DETROIT

Loss Of Skillman Funds
Risks Family Service Program

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

W

hen the Skillman
Foundation grant
runs out in January
1993, so do vital components
of the Child Abuse Preven-
tion program at the Jewish
Family Service of
Metropolitan Detroit.
Also at risk is the effort to
establish a kosher shelter for
battered women and their
families.
The Skillman grant, $1.2
million for five years, is the
largest single grant JFS has.
"This year's allocation was
cut by $65,000," said Alan
Goodman, executive director
of JFS. "We hoped for spon-
sorship from the state, but
that was before the bottom
fell out."
The grant, which breaks
down to about $250,000 a
year, funds round-the-clock
home care service, family
camping programs, a full-
time supervisor and two full
and part-time staffers.
"We're unique in that we
not only provide therapy,
but we go into the homes,"
said Mr. Goodman.
Kari Schlachtenhaufen,
program vice president of
the Skillman Foundation,
said the grant was a one-
time, five-year allocation.
"Five years is the maximum
the foundation supports any
new program," she said.
The Skillman Foundation
is a private, Detroit founda-
tion incorporated in 1960 by
Rose P. Skillman, widow of
Robert Skillman, director of
3M Corp. During their
lifetimes, the Skillmans
focused on assisting children
and young people, especially
disadvantaged people living
in southeastern Michigan.
"Our foundation wants to
help agencies begin new
programs, but we view those
grants as seed money, with
long-term funding to
ultimately come from the
agency," Mrs. Schlachten-
hauten said.
In reaction, JFS intends to
establish $1 million endow-
ment programs. The agency
is applying to two grant pro-
grams: the McKinney
Homeless Assistance Grant
and the Van Dusen
Challenge Grant program of
the Kresge Foundation,
which helps private agencies
amass endowment funds.
Mr. Goodman said JFS
needs at least $200,000 a

14

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1992

year to run the shelter and
child abuse prevention pro-
gram.
The proposed shelter has
been approved by the board
of JFS and the board of the
Detroit Section of the Na-
tional Council of Jewish
Women, who will help fund
and staff the first Jewish
women's shelter in metro
Detroit. The shelter would
consist of secret apartments
to which families can turn in
times of crisis.

"Both programs are in
jeopardy as a result of this
lost funding," said Sandra
Jaffa, director of the JFS
Child Abuse Prevention
program. "We provide in-
tense therapy and home care.
Not just once a week, but all
the time, whenever needed."
Last December, a team of
local social workers, in-
cluding Mrs. Jaffa, visited a

similar Jewish women's
shelter in Toronto. "We lik-
ed the model we saw," she
said. "More and more we are
realizing how serious family
violence is in homes."
In the last two weeks,
three different families
would have used a Jewish
shelter if one exsisted in
Detroit, said Mrs. Jaffa. In-
stead, one went to the
Haven, one went to a
relative, and one returned
home.
The Haven is a women's
shelter in Pontiac.
"We're not going to shut
down, but some of our best
services could be drastically
curtailed," Mrs. Jaffa said.
"To have family violence
and not enough funding is
another way to deny the
problem exists in the Jewish
community. People need to
see a shelter and hear about
it." ❑

Finkelberg New Director
Of Tamarack Camps

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

H

arvey Finkelberg will
bring a simple plan
with him when he
becomes the new executive
director for the Fresh Air
Society, which runs
Tamarack Camps.
"There will be a fallout in
the camping field in the
1990s," he said. "Not every-
body will be able to exist. I
want this camp to be here in
the year 2000."
Fresh Air Society operates
summer camp for about
1,500 campers. It operates
on a $2.6 million budget. In
addition, it provides winter
camping options and the
Butzel Conference Center.
Mr. Finkelberg, 35, direc-
tor for the 1,000-camper
Jewish Community Center-
sponsored "Y" Country
Camp in Montreal, becomes

