rOfii

Mordechai
Abramowitz of
the Accounting
Aid Society, and
hundreds of
volunteers, give
free tax advice
in Detroit.

Mordechai Abramowitz

Something For Nothing

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

ASSISTANT EDITOR

GLENN TRIEST PHOTOGRAPHY

t's the kind of scene that
would compel the aver-
age American to run
screaming in holy terror
from the theater.
A pleasant, thoughtful
man, by all accounts
someone just like your
next-door neighbor,
walks into his office. He
hangs his coat, helps
himself to a cup of coffee,
and the day begins.
But this work is no
ordinary job.
And this scene is no
movie.
It is real life.
The man is Mordecai
Abramowitz. He spends
his day, all day, working
with taxes.
Positively chilling.
Mr. .Abramowitz is

manager, nonprofit pro-
grams, for the Account-
ing Aid Society in
Detroit. Funded by dona-
tions and the United
Way, the AAS is a non-
profit organization that
provides free tax prepa-
ration to the indigent.
Mr. Abramowitz's work
entails aiding low-
income groups with
everything from getting
incorporated to securing
grants.
Churches come to him.
So do nonprofit groups
seeking state or federal
funding. The big guys —
like wealthy congrega-
tions starting up or
affluent individuals
founding a pet charity
— stay away. Yet,

recently when a group of
physicians turned to Mr.
Abramowitz when they
wanted to set up an
organization to help indi-
viduals with AIDS, they
found help at the AAS.
"We don't turn them
away," Mr. Abramowitz
says.
Despite his taxing
work today, Mr. Abramo-
witz's childhood home
was by all accounts nor-
mal. His parents are
members of Temple Kol
Ami. Young Mordechai
was a good student who
loved math.
"I used to spend hours
reading a set of books on
higher math," he says.
"I'd received them as a
bar mitzvah gift."

It was while attending
Michigan State Univer-
sity that Mr. Abramowitz
discovered he actually
enjoyed doing taxes. So
after school "I went to
the IRS and got a job and
I liked that, too, believe
it or not."
When he was offered a
job at the AAS, he knew
little of the agency. "But
my first year, I knew I'd
hit on something." He
started by filling out tax
forms, then graduated to
his current position.
These days he is both
working full time and
completing his MBA
from the University of
Michigan. Work and
school are a perfect com-
pliment, he says.