The JVS vocational
rehabilitation program
enables many adults
with disabilities to learn
daily living skills.
At JVS, couselors take
clients to the grocery
store to teach them
independent living
skills.
From Holocaust survivors of the 1940s
to Soviet refugees and displaced homemakers of the 1990s,
JVS has guided thousands to success.
to place qualified applicants
in accordance with their best
abilities."
After the agency met
success placing WWII veter-
ans, its leaders chose to focus
more on hard-to-place ap-
plicants. By 1949, JVS was
helping the elderly and
those with physical, mental
and emotional disabilities.
Soon after, JVS launched a
sheltered workshop. Clients
included immigrants, who
needed to learn how to work
in a competitive envi-
ronment. In 1954, JVS open-
ed a community workshop
which targeted those with
mental illness and some
with mental retardation. It
was funded with grants from
the Michigan Department of
Vocational Rehabilitation.
The workshop expanded to
assist elderly Holocaust sur-
vivors and patients from
Northville State Hospital. In
the mid-50s, JVS became a
non-sectarian organization.
It secured grants and began
to work with non-Jewish
clients who were mentally
ill.
"We demonstrated that
those who were diagnosed as
mentally ill by doctors could
do what they did before they
became ill," Mr. Ascher
says. "We showed they could
be trained."
JVS President Linda Klein is
leading the agency during the
volatile era of budget cuts.
JVS today operates on a $7
million budget, with $1 mill-
ion coming from the Federa-
tion and the remainder from
the United Foundation,
county, state and federal
fees and grants, en-
dowments, and fees for ser-
vice from private companies.
Most services are free for
those who cannot afford to
pay. Mr. Ascher estimates
the cost to serve the Jewish
community is at least $2
million.
Mr. Ascher says the deci-
sion to become a non-
sectarian agency was
somewhat controversial
among members of the Jew-
ish community but says he
has never regretted the
move.
"It has been our mission to
provide services to the gen-
eral community in a way to
hold and to enhance the Jew-
ish community," Mr. Ascher
says. "We see something
Jewish in non-sectarian ser-
vices. We're servicing disad-
vantaged people."
In the 1960s, JVS started
career -counseling for young
adults and teens. Project
JOIN began in the 1970s for
Jewish teens and young
adults to work summers in
Jewish agencies.
As a result of the 1967
Detroit riot and the turbulent
years that followed, special
programs were designed for
those who lost their jobs or
businesses. And as women
who had stayed at home rais-
ing children decided in force
to re-enter the working world,
JVS launched Project Return
in 1970.
A related undertaking for
widows and divorced women,
the Displaced Homemaker
program started in 1982
with funds from the Mich-
igan Department of Labor.
JVS' attention again
shifted in the mid-1970s
with the massive influx of
Soviet immigrants. Today,
its expanded refugee reset-
tlement program is setting
up mechanisms for placing
and training the new
Soviets.
At issue now is the JVS
Detroit workshop. As the
Jewish community has left
the city, JVS has questioned
its need to service the inner
city.
The Detroit facility, which
runs workshops through
Wayne County Community
Mental Health for mentally
ill and mentally retarded
clients, no longer serves the
Jewish community. Yet a
task force comprising Jewish
community leaders has con-
cluded there is a need for a
Jewish social service agency
to remain in Detroit.
"We want to maintain the
goodwill of that commun-
ity," Mr. Ascher says. "The
Federation is moving; we are
uncertain about the future of
Sinai Hospital, and the Jew-
ish Home for Aged will move
to West Bloomfield. We
decided we must be flexible.
We must stay."
Because of government
cuts, JVS will close its
Detroit workshop. The agen-
cy will continue Detroit-
based programs such as job
placement, counseling and
janitorial training.
In addition, Mr. Ascher
says JVS is looking into de-
veloping a community-based
program for drug addicts
and is seeking a partner to
expand its free employment
service.
"We want the Detroit
facility to become the Jewish
community address," Mr.
Ascher says. "We need to
have the support and good-
will of other people to be
consistent with the mission
of Jews all over the world."
Despite widespread budget
cuts, Mr. Ascher says JVS is
not hurting financially.
"The government shortage
is not forever and we expect
next year's state budget to
be more friendly," he says.
"The government will be our
partner."
JVS, Mr. Ascher says, will
continue to run "like a busi-
ness."
"We need to continue de-
veloping programs in
Southfield — more for the
mentally ill and those with
substance abuse problems.
These are Jewish problems,
and these are non-Jewish
problems.
"We exist because others
have failed," Mr. Ascher
says. "We wish we could
change things so there
wouldn't be a need for any
program." ❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
85
r ENERATI•N ,
Photos by Glenn Triest/Benyas-Kau fman
AnnaRose Vass, a job
placement counselor
until her retirement in
1970, was the first JVS
employee.