued support to develop an educational curriculum for Ferber Kaufman LifeTown, a new facility that will serve as a therapy center, social meeting place and activity center for children with special needs.
  12. Girl Scouts of Metro Detroit (Detroit, Michigan): $15,000 to develop nutrition and fitness education and activities for low-income girls in the City of Detroit.
  13. Jewish Apartments and Services, Jewish Family Service, Kadima (Oak Park/Southfield, Michigan): $674,000 in continued support to provide in home support services to over 700 frail older adults so that they may continue to live as independently as possible in their own homes.
  14. Jewish Apartments & Services (Oak Park, Michigan): $20,000 in continued support for a mental health program in collaboration with the Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology and Jewish Family Service.
  15. Jewish Community Center (West Bloomfield, Michigan): $100,000 in continued support for a challenge grant for the Kids All Together Program to include children with disabilities into existing recreational and social programs at the JCC.
  16. Jewish Community Council/Kids Kicking Cancer (Bloomfield Hills and Detroit, Michigan): $300,000 over 3 years to develop a new program that uses the martial arts to empower Detroit Public School students to overcome adversity.
  17. Jewish Family Service (Southfield, Michigan): $35,000 to develop a special unit providing bereavement counseling from a Jewish perspective in partnership with Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network.
  18. Jewish Family Service (Southfield, Michigan): $60,000 to supplement an earlier, continued grant of $150,000 to provide direct financial assistance to Jewish individuals and families facing financial crisis.
  19. Jewish Home and Aging Services/JVS (West Bloomfield and Southfield, Michigan): $354,896 in continued support for the Dorothy and Peter Brown Adult Day Care Program.

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