DETROIT
Successful '91 Allied Campaign
Will Leave Local Agencies Short
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
T
he Detroit Jewish
community's achiev-
ement in raising near-
ly $45 million in one year for
the Allied Jewish Campaign
and Operation Exodus will
not be shared in full by local
Jewish agencies.
The Jewish Welfare Fed-
eration recipient agencies
were warned three weeks
ago that an Allied Jewish
Campaign shortfall would
force them to decrease their
1991-1992 budget requests
by 5 percent from this year's
budgets.
At Monday's Campaign
closing celebration at the
Jewish Community Center,
Federation officials an-
nounced that last spring's
Operation Exodus for Soviet
Jewish resettlement in
Israel had raised $21.2 mill-
ion. They said the Allied
Jewish Campaign had raised
$23.6 million to date and
still has 2,243 persons to
Campaign Names
Pappas Co-Chair
Norman Pappas, associate
chairman of the 1991 Allied
Jewish Campaign, will serve
with Lawrence Jackier as
chairman of the '92 Cam-
paign.
Mr. Pappas has served on
Federation's leadership de-
Norman Pappas
velopment committee and on
United Jewish Charities'
professional advisory com-
mittee. Mr. Jackier will con-
tinue for a second year as
chairman of the Campaign.
Joseph Orley was honored
at Monday evening's Cam-
paign closing for his two
years as Campaign chair-
man.
contact who contributed $3.4
million last year.
But even with those extra
dollars, the Campaign falls
short of the record $27.5
million collected last year
and the $28.5 million goal
established in November by
the Federation board. The
$28.5 million was the
minimum necessary, Fed-
eration officials said at the
time, to give local agencies
their first modest increase in
two years.
Robert Aronson, Federa-
tion executive vice presi-
dent, said Tuesday that
$28.5 million "was a real
goal." Not meeting it "will
mean cutbacks in all our
allocations to one degree or
another."
Mr. Aronson said he is
meeting with agency presi-
dents and executives in the
next two weeks to discuss
the situation. With the for-
mal conclusion of the Cam-
paign, the budgeting process
now begins. Final ad-
justments are made in June
and the Federation board
will vote on the allocations
in July, Mr. Aronson said.
"I don't know where we
can go" for additional funds,
he said. "It has been a
difficult year for United
Jewish Charities as well."
UJC manages the Jewish
community's endowment
funds, which total in excess
of $80 million.
Mr. Aronson believes Fed-
eration will increase funding
for family assistance — food,
rent payments and other
basic survival programs —
Community Trip
To Israel Is Firm
Jewish Welfare Federation
President Mark Schlussel
made a strong appeal Mon-
day evening in support of the
Jewish Welfare Federation -
Jewish Community Council
trip to Israel April 21.
More than 30 Detroiters
have signed up for the non-
fundraising mission to
Israel. Mr. Schlussel and
JCCouncil President Paul D.
Borman are leading the mis-
sion.
Mr. Schlussel told the
Campaign closing that the
phrase used at the end of the
Passover Seder — L'shana
haba'a Yerushalyim (next
year in Jerusalem) — must
now beome L'shana hazot
Yerushalyim (this year in
Jerusalem).
with supplemental requests
going to UJC.
Mark Schlussel, Federa-
tion president, sees the prob-
lem of local versus Israel
needs as "the ultimate
dilemma" of the Jewish
community. Federation
usually distributes nearly 60
percent of Campaign funds
to Israel and overseas com-
munities through the Jewish
Agency and the American
Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee. The remaining
40 percent is used for local
and national agencies.
"My own sense is now is
not the time to reevaluate
the formula," Mr. Schlussel
said. "Everyone has said
that resettling the Soviet
Jews in Israel is the priority.
And I have often said that
this is one of the unique
moments in history.
"This resettlement is an
opportunity — even with
tremendous sacrifice — that
must be a priority for the
American Jewish commun-
ity.
"But at the same time,"
Mr. Schlussel said, "the
local community is very im-
portant. The preservation of
our vitality is of utmost im-
portance to me."
Local agency executives
were not surprised by the
shortfall, but are worried
about its effect. Alan Good-
man, executive director of
Jewish Family Service, ex-
pects to make program cuts
to balance the budget of JFS
and the Resettlement Ser-
vice.
"Coupled with the reces-
sion, this has created many
Mark Schlussel: A major dilemma.
unusual pressures," Mr.
Goodman said. "The Jewish
poor are being hit
significantly by state cuts
and now the Jewish corn-
munity's safety net is being
stretched even further. I
don't know if we will be able
to bring these people up to
poverty level."
Mr. Goodman said the
Federation has been respon-
sive to the problem, "but
there is a limit to the
resources."
Albert Ascher, executive
director of Jewish Voca-
tional Service, said his agen-
cy's service committee will
examine counseling and
placement services at JVS'
Southfield offices. These
programs, funded by the
Allied Jewish Campaign, in-
clude vocational counseling,
job placement, Project
Outreach for inner-city
residents and the Jewish
Educational Loan Service,
he said.
"We will try to minimize
the disruption of services,"
Mr. Ascher said. "We have
already looked at staff
overhead and we banned
staff travel for part of the
year. It looks now that we'll
have to look at services."
Mr. Ascher said cuts will
be especially hard because
funding from the Allied Jew-
ish Campaign was not in-
creased to local agencies last
year. In effect, the agencies
will be forced to cut 5 per-
cent from 1990 budgets.
Other local agencies that
receive some funding from
the Allied Jewish Campaign
include Hebrew Free Loan,
Federation Apartments,
Jewish Home for Aged, Jew-
ish House of Shelter, Jewish
Information Service, Agency
for Jewish Education, Sinai
Hospital, five Jewish day
schools, three state Hillel
foundations, the Jewish
Community Center, Jewish
Community Council, and the
Jewish Welfare Federation.
Several dozen national
agency recipients of Cam-
paign funds will also be af-
fected.
❑
JHA Postpones May 16 Gala
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
S
aying it is premature
to showcase its
planned state-of-the-
art West Bloomfield facility,
the Jewish Home For Aged
has postponed its May 16
dinner aimed at launching a
capital fund-raising cam-
paign.
"It is not good timing,"
said JHA Executive Vice
President Alan Funk.
"There is no reason for the
Jewish Home For Aged to
start a fund-raising cam-
paign at a time when it is
difficult to raise money, and
when there is a crisis in the
Gulf, the Soviet situation
and a recession."
No date has been schedul-
ed, but officials for the Home
said the "Gala Celebration
of Life" would take place
during the spring of 1992.
Plans to begin a capital
campaign for the new facili-
ty began after the Michigan
Department of Public
Health granted a long-
awaited certificate of need
last May for Borman Hall in
Detroit to move into a pro-
posed 212-bed facility at the
Jewish Community Campus.
But a separate certificate
of need to move the 100-bed
Prentis Manor from
Southfield to the same facili-
ty is still being contested in
court. This has set back
plans for a timely move, Mr.
Funk said.
JHA officials had hoped to
break ground for the new
facility by 1994, but various
setbacks — including the
pending legal problem over
the CON —have forced offi-
cials to look at 1995.
Current plans call for a
312-bed Jewish Home For
Aged in West Bloomfield to
be located next to
Fleischman Residence.
The gala dinner will
showcase the Home's ac-
tivities and feature architec-
tural renderings for the new
building.
❑
Tub rIPTIZCIIT IPIAIICW KIPWC
44