COMMUNITY
Editor's note: The lives of
thousands of Jews here
and overseas are touched by
the agencies of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit, through contribu-
tions to the Allied Jewish
Campaign.
Twenty-eight years ago,
Gil Golden's world opened
up at the Jewish Com-
munity Center. That's
where he developed social
contacts and began to have
a social life. The 43-year-
old Mr. Golden has since
made many friends in the
Jewish Center's Thursday
Night Social Group for in-
dividuals with
developmental disabilities.
A resident of a JARC
Haverim Home, Mr.
Golden has attended many
Jewish Center programs.
With the Center, he has
taken trips to Chicago,
New York, Toronto and
elsewhere. As a participant
in the Thursday Night
group, he enjoys pocket
billiards, bingo, movies
and plays. The JCC has
four social and recrea-
tional groups for persons
with various levels of
developmental disabilities.
"He's gotten so much ex-
posure (to the rest of the
world) because of the
Center," said his mother,
Ruth Golden, a long-time
advocate for people with
disabilities. "Without
these programs, our
children would have bleak
lives."
Contributions to the
Allied Jewish Campaign
help the Center provide
services for some 300 per-
sons with these and other
types of disabilities.
Among them: a visual- and
hearing-impaired program
and land and water flex-
ibility and strengthening
classes for persons with
pysical disabilities. A
Jewish "Special Olympics"
is held each August, hosted
by the Center and the
Michigan Jewish Sports
Hall of Fame.
The community at large
pays nearly 900,000 visits
to the Center each year for
entertainment, music,
dance, art, sports and other
recreational activities. The
Center has a day camp,
programs for pre-schoolers
through senior adults, and
Gil Golden
sponsors the annual
Jewish Book Fair.
Another Federation
agency, the Jewish Voca-
tional Service, which offers
job placement, career
development and educa-
tional counseling for the
entire community, helped
boost Mr. Golden's self-
esteem. An assembler and
packager in the JVS
sheltered workshops, he
was given employment at
a lumber company in
December 1990. A JVS job
coach gave him on-the-job
support for three months
until he was able to be on
his own.
"The people are friendly
and nice" at his workplace,
Mr. Golden said. "The at-
mosphere is good over
there."
As a result of his employ-
ment, Mr. Golden has
started to talk more and
express his feelings. "JVS
has done tremendous
things for Gil, integrating
him into the community,
developing his social life,"
said his father, Lou
Golden.
Families of persons with
disabilities also can find
resources, respite care, sup-
port groups and referrals
to agencies through the
Jewish Information Ser-
vice. Persons who call the
JIS help-line (967-HELP)
or the Text Telephone
967-0460) can be linked to
agencies that serve those
with special needs.
As a resource for the
Jewish community, JIS
has addresses, facts about
Jewish life and a directory
of social welfare agencies.
An Israeli street fair, with
activities for the entire fami-
ly, will follow the annual
Walk for Israel May 10 at the
Maple-Drake Jewish Corn-
munity Center.
Beginning about 1 p.m., the
street fair will have enter-
tainment, crafts, exhibits,
games, art and food. Booths
will feature Israeli products,
including jewelry, food, toys
and candy. Israeli art will be
for sale.
A major exhibit will focus
on life on a kibbutz. Informa-
tion on travel to Israel will be
available, and video travel-
ogues will run continuously
throughout the afternoon.
The B'nai B'rith Youth
Organization AZA basketball
league finals also will take
place that afternoon at the
Center.
The seventh annual Israel
Quiz Bowl at 1:30 p.m. will
see sixth- and seventh-
graders from area Jewish
schools compete for prizes.
The Walk for Israel will
start from the Jewish Com-
munity Campus at 11:30 a.m.
Registration is at 10:45.
The street fair and walk are
part of a communitywide
celebration of Israel's 44th
anniversary of statehood and
the 25th anniversary of the
reunification of Jerusalem.
A week-long series of events
Minsk Memorial
Is Program Topic
Charles Silow and Sarah
Hartman recently traveled to
Minsk, Byelorussia, to repre-
sent Detroit at Minsk
memorial services for
Holocaust victims.
At 7:30 p.m. March 29, Mr.
Silow and Ms. Hartman will
give a slide presentation and
program about the com-
memorative activities held in
Minsk as well as the rebirth
of the Minsk Jewish com-
munity since Gorbachev's
reforms. The meeting will be
at the Maple-Drake Jewish
Community Center.
They also will show slides
and discuss their visit to War-
saw and Lodz, Poland, and
Mr. Silow's visit to his
parents' pre-war home in
Lodz.
The public is invited. There
is a nominal charge. The pro-
gram is sponsored by
C.H.A.I.M. — Children of
Holocaust-Survivors Associa-
tion In Michigan.
For information, call Mr.
Silow, 489-8886.
Israel Independence Day
Atk
•
■
WE WALK AS ONE
will begin 7:30 p.m. May 3 at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
with a briefing, "Israel Now,"
by Dr. Edward Kaufman,
director of the. Harry S.
Truman Research Institute
for the Advancement of Peace
at Hebrew University. Dr.
Eitan Yefenof, professor of
medicine at Hebrew Univer-
sity, will speak on "Ad-
vancements in AIDS and
Cancer Research in Israel."
At 7 p.m. May 5, a Yom
Hazikaron (Israel Remem-
brance Day) observance will
be held at the Center. Gen.
(Res.) Uzi Narkiss, corn-
mander of Israel's eastern
front during the Six-Day War,
will speak on "The Reunifica-
tion of Jerusalem."
Puppeteer Maureen Schiff-
man will present an Israeli
show 6:30 p.m. May 4 and 6 in
the Discovery Room at the
Center.
New American and
American teens will join for a
production of the play Sparks
. . . A Jewish Journey 7:30
p.m. May 7.
On May 9, an Israeli-style
discotheque, gallery art show
and cabaret will be held at
the Center.
Pre-registration for the
walk is requested. To register,
for information or bus
transportation, call Shelley
Milin at the Jewish Federa-
tion of Metropolitan Detroit,
642-4260.
New JFA Apartments
Are Taking Applications
Federation Apartments' 97
new units in West Bloomfield
will open in early fall.
JFA has mailed applica-
tions to seniors already on an
interest list. The new units
are for seniors who do not
qualify for U.S. government
subsidies offered in the four
other JFA buildings.
The building, under con-
struction, is connected to the
Hechtman Federation Apart-
ments and will be named
Lillian and Samuel Hecht-
man Federation Apartments
II, based on a gift from the
Hechtmans in 1982. Model
Apartments should be ready
mid-May to view on an
appointment-only basis.
Upon completion, JFA will
have 618 units. The new
building is aimed at persons
who do not qualify for federal-
ly subsidized housing, but
who cannot afford market-
rate housing. The rental rate
for these one-bedroom apart-
ments has been set at $675 a
month, excluding utilities.
There will be an additional
monthly fee for kosher din-
ners served five days a week.
Eligible persons must have
incomes between $25-$30,000
a year for individuals and
$28,550-$40,000 for couples.
Except for the requirements
of the Michigan State Hous-
ing Development Authority
that 20 percent of residents
have incomes under $25,000
for one person and under
$28,550 for two persons, no
exception to the eligibility
range will be made.
Qualified applicants will be
called for an interview in the
order their completed applica-
tions are received. Interested
persons can call JFA,
967-4240, to request an
application.
THE DFTROIT .1FWISH NFWg
42
OMM N IT
Campaign Close-Up:
Developmental Disabled
Street Fair Will Follow
May 10 Walk For Israel