Small-Town Success

PHOTOS BY JONATHAN LU RIE

ina Shtull-Leber never takes a
gym bag to the Jewish Com-
munity Center of Washtenaw
County.
None of the Center's 570
members go there to work out,
swim or sit in the sauna. Those
types of facilities don't exist at
this building.
Still, for almost 11 hours a
day, the JCC is filled with ac-
tivity. The commotion comes
from the preschool, day care,
summer camp, enrichment
classes or discussion groups.
The Center also leases space to
organizations like the Hebrew
Day School of Ann Arbor, the
Jewish Federation of Washtenaw
County/United Jewish Appeal
and Jewish Family Services.
Mrs. Shtull-Leber and her
family joined the JCC to take ad-
vantage of its services and be-
cause they see it as a way to
connect with the Jewish com-
munity. Her three children at-
tend the day school and
preschool.
A JCC in an area where the
Jewish community is small, like
Ann Arbor or Windsor, often
thrives because residents, like
Ms. Shtull-Leber, want a central
Jewish address.
The family's need to feel con-
nected is one of the reasons JCCs
in some of the smaller communi-
ties are doing well, even at a time

when centers like Detroit's are compared to other small Jewish Rabbi Dobrusin said. "The JCC
struggling.
communities, Ann Arbor is "phys- has been able to do some social
As the Jewish Community ically fit."
programming that reaches out to
Center of Metropolitan Detroit
'We're fortunate to be in a vi- both the affiliated and non-affil-
strives to maintain membership brant town," said Nancy Margo- iated."
and break out of a $450,000 pro- lis, part-time executive director
"Ann Arbor is doing fine," said
jected deficit, Ann Arbor is look- of both the JCC of Washtenaw Mitchell Jaffe, the assistant ex-
ing to expand.
County and the Jewish Federa- ecutive director of the national
Outside the home, Jewish life tion. "Other small communities Jewish Community Center As-
in Ann Arbor used to be centered are suffering. Their campaigns sociation. "The key for their fu-
around the synagogue. Now that are going down and many of their ture, however, is to look at how
hub is shared with the Washte- younger people are leaving." they can convert one from a cus-
tomer to a supporter. Ann Arbor
has a lot of good customers but it
also needs supporters."
Ms. Margolis agrees. "We don't
have people who are wealthy like
Detroit so we don't get the big
gifts."
The Center is working on de-
veloping a strategy for a capital
campaign so additional class-
rooms, meeting rooms, parking
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
and possibly a small exercise
room can be built.
With an almost $800,000 bud-
naw County JCC, the only place When a small-town center faces get, the Center gets $75,000 from
that draws membership from all a decline, it's often because resi- the Washtenaw Federation. The
facets of Judaism. And now, with dents relocate to larger commu- rest comes from rental fees, mem-
expanded teen programming, the nities.
bership dues and fund-raisers.
Center is drawing more young
Rabbi Robert Dobrusin, of Ann
In 1987, the JCC moved from
people.
Arbor's Beth Israel Congregation, a rented building on Stadium
Because Ann Arbor serves a said the JCC has had a tremen- Boulevard to its already out-
significantly smaller Jewish com- dous impact with its preschool grown present location, a former
munity — 5,000 in Washtenaw and seniors group.
elementary school on Birch Hol-
County compared to 96,000 in the
"The synagogues, for example, low Drive, a residential area of
metropolitan Detroit area — and haven't necessarily had the num- Ann Arbor. The building is so
offers different services, the two bers in these areas that make it crowded, students in the Hebrew
centers cannot be equated. When possible to run such programs," Day School learn in portable
classrooms.
When the Washtenaw JCC
first began thinking about an
expansion, it surveyed the com-
munity to determine what oth-
er services to provide. Center
users did not want their JCC to
have a pool or health club facil-
ity. "People felt they had
enough options in the wider
community to meet those
needs," Ms. Margolis said.
The University of Michigan
has three exercise facilities and
Washtenaw County built a
recreation center for residents,
all of which can be used for a fee
so nominal that the JCC can-
not compete.
If the Center built a health
club, Ms. Margolis guesses L c'
Above: Hebrew Day School first-
membership dues would be
graders Sammy Huebner and
raised from the current $125 a —
Tamara Jaffe sing Purim songs.
year per family to $500. "People N--
Left: New Americans learn English
don't want to pay that when there —
during an acculturation class for
are other, less expensive options," =
C_D
seniors.
cc
she said.
Ms. Shtull-Leber is glad the
Center is not equipped with ex-
ercise facilities. "Exercising is not
a Jewish activity," she said.

The Washtenaw County JCC
is a key component to
Ann Arbor Jewish life.

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