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106
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 1989
JWF Task Force Studies
Needs Of Jewish Disabled
RUTHAN BRODSKY
Special To The Jewish News
THE TREE OF LIFE and
THE TWELVE TRIBES
OF ISRAEL
A
1
WE
DELIVER!
D
etroit's Jewish corn-
munity is in the fore-
front when it comes to
providing services for the
elderly and the retarded. But
when it comes to meeting the
needs of the disabled, Detroit
is sorely lagging.
To make amends, the
Jewish Welfare Federation
has established a Disabilities
Task Force. Its aim is to meet
the needs of the disabled
while mainstreaming them
into the fold of the Jewish
community.
Dealing with the disabled
has been a possible topic for
study for many years, but set
aside because of the enormi-
ty of the subject. Today,
Federation leadership is
discovering evidence of under-
lying attitudes of indifference
and resistance to the disabl-
ed within the Jewish commui-
ty despite heightened sen-
sitivity during the last 20
years and the resulting
policies and services for the
disabled established through
civil rights legislation.
The Detroit Jewish com-
munity is one of many across
the country taking a careful
look at ways in which all of its
members have the opportuni-
ty to participate in communal
activities. In fact, a national
task force from the Council of
Jewish Federations head-
quartered in New York is in-
vestigating this same issue on
a national scale.
Normal Wachler, co-
chairman of the task force,
said that the committee is not
interested in reinventing the
wheel.Rather, it is "to deter-
mine which services and pro-
grams are available for the
disabled from the general
community as well as from
within the Jewish communi-
ty. We also want to have a
complete understanding of
the general and specific needs
of the disabled within the
Jewish community. Then we
can comfortably recommend
policies and programs for
those areas in which needs
are not being met."
Nora Barron, co-chairman
of the task force and former
president of Jewish Voca-
tional Service, said the com-
mittee is "working to get an
overview of the needs of the
disabled in the Jewish com-
munity so that we have a bet-
ter feel of what is available
and what is needed. It is not
our intent to set up a service
that meets everyone's needs,
but to act as a resource so
that everyone has access to
services that are available,
and then to fill in the gaps
where needed."
The task force found that
compiling and sorting infor-
mation about the disabled,
dealing with legislation,
government programs and
policies, local services and in-
dividual needs was an enor-
mous task.
To make its study more
manageable, it divided into
three sub-committees:
developmental disability
(mental retardation); mental
illness (manic depression);
and physical disability (blind,
deaf).
"We found out that our task
was much larger than we an-
ticipated,"says Elise Levin-
son, task force member and
mother of a developmentally
disabled son. "There's a lot of
ignorance out there that
you're not aware of unless
you're touched by it."
Levinson says that she and
her family worked very hard,
putting in a great deal of time
and effort to make certain
that her son was involved
with activities beyond school.
"The Jewish community
didn't open any doors for my
child; my husband and I did,"
she said. "We sought out a
program. If it wasn't there, we
tried to create it."Barron
sometimes worries whether
the task force will open a
hornet's next by raising false
hopes.
"It may be that we won't be
able to provide special ser-
vices for the disabled im-
mediately because of lack of
funding," says Barron. "But
we can still influence big
changes by simply making
people aware of the needs of
the disabled. I don't think in-
dividuals in the community
have seriously discussed the
problem and when they do,
many positive things will
happen such as more signing
for the deaf at services and
more ramps for building ac-
cess."
Gerald Benaderet, a task
force member with a physical
disability, said he believes
that the Jewish community
has no real concept of how big
the problem really is.
"It's a lot more common
than people realize," says
Benaderet. "The fact that
people are livng longer and
that the elderly are increas-
ing the ranks of the frail and
disabled is making a big im-
pact on the issue."
The task force is inviting
disabled people to provide in-
formation about their needs.
"Bring the disabled into the
mainstream," stresses
Benaderet. "Recognize their
needs and make adaptations.
Think about the disabled
before a building goes up."
And from Neal Freeling:
"I'm blind. Wouldn't it be
wonderful if I could walk in-
to any synagogue or temple in
town? Many of us want to par-
ticipate in Jewish activities,
but we need the community's
help for things like transpor-
tation, barrier-free buildings
and access to buildings.
"The Jewish community
needs to be more sensitive to
me as a blind person and to
others who are physically im-
paired."
Family lb B'Shevat
Celebration Slated
Debbie Friedman, singer
and songwriter; Corinne
Stavish, storyteller; and
Howard Faber, magician, will
appear at a family celebration
of Tu B'Shevat at 2 p.m. Jan.
22 at the Maple/Drake Jewish
Community Center.
The program stresses the
particular importance of trees
to Israel because of the arson
forest fires that burned
Israel's landscape this past
summer. As a result, each
family is being asked to pur-
chase a tree as the price of ad-
mission to the program.
Friedman's songs have been
sung at the Israel Song
Festival.
Stavish has performed
throughout the Detroit area.
Faber has performed magic at
a variety of J.E.F.F. events.
The Tu B'Shevat celebra-
tion is sponsored by the Labor
Zionist Institute along with
The Jewish News, Jewish Ex-
periences For Families and
The Jewish National Fund.
Each family is asked to pur-
chase a tree from The Jewish
National Fund expressly for
this program. Trees can be
ordered in avance through
J.E.F.F., The Labor Zionist In-
stitute or purchased at the
door. For information, call
Jewish Experiences For
Families, 661-0600.