Woman Searches For Sister

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

M

ichele Leiter is sear-
ching for the last
link between herself
and her mother: a sister born
Oct. 31, 1965 or 1966, who
was adopted through the
Jewish Family Service of
Metropolitan Detroit.
"She is the only living
memory of my uncle's sister
and of my mother," said Ms.
Leiter, 23, of Kalamazoo.
Ms. Leiter's search began
last May when a relative let
slip she had an adopted half-
sister. So far, she has learn-
ed nothing conclusive. She
has tried private detectives.
As a last resort, she placed a
classified ad in today's Jew-
ish News. "I was told my
mother became pregnant
when she was 18 and that
the father wasn't Jewish,"
she said. "My mother, who
lived in New York, came to
Michigan and lived with
relatives in Birmingham un-
til she had the baby. After
she gave birth, my sister was
immediately adopted by an-
other Jewish family in metro
Detroit."
Ms. Leiter is particularly
anxious because she has im-
portant medical information
her sister should know.
Susan, Ms. Leiter's
mother, was 23 when she
died of liver cancer. She had
married Samuel Leiter of

Michele Leiter:
"She's all I have."

Flint in 1967. Their
daughter, Michele, was 3
years old; their son, Mat-
thew, was six months old.
Then, four years ago, Mat-
thew, who was 17, dropped
dead while playing basket-
ball at North Farmington
High School. The autopsy
showed cardiomyopathy, a
form of heart disease.
"I've had bouts of thyroid
cancer and radiation treat-
ment," Ms. Leiter said. "So
it's very important I find
her."
Esther Krystal, adoption
coordinator at JFS, said it is
next to impossible to find an
adoptee who doesn't wish to
be found. "We will contact
adoptees and their families,
but if they don't want to be

reunited, we stop there,"
Mrs. Krystal said. "We try
once — the rest is up to
them."
If adoptees and their
relatives wish to be
reunited, they should
register with the Adoption
Central Registry in Lansing,
Mrs. Kyrstal said.
Under state law, JFS
cannot reveal the name of
Ms. Leiter's adopted sister.
"The files are closed for any
one adopted before 1980,"
Mrs. Krystal said. "We're
not allowed to give out any
identifying information. The
most we can do is fill out the
forms and try and make con-
tact."
Ms. Leiter, who was raised
by her stepmother, Daryl
Shapiro, has an 18-year-old
step-sister, Melissa. Ms.
Shapiro and Ms. Leiter's
father are now divorced.
"My dad married again
and lives in Florida," Ms.
Leiter said, "I'm not close to
him."
Ms. Leiter isn't close to
many of her relatives, which
is why finding her sister is
crucial for her.
"I'll do whatever she
wants, it would be up to
her," she said. "I don't know
how my chances of finding
her are. I have no idea if she
knows if she's adopted. All
my leads have dead-ended. I
don't know if I'll find her
unless she registers and
wants to be found." ❑

Harvey Finkelberg:
Time of change.

Fresh Air's executive direc-
tor May 4. He replaces Sam
Fisher, who left his post last
September for the post of
international director for the
B'nai B'rith Youth Organ-
ization in Washington, D.C.
"We are looking forward to
settling in Detroit and mak-
ing long-lasting relation-
ships in the Jewish commun-
ity," he said. "I am excited
about the challenge of direc-
ting the Tamarack Camps
through the '90s and into the
21st century."
The 1990s, he said, are go-
ing to be a time for camps to
readjust.
"It will be time to refocus
on the community," Mr.
Finkelberg said. "Camps
will need to be much more

"It will be time to
refocus on the
community."

Harvey Finkelberg

flexible to meet marketing
needs. We need to spend
much more time aimed at
marketing and recruit-
ment."
Among his priorities are
maintaining camp as an in-
formal Jewish education site
for youngsters. He believes
camp is a great place for
learning.
Mr. Finkelberg has work-
ed in the camping field for 15
years. He holds
undergraduate and graduate
degrees in social work.
He is credited with bring-
ing many improvements to
"Y" Camp. He oversaw con-
struction of an indoor gym-
nasium and indoor pool and
created Circus Camp, where
professionals visit camp and
teach children trapeze, tight
rope, teeterboard, juggling
and clowning. ❑