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Cover Story
Tight Times
Despite economic woes, Detroit Jews continue to give.
SHARON LUC KERMAN
Staff Writer
F
ourteen years ago, Andrey Ilyasov, now 33, and his
parents came to the United States from the former
Soviet Union.
"When we came to this country, our net worth was
a negative $3,500," says Ilyasov of Bloomfield Hills. "We owed
people money."
In five years, 4drey and his father, Solomon, also of
Bloomfield Hills, opened Solomon and Son, a clothing store in
West Bloomfield that employs six people.
Ilyasov won't forget the first Jewish agency that helped his
family when they arrived in Detroit.
"My father became a client of Hebrew Free. Loan Association
(HFLA) when he needed a car to look for work," Ilyasov says.
Like many immigrants, his father was a tailor and didn't quali-
fy for a bank loan. Relatives suggested HFLA, the same program
that had once helped them.
Solomon Ilyasov not only got a car loan, but his counselor
directed him to JVS (the Jewish Vocational Service), where he
found his first job and got an interview for his son at Wayne
State University.
"Hebrew Free Loan gave my family a boost that helped us to
go further and achieve more in this country" Ilyasov says.
Two years ago, Andrey Ilyasov became a member of the board
of Hebrew Free Loan. On rotating Sundays, he helps others who
don't qualify elsewhere to get interest-free loans.
However, as the stock market's gyrations continue to raid peo-
ple's savings and make for an uncertain future, nonprofits and
Jewish organizations also are facing tight times. There's less
money to go around for programs such as Hebrew Free Loan
and other Jewish agencies and foundations. And while agencies
are running on less, more people need their support in a down-
ward trending economy.
Agency directors say the competition for funds this year is
stiffer and alternative sources are less available. Major Jewish
foundations, they say, may consider dropping a funding cycle if
the bad times persist.
endowments of major foundations and charities," causing foun-
dations to consider reducing grants. Assets of nine of the 10
largest private foundations fell this year by a cumulative $8.3
billion as of June 30. And endowment income of Jewish federa-
tions plummeted 74 percent from 1999-2000."
Mark Davidoff, executive director and chief operating officer
of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and United
Jewish Foundation, Federation's real estate and banking arm,
indicates that the figures are not surprising.
"With a 16 percent negative return in the broad equity mar-
kets over the past year," he says, "a dramatic decrease in overall
investments returns would be expected."
The Detroit experience has been similar. Davidoff, however,
reports that the 1 percent return in 2000-01 and the negative 5
percent return in 2001-02 are in line with overall market trends
and mirror the experience of similar endowments across the
country. Since its inception in the early 1980s, the formalized
investment program of the Federation and Foundation has pro-
duced average annual returns of over 11 percent.
Glossary
• Federations, such
as the Jewish
Federation of
Metropolitan
Detroit, raise new
funds each year
through annual cam-
paigns and distribute
the proceeds to
Jewish agencies.
• Foundations, such
as the Jewish Fund,
make distributions
from income earned
from a base of
endowed assets.
• Agencies and chari-
ties, such as JVS, pro-
vide services directly
to the community.
They receive funding
from various sources,
which could include
Federation, grants
from foundations, the
government, their
own fund-raising or
income on their own
endowments.
Detroit Gives
Yet, because of the generous history of giving in Detroit's Jewish
community, the blow here may not be as hard as elsewhere.
Even when the stock market plunge is compounded with
Israel's emergency needs and the effects of 9-11, Detroiters are
digging deeper and continue to be one of the most giving Jewish
communities in the country. With the 11th largest Jewish popu-
lation in the country, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit raises the fourth-largest amount per capita in its Annual
Campaign.
The Aug. 8, 2002, Chronicle of Philanthropy, however, reports
a gloomy national picture.
The stock market's plunge, it states, "dragged down the
8/30
2002
18
Andrey Ilyasov
and his father,
Solomon, once a
Hebrew Free Loan
Association client,
opened their West
Bloomfield store
five years after
arriving in Detroit
from the former
Soviet Union.