DETROIT

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

ix months in Detroit,
and Alex and Tanya
Tenenboym were dy-
ing for a glass of thick,
strong, black Turkish coffee
— the one thing they miss
from their native Kishinev.
Near desperation, they
turned to Rayna and Natalio
Kogan. The Kogans gave the
couple a map and packed
them off to Dearborn. It was
the least the Kogans could do
for the family.
The Kogans recently
adopted the Tenenboyms
through Family-to-Family, a
program which matches
newly-arrived Soviet Jewish
families with local American
families. The program is co-
sponsored by National
Council of Jewish Women of
Greater Detroit and the
Women's Division of the
Jewish Federation.
"Helping out is what it's
all about," said Mrs. Kogan,
who was at Camp Ruth Sun-
day for the third annual
Family-to-Family reunion.
"It doesn't have to be com-
plex issues, it can just be ad-
vice and simple guidance."
About 200 people came to
Camp. Ruth, a sprawling
green area at the back of the
Jewish Community Center
at Maple-Drake. The camp
was open for swimming,
playing, singing and mingl-
ing.
Since its inception two
years ago, Family-to-Family
has matched 270 American
families with 270 Soviet
Jewish families.
Yet, despite the program's
success, there are still hun-
dreds of new Americans
waiting to be matched.
"Right now, I'm sitting

S

with at least 85 Soviet ap-
plications waiting to be mat-
ched," said Joanna Berger,
who teaches English to new
Americans. "What's worse,
is that they're all unan-
chored; they have nobody in
Detroit."
Rosie Schlussel, who
works with Family-to-
Family, said the program
needs to attract more
American families.
"We keep saying this, but
the Soviet numbers are .
growing and there just
aren't enough American
families coming forward."
According to the latest fig-
ures from the Resettlement
Service, 308 new Americans
arrived in Detroit this
summer — 104 in June, 86
in July and 40 so far this
month.

"Helping out on the
little things is what
it's all about."

Rayna Kogan

As Family-to-Family or-
ganizers expected, Sunday's
reunion drew more Soviet
than American families.
"We invited all the new
Americans, even the ones
without counterparts," Mrs.
Schlussel said. "The new
Americans have a great
network."
Gloria Cohen and Marilyn
Levine, who volunteer for
NCJW, hope a new, four-step
plan will draw more
American participation.
"We can provide American
families with a structured
package," said Mrs. Levine,
community service vice pres-
ident for NCJW. "It's for
those who can't make a long-
term commitment or who

Stas, Natalia and Igor Moldayskaya meet Judy and Sandy Gelman for
the first time Sunday.

14

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1991

Photos by Dan Lippitt

Family-To-Family
Offers New Plan

Fred Stahl talks to his Family-to-Family match, Ilya Okun.

don't think they have the
time. We're asking Ameri-
cans to come to our orienta-
tion and make four visits."
The visits, which are based
around prepared guidelines,
cover cultural, religion,
commercial and city-wide
orientation. The visits may
take place right away, or
may occur over the course of
three months, said Mrs.
Cohen, chairwoman for the
reunion.
"Of course, our hope is
that a stronger relationship
will develop through this
association and that both

families will want to con-
tinue to see each other,"
Mrs. Cohen said.
Since coming to Detroit,
the Tenenboyms have turn-
ed to the Kogans for advice
and moral support.
. "In Russia, my native
country, I knew every-
thing," Mr. Tenenboym, 36,
said. "Here, my wife and I
don't know where's the best
place to live, or where to
send our son to school."
The Tenenboym's 13-year-
old son, Dennis, was at
Camp Tamarack and couldn't
be at the reunion.

"We haven't heard from
him in three weeeks," Mrs.
Tenenboym said.
Mrs. Kogan, a travel agent
in West Bloomfield, said it
was a sign he was having a
good time. Her children,
Mark, 20, and Ellen, 18,
were out-of-town for the sum-
mer too.
The Tenenboyms have no
family in Detroit. Their
parents are living in Israel.
"We have a broken family
now," Mr. Tenenboym said.
Mrs. Kogan and her hus-
band will try to fill the
gap. 17]

Engler's Art Summit
Is A 'Step Forward'

KIMBERLY LIFTON

-

Staff Writer

G

ov. John Engler's
agreement last week
to continue state sup-
port of the arts was a "step
forward" for art patrons,
Michigan Council for the
Arts chairman Leon Cohan
said this week.
Mr. Cohan initiated last
week's summit meeting
between the state's major
art backers and the gover-
nor, who repeatedly has at-
tempted to cut state funding
of the arts. Since taking of-
fice, Mr. Engler has frozen
arts and cultural grants, and
he is abolishing the Michigan
Council for the Arts on
Sept. 1.
As a result of the summit,
Mr. Engler agreed to launch
a new state arts council

which will emphasize pro-
motion of cultural programs
and make grants.
Mr. Engler said emphasis
on the arts will shift to at-
tract more funding from the
private sector. The new
Michigan Council for the
Arts and Cultural Affairs
will be composed of 11 mem-
bers, to be appointed by Gov.
Engler.
Mr. Engler said he will
select a chair who supports
his efforts to curtail state
government funding.
The arts council was form-
ed 25 years ago at the urging
of Sen. Jack Faxon, D-
Farmington Hills, who has
become the Legislature's
point person for the arts.
Mr. Engler is opposed to
direct state grants to artists.
He believes the state should
only support capital im-
provements.

Mr. Cohan said he is
cautiously optimistic.
"Every government in the
country supports the arts.
Should Michigan be the only
state not to? The arts are
good for tourism and the
economy. And it is a small
investment —less than half
of 1 percent of the total state
budget."

Invited to the summit were
several Jewish arts patrons,
including Max Fisher, Alan
Schwartz, Wally Klein and
A. Alfred Taubman. Of
those, only Mrs. Klein, a
Republican with strong in-
terest in the arts and new to
the Detroit area, and Mr.
Schwartz, an attorney and
patron of the Detroit In-
stitute of Arts and the
Detroit Symphony Or-
chestra, attended the con-
ference.

❑

