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That denial is what MJAC, a nine-year-
old, ever-evolving organization, has
vowed to tackle. The program began in
1991 in response to an article in the
Jewish News about a Jewish man who
died of AIDS in a Christian hospice
program because no such services were
available in the Jewish community. As
treatments for the viral condition have
improved, the focus of the organization
has shifted from providing a place for
Jews with the condition to die, to pro-
viding information and support services
to the Jewish and larger communities.
Because of its service track record,
MJAC is increasingly invited to share
educational programming with secular
organizations. That programming is
rooted in many Jewish principles,
including that of treating the body as a
temple. In the last year, the organization
has banded together with the
Maimonides Society, an organization of
Jewish doctors, to provide health care
services and education in the Detroit
Jewish Initiative, a program of the
Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit.
The Initiative is concentrating these
efforts through the Northwest
Empowerment Health Care Project, a
program that operates primarily out of
the Adams-Butzel Community Center
in Detroit, at the corner of Lyndon and
Wyoming. The project provides free
basic medical care, such as heart-rate
checks and medical programs about dia-
betes. MJAC's role is to provide the
AIDS education component, running
regular educational programs and chat
sessions about prevention and absti-
nence.
Scope Widens
While MJAC continues to provide ser-
vices to Jewish schools and organiza-
tions, the invitations to speak in public
schools and secular organizations have
been a welcome development.
"In the Jewish community, we
knock on the doors and say, 'You need
us.' But in the public community, we
have to wait for them to knock on our
doors," said MJAC Executive Director
Edwina Davis. "We have a good repu-
tation and that is why they are coming
to us."
For its efforts, the organization last
week was presented with a $25,000
non-solicited grant from MAC
Cosmetics, a Toronto-based organiza-
tion. "It is not every day that some
organization comes to your door with a
check that you didn't ask for," Dr.
Fogelman said. "We are pleased they
chose us."
The organization's success has been
attributed to its hardworking volun-
teers, some of them with MJAC for
many years now
Southfield's Sylvia Block, who began
answering phones for MJAC at its
inception, now is an educator. Bringing
the message of prevention to a number
of schools and organizations each year,
Block said she has gained as much as
she has given.
At MJAC, she said, "we have people
of all ages there — teenagers, people in
their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. I think I
am the oldest one there. But everyone
meshes together, from all walks of life.
We are the MJAC family.
"For me, MJAC was a Godsend,
especially when my son died." Block's
son, Nathan, died of AIDS in February
1996. "It is a comfort to just walk in
and know that they were there for
you," she said.
Block and the other volunteers have
added a social-action component to
their efforts more recently. MJAC put
Simon House, a home for HIV-infect-
ed mothers and their children, on its
list of stops for educational programs.
At the same time, regular social func-
tions, such as an upcoming barbecue,
have been scheduled. Also, a hospice
social-action project was started to pro-
vide visits to dying AIDS patients and
their families.
Dr. Fogelman said these efforts by
MJAC will continue, just as the
scourge of HIV and AIDS continue.
"There is no cure and no vaccine for
this," he said. "As long as the disease is
around, we'll be around." ❑
BLUM Moments
'When ivIJAC started in 1991, it had
t volunteers and no regular pro-
'no-. Now, there are 125 volun-
or ing on committees and
ntations. Since the current
g year began on Sept. 1,
ple have taken part in
S educational programs.
iMjAC's three-year-old
ject (Educating Our
about Homosexuality,
mach) has made 13 pre-
800 people. Offices for
'0161 Southfield Road,
Southfield. For informa-
AC at (248) 594-
Anail at
peo
,: