Supplement to The Jewish News 21/is- tory t was 1905. Theodore Roosevelt was president of the United States. The population of Detroit was 320,000, which included 6,000 Jews, many of them recent immigrants from Europe. In 1931, the Jewish Old Folks Home affiliated with the Jewish Welfare Federation, which had been organized in 1923. Federation leaders agreed that a new Home was desperately needed, but its leaders were unable to help secure the necessary funds until the mid-1930s. Centralized Jewish communal organizations did not yet exist. Every synagogue had its own "chevras," societies devoted to performing such charitable acts as clothing and feeding the poor, providing for orphans and widows and seeing that every Jew was accorded a proper ritual burial. All Jewish community groups in Detroit, many of which had failed to support Federation's Allied Jewish Campaign in the past, were invited to a conference in January, 1935, to discuss a unified fund-raising drive for the Home. A Committee of 21 was formed to coordinate the project. Beth Jacob Synagogue on Hastings Street was no exception. The congregation established a Chevra Kadisha in 1905 and called it Anshe Chesed Shel Emeth (Men of Sincere Kindness). At the same time, Henry Lurie of the New York-based Council of Jewish Federations was surveying the conditions of Detroit's aged population. The society's members knew that an elderly man, apparently homeless, had taken to sleeping in the synagogue. Focusing their attention on the Jewish community's lack of facilities for old people, the society began to provide lodging and meals for the homeless aged. On June 10, 1907, the members of Anshe Chesed Shel Emeth, with $69 in their treasury, incorporated the Jewish Old Folks Home. Jacob Levin, a devout orthodox Jew, directed the establishment of the Home and the raising of funds. His findings, which indicated that Detroit was lagging behind other Jewish communities in providing for the aged, disabled and chronically ill, underscored the need for a new Home. When $155,000 from the 1935 and 1936 Allied Jewish Campaigns was earmarked for the Home's building fund, plans for a new facility progressed rapidly. It was to be not only a new building, but a new agency. "The young people, the children of these elderly immigrants, were becoming Americanized, and many were no longer observing the religious laws," says Doris Greenberg, Jacob Levin's daughter. "Many of the elderly were unwilling to live with their children. There was a need for a facility that maintained the Jewish dietary laws." Located in the midst of the Jewish community, the Home had none of the stigma of an alms-house. Residents came and went at will, and entertained family and friends there. The Home became popular among elderly orthodox Jews — so popular that it could not accommodate all who needed its services. Soon after the Home opened, a perennial problem made its first appearance: a waiting list developed. In response to the growing need, a larger building, at Brush and Edmund, was purchased in 1915. The new Home had a synagogue on the first floor, where services were held three times daily, and a library. It also had a waiting list. In 1921, an adjacent house was purchased, and a roof was built to connect the two buildings. The enlarged facility accommodated 53 persons. But the waiting list remained. Plans were being made for a new, larger Home when the Depression struck. Income from dues, contributions and families of residents dwindled; operating expenses mounted. The plans for a new building were shelved as even the funds necessary to maintain the current facility became hard to find. When he came to the Home, Sonnenblick recalled, he was struck by the many idle residents. The Auxiliary was doing all it could to develop resident activities, but the only professional devoted to residents' social needs was a part-time recreational therapist "borrowed" from the Jewish Community Center. Weekly movies and synagogue services were the only steady "entertainment." Sonnenblick, under mandate from the Board of Directors, began a complete reorganization. He separated the senile and chronically ill, housing them in the former children's home while the well aged remained in the main building. Medical services were improved. But Sonnenblick's major contribution was programming activities which stressed the importance of companionship and the development of a family-like atmosphere. He instituted birthday parties, a resident newspaper, choral groups and literature clubs, and entertainment by visiting artists and by residents. A resident council was organized, to provide program suggestions and voice concerns and complaints. Sonnenblick also established the Home's sheltered workshop, where residents and day care participants could perform simple tasks, earning a small wage for doing useful work. Levin's dedication to the new home for the aged generated support from individuals and organizations, and before 1907 ended, he had raised $10,000 for the purchase of a large house at Brush and Winder, close to where Eastern Market stands today. Collections at funerals, membership dues, raffles, an annual ball and memorial contributions also helped to sustain the Home in the early years. Sonnenblick was hired as executive director, replacing Otto Hirsch who retired in March, 1937. The hobby shop became the center for occupational therapy. Residents produced children's gifts, household items, metal and leather goods and ceramics and offered them for sale to the public. A store where residents could purchase sundries was opened and soon became, in Sonnenblick's .words, "a center for the three R's — reunion, rumor and romance." Levin realized that a home was needed not only for the poor, but for the elderly who, because of failing health, could no longer maintain their own homes. Funds to run the Home came from a variety of sources. Families who could afford to support their parents did so. Some residents turned their life savings over to the Home, with the understanding that they would be taken care of for the rest of their lives. During the 1940s, the character of the Jewish Home for Aged changed markedly. If one person could take credit, it would be Ira Sonnenblick. Life at the Home often meant a return to productivity. Residents who earlier had said they were only waiting to die took renewed interest in life. The Edmund Street Residetice In April, 1936, the new Jewish Home for Aged was incorporated; the Anshe Chesed Shel Emeth and the Jewish Old Folks Home passed into history. One of the first actions of the new corporation's board was the purchase of 415 acres on the west side of Petosky, adjacent to the Jewish Children's Home on Detroit's west side. The Jewish Home for Aged at 11501 Petosky was completed in May, 1937. It was a modern building surrounded by beautiful lawns. It had 110 beds for residents, sunrooms and lounges, two kitchens, a synagogue donated by the Allen family in memory of Joseph Allen, and the David W. Simons Memorial Hospital Wing for caring for the chronically ill. Forty-eight persons moved from Edmund to Petosky, but within months, the Home was filled to capacity. In later years, significant alterations and expansions were undertaken. These included the building of the Frieda G. LeVine Memorial Infirmary and the renovation of the adjacent building, formerly the Jewish Children's Home. The building was renamed the Sidney Allen Memorial in tribute to the man who had spearheaded the building program. These improvements enabled the Home to increase its population to 320. 2 The Home's professional staff grew, too. In addition to nurses, the staff included a physical therapist, laboratory technician, dietitian, occupational therapists, social workers and a workshop supervisor. As the aged population's medical needs increased, the Home needed more sophisticated infirmary services. A new facility for the ambulatory was also needed. With the Jewish population of Detroit moving towards the northwest, the decision was made to build a new Home, for ambulatory residents, on an eight-acre site at Seven Mile and Sunderland; the Petosky building would be used for infirmary patients. Ground-breaking for the building that became Borman Hall took place on May 24, 1964. It was named in honor of Al and Tom Borman, who donated a considerable sum to the project. Borman Hall was designed to be bright and airy, with as little institutional flavor as possible. The building plan included medical and occupational therapy facilities, a dining room, beauty shop, gift shop, hobby shop, sheltered workshop, synagogue and assembly hall. The spacious lobby became a popular gathering place for residents and guests. Borman Hall also includes the Edward and Freda Fleischman Pavilion, an area specially designed for married couples. In 1971, with the Jewish community moving farther and farther out to the suburbs, the Petosky building was closed. An existing nursing home on Lahser in Southfield was purchased and renamed Prentis Manor in recognition of a gift from the Prentis family.