CLOSE U P

The buildings answer a growing
need in the Detroit Jewish commun-
ity: low-cost, non-nursing home liv-
ing space for low and moderate in-
come seniors.
According to the 1989 Detroit
Area Jewish Population Study,
there are 10,100 Jews between the
ages of 60 and 69 living in the Jew-
ish core —12 suburbs northwest of
Detroit where 80 percent of the
metropolitan area's Jews live. An
additional 7,800 Jews are age 70 or
older.
Federation planning associate
Patty Becker projects that in the
next 10 years the number of Jews in
the core area age 70 or older will
climb 20 percent, to 11,400.
There is no projection for income
levels, but observers believe the
need for subsidized housing will con-
tinue to grow. The units in Oak Park
— the two attached Prentis
buildings and the new Teitel
building — and Hechtman in West

Bloomfield were built with HUD
funds and must be rented according
to HUD guidelines.

Sylvia Halliburton had a
part in the recent
Chanukah program.

The Prentis buildings, the oldest of
JFA's units, have annual income el-
igibility limits of $23,150 for in-
dividuals and $26,450 for the seven
couples living there. The limits for
Teitel and Hechtman are $14,450 for
individuals and $16,500 for couples.
HUD mandates that 30 percent of a
resident's adjusted monthly income
be paid as rent.
Belle Freedman, 81, has lived in
the Hechtman building in West
Bloomfield since it opened seven
years ago. A resident of Oak Park
and a widow for 30 years, Mrs.
Freedman had first moved to Lin-
coln Towers in Oak Park. "But I
knew I couldn't stay there too many
years (because of the cost)," she says.

Mrs. Freedman moved to
Woodridge in Southfield, HUD-
subsidized housing behind the Tel-

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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