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Detroit Public Schools," she said.
The last busy year was in 1997,
when the federal government was
slashing services for refugees, and she
spent the year "scrambling around"
getting refugees into different kinds of
state programs, she said.
Gale said sending local legislators
on VIP trips to Israel to learn first-
hand about Middle East issues con-
fronting the Jewish homeland is a high
priority for the Council. It gets several
thousand dollars each time from the
United Jewish Foundation of
Metropolitan Detroit to pay for the
visits. The last trio in 1997 included
Governor John Engler.
Dozens of legislators have taken a
Council-sponsored trip to Israel in the
past 10 years, Gale said.
For example, Debbie Stabenow of
Lansing went about 10 years ago as a
stare representative, he said, and "now
she's a congresswoman and she has a
strong pro-Israel agenda."
Stabenow said the 12-person trip
had a "profound impact" on her way
of thinking: She said she was always
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20 Detroit Jewish News
supportive of Israel "but it makes a
world of difference to be there."
Aronson applauded the VIP trips as
a "major change" in Council activity
in Lansing that should continue. "The
focus should remain in that arena," he
said. "The Council has to have a
broad reach."
As with many other Council activi-
ties, the impact of the trips cannot be
measured objectively and Council offi-
cials said they don't try.
Howard Wallach, Council's imme-
diate past president, said, "The person
who is sitting on your local city
Council today may be sitting in the
state House of Representatives three
years from now. If we can get that per-
son involved in some of the issues that
are of concern to our community,
then when they're sitting in a position
where they might have some influence
we've already developed a relationship
with them."
Local Activities
The Council has always been adept at
coalition building and providing input
at forums and meetings, which is the
job of an umbrella organization.
When the Council tries to initiate
events on its own, its lack of a grass-
roots membership or a cadre of volun-
teers can make the process seem slow
in developing.
• Five Town Hall meetings for Jews
living in areas outside the core Jewish
area drew between 10 and 50 partici-
pants at each meeting over the last year.
The Council never expected a large
turnout at the meetings, just a high
level of discussion, said Gad-Hart.
"If 100 people would have attended
each of those sessions, I would say
maybe we didn't need to come here
because they already have a large,
active Jewish community," he said.
"They're already involved. We just
wanted to send a strong message to
these communities that the organized
Jewish community cares about them."
• The Detroit Initiative began in
1996 as a way for Jews to re-connect,
or remain connected to, the central
city by encouraging business partner-
ships with African American business
people, volunteering time and money
to upgrade public recreation centers
and volunteering to staff them.
After three years, its most active
element, funded by a $100,000 grant
from the proceeds of the sale of Sinai
Ho&pital, is based in the Adams-
Butzel Recreation Complex near
Sinai in Detroit.
A touch-screen computer at the
health kiosk near the entrance gives
information ranging from how to quit
smoking to how to fight AIDS. The
program provides health screenings
and enlists volunteers from the
Maimonides Medical Society to help
needy individuals.
"We're pleased by the progress" of the
Detroit Initiative, said Gad-Hart, adding,
"but we have a long way to go."
• After many months of planning a
response to a presidential call for
improving national literacy, the
Council launched the Detroit Jewish
Literacy Coalition in January. It has
signed up 80 volunteers to help
Detroit Public School third-graders
improve their reading skills and plans
a push in the fall for 220 more.
• For three hours on the afternoon of