T H
E
INSIDER
JEWISH
FAMILY
SERVICE
p\/_
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE & RESETTLEMENT SERVICE
FALL 1993
• EXPANDING OUR HORIZONS TO SERVE YOUR NEEDS •
,IFS ESTABLISHES
MEDICAL CARE FUND
Jewish Family Service has announced
that Michele Landgarten was named the
first recipient of the newly established ES
Medical Care Emergency Fund.
The Fund has been established to provide
resources for medical expenses associated
with chronically ill individuals.
Contributions to the Fund will provide
25m ANNUAL VOLUNTEER
INsiTrun DAY
their 25th Annual Volunteer
Institute Day, Jewish Family Service
and Resettlement Service jointly spon-
sored an in-service panel discussion on the
topic, "Life's Final Choice."
The panelists included: Diane Czlonka,
R.N., M.S., a clinical nurse specialist who
discussed the medical and moral issues
involved in determining when and how to
die; Boaz Siegel, Professor Emeritus,
Wayne State University Law School, who
addressed the legal issues of this topic and
how they are changing; and Rabbi E.B.
Freedman of the Jewish Hospice Program of
the Hospice of Southeastern Michigan, who
discussed the impact of Jewish law upon
this issue.
The Volunteer Institute Day is an annual in-
service training seminar designed to provide
agency volunteers with a unique and mean-
ingful learning experience. JFS and RS
wish to thank all the panelists for their valu-
able contribution toward demystifing this
difficult subject. For information about
agency volunteer opportunities, please con-
tact Elina Zilberberg, Program Manager,
Volunteer Services Department at 559-1500.
monies to pay for medical facilities and
related expenses. Eligibility for designated
recipients will be determined by JFS follow-
ing an assessment of medical/psychological
needs and the availability of other resources.
When funds are so designated, the recipi-
ent and/or recipient's family will be able to
direct where the funds should be applied, as
long as they are used specifically to pay for
the medical care of the designee. No pay-
ments will be made directly to the family
and/or designee from this Fund. Monies
contributed to the JFS Medical Care
SAFE PLACE
Over 250 community leaders attended the
September 20th dedication of SAFE
PLACE, a single family shelter for battered
Jewish women and children. The program
featured Ellen Ledley, LCSW, Director,
Family Violence Project of Jewish Family
Service of Los Angeles and co-author of
Shalom Bayit: A Guide for a Jewish
Response to Child Abuse and Domestic
Violence. Murray Feldman, News
Correspondent for TV 2, served as the mod-
erator for the program.
Violence occurs in Jewish families as often
as in the general population. Studies say that
domestic violence exists in 15 to 19 percent
of Jewish homes in this country.
"The Jewish community has been slow to
acknowledge that domestic violence is a sig-
nificant Jewish problem," said Ledley. She
stressed that "myths, stereotypes, sexism and
the history of the Jewish people discourage
battered Jewish women from seeking help.
The reluctance of Jewish victims to speak
out, coupled with denial in the Jewish com-
munity, perpetuates the myth that domestic
violence does not exist."
Emergency Fund will supplement available
financial assistance funds within the agency.
TS hopes that by publicizing the needs of
local individuals, others will be encouraged to
donate to the Fund. Contributions can be
made in memory of Michele Landgarten or to
the Fund in general.
For information about the Fund or to help
someone you know, please call Reuben
Rotman, IFS Director of Community
Resource Development at 559-1500.
Is
DEDICATED
The establishment of SAFE PLACE repre-
sents the commitment of the metropolitan
Detroit Jewish community to assist Jewish
victims of abuse. SAFE PLACE is now an
integral part of WINDOWS, a non-sectarian
family violence prevention program, devel-
oped by Jewish Family Service in 1987. Co-
sponsored by Jewish Family Service and the
National Council of Jewish Women -
Greater Detroit Section, SAFE PLACE pro-
vides a secure, supportive environment for
Jewish women and children at risk. It is the
only shelter in Michigan able to accomodate
strictly kosher families.
"The goal of SAFE PLACE is to help
women explore options and develop coping
skills through counseling while away from
the battering situation," said Sandra Jaffa,
Supervisor, JFS WINDOWS Program.
Safety and confidentiality are key compo-
nents of the program and ensure that the
shelter is truly a SAFE PLACE for battered
Jewish women.
For information about SAFE PLACE
or the WINDOWS Program,
please call Sandra Jaffa at 559-1500.
SAFE PLACE
DEDICATION
REACHES OUT
The official dedication activities for the
opening of SAFE PLACE were enhanced
with a professional seminar which focused
on domestic violence within the Jewish
community. The seminar, co-sponsored by
Jewish Family Service, the Haven in
Pontiac and Safe House of Ann Arbor, was
held on September 20 at JFS in Southfield.
Approximately 30 representatives of sec-
ular shelters joined together to understand
the needs and special concerns of Jewish
women. "We would like to establish ties
with those who work within the domestic
violence community," said Sandra Jaffa,
Supervisor JFS WINDOWS Program.
"We also want to share our knowledge
about Jewish domestic violence. There are
things that are specific to Jewish women
that sometimes make it more difficult to
leave a violent situation."
The seminar featured a presentation by
Ellen Ledley, LCSW. Ms. Ledley was the
keynote speaker at the dedication cere-
monies later that evening. She is the
Director of the Family Violence Project of
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles. Her
presentation was entitled: "Creating Shelter .
..Breaking the Silence: Domestic Violence
in the Jewish Community".
JFS and the National Council of Jewish
Women - Greater Detroit Section, co-spon-
sors of SAFE PLACE hope the profession-
al seminar and the dedication ceremony
which followed, served to make the secular
community, as well as the Jewish commu-
nity, aware that SAFE PLACE exists as an
altemative, primarily for Jewish women
and children.
• THE INSIDER •
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE
RESETTLEMENT SERVICE
24123 Greenfield Road
Southfield, MI 48075
Phone: 313-559-1500
JFS Branch Office:
6960 Orchard Lake Road, Suite 202
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
Phone: 313-737-5055
Alan Goodman
Executive Director
Margaret Weiner
Associate Executive Director
Reuben D. Rotman
Director
Community Resource Development
Susan Ulanoff
Donations Liaison
Barbara Cook and Helen Shevin, Co-
Chairpersons, SAFE PLACE Steering
Committee and
Ellen Ledley.
Left to right:
Ann Zousmer,
NCJW President,
Alan Goodman, JFS Executive Director,
Ellen Ledley, Murray Feldman,
Janice Shatzman, JFS President
24123 GREENFIELD ROAD, SOU -F1IFIELD, NII 48075 • 6%0 OlidlIARD L.--‘1 ■ E ROAD, SUITE 202,NvEsT BLOONIFiFilb, \II 4-022'