a

qi

What
hand
did fate
deal
you?

KATHY SHAFRAN Special to The Jewish News

KRISTA HUSA Photographer

Kol Ami, host to the homeless for a week, learns some lessons.

lien and Jolanta lived a com-
fortable life in Hamtramck.
They had cars, a house,
boats, motorcycles. And they
were comfortable enough to be able to
help other family members with finan-
cial problems.
Two years ago, it all came apart,
seemingly in the blink of an eye.
Allen was disabled in a freak acci-
dent at work. Months later, their unin-
sured house burned to the ground.
Family, suddenly, was nowhere to be
found. Allen and Jolanta were forced to
sell their possessions to afford a nightly
motel room.
With possessions gone and Jolanta's
minimum wage job covering little, they
soon ended up living on the streets. "I
thought I was ready to kill myself,"
reflected Jolanta last week from her

10/30
1998

28 Detroit Jewish News

temporary bedroom at West
Bloomfield Township's Temple Kol
Ami.
"I couldn't see sleeping on the streets
anymore, being wet and hungry.
When I didn't think I could possibly
last anymore," she said, "we got into
the program."
The program is S.O.S. or the South
Oakland Shelter. In operation since
1985, it tries to help people escape
homelessness.
The idea is to provide the homeless
with a place to sleep and shower and
three meals a day. Participants must
save 75 percent of their income, so,
eventually they can accumulate first
and last month's rent to start life in
their own apartment.
"The concept is simple," says the
shelter's executive director Lillian
Melville. "The only problem is that,

because of neighborhood concerns, we
never were zoned - for a permanent shel-
ter. So we sought assistance."
Eight churches signed up in the first
year; now, 60 churches and synagogues
help.
Temple Kol Ami was the fourth
Jewish institution to add its name to
the list. And Kol Ami's opportunity to
assist SOS clients came last week.
Volunteers from the Temple's Social
Action committee worked diligently to
make their 30 "house guests" comfort-
able. Kol Ami's reception hall was
transformed into a living/dining room.
The temple's library was converted into
a bedroom that could sleep about a
dozen women and children. The lower
level offered bedroom space for the
men. The fridge in the temple's kitchen
was packed to overflowing.
"I took a week off work to do it,"

said the pfoject's co-organizer, Sallyjo
Levine, who felt a calling to this project.
"I'm very lucky, I have been lucky all my
life with a wonderful family and home.
And I often hear my mother's voice
reminding me, 'From those to whom
much is given, much is expected.'
A bar mitzvah boy turned in $250
he had raised in bottle collections. Food
donations never stopped. Some volun-
teers turned out for overnight shifts.
Others offered to be at the temple at 5
in the morning to transport the home-
less to the pick-up points for their jobs.
. In all, nearly half of the 430 families
at Kol Ami volunteered donations or
time. "It was so heart warming, says
Barbara Osher of the Social Action
committee.
"It just kept pouring in," said Susan
Zeltzer, head of the food committee.
But perhaps even more rewarding

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