Affording the best is not the questionwfinding the best is. Jewish AIDS Coalition Formed In Michigan AMY J. MEHLER Staff Writer t.‘ A first ... Apartment living in a Skilled Nursing Facility For the discriminating person requiring an elegant environment Bartz Health Care Family owned and operated for over 33 years Medicare approved CALL 363-4121 For our limousine to pick you up for a personal tour of our facility 6470 Alden Drive, Orchard Lake We Create Impressions That last Nibbles & Nuts The perfect beginning ... Welcome your out of town guests with a beautiful hospitality basket. Wain 737-8088 Outside Of Michigan 1 -800-752 -2133 33020 Northwestern • West Bloomfield 16 The Finest in Women's Fashions Only At •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • RANDEES • ••••••••••••• • Franklin Savings Centre Bldg. 26400 W. 12 Mile Road Southfield, Mich. 354-6070 T he creation of the Michigan Jewish AIDS Coalition makes Detroit one of the last Jew- ish communities in the United States to form an organized Jewish response to AIDS, according to Andy Rose, director of the Nation- al Jewish AIDS Project. "I'm relieved to see that Detroit is finally forming some kind of a response," Mr. Rose said. "It's long overdue, but it's better late than never." Mr. Rose, who formed the NJAP in 1986, said Los Angeles was the first Jewish community to form such an AIDS group. Mr. Rose said NJAP has had to scale its services back because of lack of money. "The difficulty in raising money is a reflection of the lack of priority that AIDS receives in the Jewish com- munity, and the people for whom AIDS is a priority are already overextended with giving to local services and AIDS research," said Mr. Rose, who lives in Baltimore, Md. NJAP is the first affiliated project of the Association of Jewish Family and Chil- dren's Agencies and is a clearinghouse for all AIDS- related materials produced by Jewish sources. Nancy Gad-Harf and Susan Leemaster, who organized the first meeting, which was held June 4 at Temple Israel, said the goal of MJAC is to increase AIDS education and awareness, create family support groups and patient direct services and establish a hot-line re- ferral service. "The meeting came about because many people in the Jewish community were troubled and embarrassed that the Detroit Jewish community had not re- sponded to this epidemic," Mrs. Gad-Harf said. "AIDS is not a gay disease," said a member of SIMCHA who asked not to be identified. SIMCHA is the local group for Jewish Gays and Les- bians. "We keep saying this, but we're not sure if people, es- pecially the members of the Jewish community, really believe it," he said. As of April 2, 179 cases of AIDS were reported, according to the Michigan Department of Health. And according to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, 100,777 people have died of AIDS and AIDS- related diseases as of November, out of 161,073 AIDS cases reported in the United States since 1981. CDC researchers predict that in the next three to five years, as many as 215,000 more Americans will die be- cause of AIDS. Mrs. Leemaster, who is a board member of the Sinai Hospital Guild, said about 30 community leaders repre- senting Sinai Hospital, Temple Emanu-El, The Jew- ish Community Council, Wellness Networks, JARC, Detroit is one of the last Jewish communities in the United States to form a Jewish response to AIDS. and the AIDS Interfaith Network, came to the meeting. "We formed to make sure that Jewish individuals have their needs met by in- dividual Jewish organiza- tions," Mrs. Leemaster said. "This is a grass-roots effort because Jews with AIDS need people in the Jewish community to care and help them." Rabbi Arnie Sleutelberg of Shir Tikvah in Troy, said he's been frustrated for a long time with the Jewish community's lack of re- sponse and apparent unwill- ingness to deal with the AIDS issue. "The patient-direct ser- vice, which is one of the sub- committees, will be charged with making sure that what happened to the young man who had AIDS and no where to go a few months ago doesn't happen again," he said. "We need to address the real problem of what to do with AIDS patients when their families for financial and psychological reasons can't take care of them at home." Bob Aronson, ex- ecutive vice president of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit, said he didn't think such an incident would happen again. He said the organized Jewish com- munity was caught un- prepared. "Till now, the Jewish community of Detroit hasn't organized a response to AIDS," said Mr.