`New Poor' U-M's Drachler students see needs of Argentina's Jewish community. GLENDA WUCHER Special to the Jewish News Ann Arbor arlier this summer, I took one of the most educational and pow- erful journeys of my life. I was fortunate enough to travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with the students and staff of the University of Michigan School of Social Work's Sol Drachler Program in Jewish Communal Leadership. Our mission for this trip was specific. We went to Buenos Aires to study the structure and function of the Jewish community, which is more than 200,000 strong, and to learn how the community has learned to cope with the economic crisis that has plagued the country for more than five years. The most severe impact occurred after the devaluation of the peso in December 2001. In the seven short days we spent in Buenos Aires, we visited with Jewish communal professionals at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Jewish Agency For Israel, the Arlene Fern School (a Jewish day school), Hillel, Baby Help, the Ariel Job Center, Temple NCI-Emanuel, the Leatid Program, Hebraica (a large Jewish Community Center), Akim (an agency for Jewish adults with mental disabilities), the ORT Argentina school, BAMA (a Jewish education agency), Comedores Populares (a Jewish soup kitchen) and Radio Jai (the only Jewish radio station in Latin America). We also had the opportunity to meet with numerous other Jewish communal professionals as well as with profession- als at Caritas, a large Catholic social services agency. Throughout the course of our trip, I was amazed at how open the staff, vol- unteers and participants were with us. They spoke frankly about the effects of the economic crisis on the Jewish com- munity and the priorities and projects of the Jewish agencies that serve them. We learned that 70 social welfare cen- ters have opened in Buenos Aires after the major crisis in 2001 to provide food, financial assistance, medical care and psychological services to the "new poor. NEW POOR on page 40 E Best Wishes to all of our family, friends and customers for a New Year filled with good health and much happiness. L'Shanah Tova sc ii Lii13 0T JEWELLERS / GEMOLOGIST S Across Coolidge from The Somerset Collection 3001 West Big Beaver Road • Troy, MI 48084 • (248) 649-1122 • . 8961 10 L'SHANAH TOVAH Wishing our friends a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! SCHECHTER FINANCIAL GROUP SCHECHTER SCHECHTER SCHECHTER ADVISORS ADVISORS STRATEGIES Protecting Families, Businesses & Estates Controlling Your Health Care Costs Alternative investments & Tax Strategies INSURANCE 251 PIERCE BENEFITS BIRN4IN GI LANI ., MI 48009 WEALTH 248.731.9500 *T N _3%660 9/10 2004 39