ars Groundbreaking
New Orley building will accentuate service to families in need.
SHARON LUCKERMAN
Staff Writer
I
t was a family affair at the
groundbreaking ceremony
Oct. 29 for the new Jewish
Family Service (JFS) building
in West Bloomfield.
The event, like the services provid-
ed by JFS, was about families com-
ing together to help families in need.
For this particular cause, the Orley
family stepped up with a $3 million
gift toward a new 30,000-square-
foot structure across from the
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum
Jewish Community Campus
entrance on Maple Road, west of
Drake. It reflects their feelings about
the agency and will bear their name
— the. Graham and Sally Orley and
.., .,
Joseph and Suzanne Orley Building.
Graham Orley and his brother Joe,
both of Bloomfield Hills, have been lifelong
business partners. Graham's daughter, Joy
Nachman of Bloomfield Hills, who worked
at JFS, first lead him to become involved.
Joy is the wife of Allan Nachman, presi-
dent of the United Jewish Foundation,
Federation's banking and real estate arm,
who also spoke.
"The family is the source of Jewish tradi-
tion," Irwin Groner, rabbi emeritus of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek said at the cer-
emony.
"The importance of Jewish Family Service
is that it serves families, which are the bul-
wark of the Jewish community."
The nonprofit agency, established in 1928
as the Jewish Social Service Bureau, has
grown into the primary provider of social
and mental health services for the metro
Detroit Jewish community. Its main office
is currently in Southfield.
"The primary reason we're moving is that
our clientele has moved out west from
where we are,' said Karen Fink, JFS associ-
ate director. "But we will still have a pres-
ence in the Oak Park-Southfield area," Fink
says JFS will move from its current
Southfield building to a smaller rented
office yet to be determined.
JFS provides traditional counseling —
which includes treatment for substance
abuse, families in crisis and domestic vio-
lence prevention and assistance, Fink said.
It also aids in a range of situations from
resettlement services for New Americans to
home care for older adults.
I 1/ 7
2003
20
The new building, with a planned com-
pletion in fall 2004, is funded by an $8
million capital campaign. The construc-
tion cost is $4.5 million. The land, pur-
chased by the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit from Henry Ford
Hospital, will cost JFS $1.76 million.
Anything left over will go toward a build-
ing endowment.
An advantage of the new location is its
proximity to the JCC, which will increase
synergy interaction with other groups on
the campus," Fink said.
However, the building is not directly on
the campus so clients will have more pri-
vacy.
"It's going to have a home-like feeling
and will make people feel welcome, unlike
a cold office building," Fink said.
The building also will make better use
of space than at the Southfield location by
grouping all service areas together, which
now are spread out. Additionally, there
will be large meeting rooms for JFS and
community use.
JFS is not currently hiring new staff,
but expects to grow about 20 percent over
the next four to five years as more busi-
ness referrals are made to the new loca-
tion, said David Moss, marketing director.
Before breaking ground, Joseph Orley
expressed his desire that the new building
bearing his family's name serve as an
anchor for JFS and help it expand servic-
es and commitments to all needy people
seeking help.
"
❑
Top: Rendering of the new Jewish Family Service building, expected to
be ready for occupancy by fall of 2004.
Above: Taking part in the Jewish Family Service groundbreaking cere-
mony are major donors Graham and Sally Orley and Joseph and
Suzanne Orley, all of Bloomfield Hills.