44

Marcia
Mittelman,
Elan Village
executive
director,
hugs resident
Gert Broudy.

After Losing
Their Home

Elan Village closure saddens, disturbs residents.

a

DEBRA ISAACS

Special to the Jewish News

dN

7/ 5

2002

12

ert Broudy had earned her-
self the title of one-woman
welcoming committee at
Elan Village in Southfield.
No wonder: She clearly has a natural
ability to immediately put others at
ease and to show them the lay of the
land with a few succinct comments.
Last Friday, she yelled her "Hi,
Sweeties" to her friends and the staff at
Elan Village as they passed her in the
hallway, occasionally offering her
cheek for a peck.
Broudy, 93, is out of a job, unoffi-
cial as it was, because she is among 50

residents at Elan who are out of a
home in less than a month. Like her
fellow residents, she is reeling from the
news that her beloved home is closing
its doors July 31.
"I can't believe this happened to us
here. What a beautiful place. When I
heard, I was crying," she said.
Families of residents were told by
phone June 24. Residents and staff
were told during meetings June 25.
Elan Village opened in late 1997,
taking the place of Prentis Manor, the
last nursing home owned and operated
by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Assisted Living
Associates, owned by John Hamburger
of Birmingham and Dick Fink of

Kalamazoo, refurbished the building
at Lahser and Civic Center and
opened its doors as the only for-profit
kosher residence in the city. While it
received no funding from Federation,
Elan Village received referrals from
Federation agencies as a preferred
provider.
. Last summer, Elan had its highest
head count — 72 — but the number
continued to drop, primarily because
some residents became too frail and
needed a higher level of care and oth-
ers passed away, said Marcia
Mittelman, executive director.
Hamburger, who works at Sachse
Construction and Development in
Farmington Hills, said it didn't make

