Kadimah residents, left,
gather for a house meeting.
The home, below, is located
in a quiet Southfield
neighborhood.
Moving Forward
That's what Kadimah
means in Hebrew. And
that's what a group home is
helping its residents do
RAMONA GRIGG
Special to The Jewish News
0
n the outside, the Rabbi and
Mrs. Solomon Gruskin
Home looks like any other
neighborhood dwelling. A stream-
lined multi-level on a quiet street
in Southfield, this could be the
home of a large and active family
It is, in fact, just that. The
Gruskin Home, otherwise known as
Kadimah, is a group home for the
mentally ill, and is a pilot project
of the Kadimah Jewish Association
for Residential Care.
Six live-in residents share the
bright, spacious living quarters,
each with a room of their own. All
six of them sat together one Thurs-
day evening — the night of their
regular weekly group meeting —
and talked about Kadimah. Several
of the residents hung back, prefer-
ing not to be quoted, but Mikhail, a
handsome, intense and articulate
man, sat at the head of the long
dining room table and read from a
spiral-bound notebook:
"Kadimah makes it for several
reasons," he said. "The staff are
very warm and caring people. They
give us chores such as cleaning and
cooking so we'll be better prepared
to go into an apartment and inde-
pendent situations.
"They take us on activities .. .
and also make sure we have our
medications so we do not end up
back in the hospital. For those rea-
sons and more I feel more (group)
homes and apartments should be
bought to help others like the men-
tally ill adjust to society and its
problems.
"And this Jewish home,
Kadimah, (helps us solve) those
problems very well indeed."
Mikhail lays down the tablet
and looks intently at the visitor.
"That's the way I feel," he says,
and I just wanted you to know
that. I don't know where I'd be
without Kadimah."
At another end of town, a
mother of one of the residents (who
asked not to be identified) echoes
those same feelings. "My son had
been in many, many group homes
before we finally got to Kadimah.
And when I first saw it, at the open
house, I became so emotional that
tears were streaming down. my
face. It wasn't only the way
Kadimah looked — bright and
cheery and comfortable — it was
the sense that there was real
humaneness there.
"The other homes he'd been in
were shabby and dark — depress-
ing — and he's always had to share
a room; sometimes two, three, four
people in a room with only one
drawer each for their belongings.
"But at Kadimah they're like
family. It is a family And it hit
home for us one weekend when our
son was here for a visit. Many,
many times when he would come
home we would have a real battle
on our hands getting him to go
back again, but this particular
weekend he said, even before it was
time for visit to be up, You
know, I think I'd like to go home
now.' "
Kadimah president Janet
Aronoff says the home, open since
August, became a reality "through
the power of prayer, I think."
Three years ago, Rhoda
Raderman and Faye Menczer, asso-
ciates connected with the Jewish
Vocational Services, got together
Continued on next page
77