good, "I don't know people here who
are unhappy, who don't feel comfort-
able because of the Americans," she
said. "We live here as a family."
Marsha Goldsmith Kamin, execu-
tive director of Jewish Apartments and
Services, said both groups have learned
over the years how to get along as
neighbors, "but it's no different than
any other community that's been
thrown together." Go into any neigh-
borhood where people of different cul-
tures live together, and "you'll have
some issues that are going to arise."
Some American born residents said
they got along well with their Russian-
born neighbors and the differences
between the groups could he blamed
on no one.
Rachel Thomas, 89, born in
Alabama, moved to Michigan in
1935, and settled in the apartments in
1990. A retired linen supplies worker,
she collects Social Security, and pays
for her own medical insurance.
"Everybody has their own support,"
she said, and everyone gets different
benefits. I pay for mine, they pay for
theirs."
Esther Fishman, 88, faults some of
her fellow American-born residents for
the resentment. "They have their prej-
udices, they have their outlooks, they
are very opinionated, and you can't
change them," she said.
Lenna Israetel, the New American
Program Administrator of Jewish
Apartments and Services, said the
anger is "ignorance" about a different
lifestyle. A former translator in Russia
who moved here seven years ago, she
said the New Americans do need a bit
of acculturation.
"Let's not forget that the people
who come from that country are
wild," she said. "Your whole life you're
used to standing in line for food, and
you're expecting a person to grab the
last bit of food. What kind of an
impact will this have on you?"
"This culture is different," added Ida
Kogan, Teitel's resident services coordi-
nator, "not only between the New
Americans and the [native-born]
Americans, but the immediate culture."
For example, rules of conduct in
the building need to be learned, she
said. Fliers written in Russian are
hung up in the elevator, explaining
how holding the button for someone
on the elevator is expected.
On previous trips to the elevators,
"they used to push me," she said.
Now when they see me, they stop
and hold the elevator, and I see that
happening more and more.

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