Moving Federation Forward
DRIVING FORCE from page 6
♦ SPACIOUS ONE AND TWO
Clockwise from top left: Governor John Engler with Robert Aronson in Israel,
1997. Robert Ar0115. 011 addresses Michigan Miracle Mission III participants
in Israel's central Galilee, 1999. Max Fisher with Robert Aronson at the
Fisher meeting (kick-off to Federation's Annual Campaign), 1999.
Robert Aronson, William Avrunin, Sol Dr achler and Robert Naftaly
at the Jewish Welfare Federation's annual meeting, 1991.
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man of the search committee.
"He has a remarkable Jewish
heart," said Mark Schlussel,
Federation president from 1989-1992.
Aronson found the Detroit leader-
ship very involved. He also made
another important observation. "I real-
ized that we couldn't remain in down-
town Detroit. There was an 'us versus
them' attitude in the community, and
Federation was perceived as a small
group of elite, wealthy people who
made all the decisions.
"When I heard that people referred
to Federation as 'downtown,' I knew
we were in trouble," he said. It was
an office — not a living, breathing
Federation."
The move closer to the heart of the
Jewish population center wasn't the
only problem.
By 1991, the Jewish Home for
Aged had cost the Federation $4 mil-
lion in five years, in addition to the
yearly $1 million allocation. The high
expenses were blamed on changes in
state Medicaid reimbursements.
When Borman Hall was cited for
violations of state health regulations in
1992, the Federation decided to dele-
Harry Kirsbaum can be reached at
(248) 354-6060, ext. 244, or by e-mail
at h_kirsbaum@thejewish_news.corn
gate nursing home operations to private
operations. When the United Hebrew
Schools' transportation system ran into
financial, accounting and maintenance
problems, the Federation decided to
close it and sell its buses in 1994.
In these instances, Aronson delegate
responsibility to the finance department
staff, which formed a system to oversee
the books of beneficiary agencies.
"In the case of the Home for
Aged," said former Federation
President Schlussel, "where it had sig-
nificant problems, Bob's abiding pas-
sion was to make sure the aged in our
community received a full measure of
care at the highest level of quality."
Federation moved out of the trans-
portation business, and allowed its
agencies the freedom to establish
modest transportation programs that
still would serve the needs of their
constituencies, Schlussel said.
"Aronson showed both vision and
sensitivity, and was extremely non-
confrontational," Schlussel said. He
can be very strong in his leadership,
but he does not need to be confronta
tional in the process."
Aronson also has led the
Federation into innovative programs.
Partnership 2000 — a United
Jewish Appeal project that pairs dias-
pora Jewish communities with 28