E

SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY

CLOSE-UP

JUNE 14, 1991 / 2 TAMMUZ 5751

Family Matchers
Need Americans

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

hen Bella and Si-
meon Kraven-
chenko of Odessa
arrived in Detroit a year-
and-a-half ago, John and
Monkman decided to
take the Kravenchenko
family under their wing.
So when the Kraven-
chenkos and the Monkmans
heard last week that a new
Soviet Jewish family was en
route to Detroit, both
families got together and
decided to adopt them.
"That's the way it's
supposed to work," said
Rosie Schlussel, who vol-
unteers with the Family to
Family program, a system
that matches newly arrived
Soviet Jewish families with
local American Jewish
families.
Only it's not working.
Mrs. Schlussel said the
Family to Family program, a

project of the National
Council of Jewish Women of
Greater Detroit and the
Women's Division of the
Jewish Welfare Federation,
is suffering from a serious
shortage of American Jew-
ish families.
"When the program
began, a lot of local families
were interested and many
came to inquire and attend-
ed our orientations," Mrs.
Schlussel said. "However,
now it seems that the novel-
ty has worn off. We have
hundreds of Soviet Jewish
families waiting to be mat-
ched and an ever-shrinking
pool of American Jewish
families."
Since its inception two
years ago, the Family to
Family program has match-
ed 260 Soviet Jewish
families with 260 American
Jewish families, Mrs.
Schlussel said.
"We have this wonderful

Continued on Page 14

UJCharities Open
To Smaller Funds

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

U

END OF THE MAZE

The education study may force major
changes for UHS and the synagogues.

Page 24

nited Jewish
Charities last week
unveiled its first en-
dowment program aimed at
securing gifts under
$100,000 for Federation
member agencies.
The program, called Hor-
izons, is earmarked for
agency needs that can not be
funded through general
budgets. It is similar to
UJC's Generations project,
for which board members
have canvassed all Jewish
organizations to match do-
nors for projects that require
major gifts over $100,000. A
donor can endow a Horizons
project for $5,000.
"Horizons is a brand new
approach for us," said Bob
Aronson, executive vice
president for the Federation.
"Without hurting our an-
nual Campaign, it is a way
of building up our local ser-
vices, which is so critical
right now. In these difficult

economic times and a Cam-
paign that is flat at best, this
is a way of making sure we
stay on the cutting edge.
"It is a wonderful way to
show support for an agency
and to be able to endow a
program for fewer amounts
of dollars than we are used
to endowing," Mr. Aronson
said.
Horizons comes amid try-
ing times for the Jewish
community, which has been
caught in the economic
crunch. Agencies have been
tightening their belts, brac-
ing for state budget cuts and
receiving no increases in
their budgets from the Fed-
eration.
This year, because of a
down Allied Jewish Cam-
paign, Federation had asked
agencies to budget for 5 per-
cent decreases in Federation
funding. Recently, Federa-
tion officials said the fun-
ding decreases may not take
place. Still, no increases are
expected.
For the Jewish Cornmun-
Continued on Page 16