Holiday celebrations and intergenerational programs bring spiritual and cultural
enrichment to the residents, Purim, circa 1993.
because everyone felt guilty. There were
long waiting lists, and the formula was that
one-third of the residents could afford to
pay on their own, and two-thirds couldn't
and needed local and federal fund support."
Aronsson, whose family operated
Aronsson Printing Co. in Detroit for 71
years, calls his three years as JHAS presi-
dent "the most gratifying of anything I've
done in the Jewish community."
Following The Crowd
In the early 1960s, JHAS followed the
Jewish population migration to northwest
Detroit and the northern suburbs by
building Borman Hall on Seven Mile Road
in Detroit, funded by supermarket mag-
nates Al and Tom Borman. An additional
wing later was sponsored by Edward I.
Fleischman. The Petoskey Street home
became obsolete when the first 50 resi-
dents moved into Borman Hall in 1966.
"My father (Al) and uncle wanted to
do something for the Jewish community,
and everyone told them a new residence
for the elderly was very important:' said
past JHAS President Paul Borman of
Bloomfield Hills. "My term as president in
the mid-1980s was delightful because the
economy was good then and we had no
financial troubles. In fact, we had $4 mil-
lion in investments to keep us afloat.
"Now, of course, it's a different story.
People are living longer and require more
attention, and more subsidies are needed.
But the best thing about the JHAS resi-
dences is the wonderful professional staffs.
They keep everything running smoothly:"
JHAS took a big leap forward in the
1980s with the construction of the Edward
I. and Freda Fleischman Residence and
the Louis C. and Edith B. Blumberg Plaza
at Maple and Drake in West Bloomfield,
a 115-bed facility "After long and ardent
deliberations:' according to JHAS archives,
the community closed Borman Hall.
"Helping to take care of elderly people
always has been a family tradition for
us," said JHAS Past President Marvin
Fleischman of Bloomfield Hills. "My
father, mother, aunts and uncles were all
involved in one way or another. I remem-
ber driving my father to the Petoskey
home and volunteering to call bingo
games at the old and new places. My wife
[Sharon] and children are now very active
at Fleischman."
Besides the Fleischman Residence, with
Barbra Giles as administrator, Jewish
Home & Aging Services, which took on
that name in 1997, now has these facili-
ties, most in West Bloomfield: the Dorothy
and Peter D. Brown Memory Care Pavilion
and Community Adult Day Care Program;
the Danto Family Health Care Center;
Menorah House (in Southfield); the
Club in the Plaza (Flesichman Day Care
Program); Jewish Community Chaplaincy
Program (mainly assisting Jewish people
living in non-Jewish facilities); the Merle
and Shirley Harris Guardianship Program
(helping people with no local families);
the LeVine Institute of Aging; an extensive
program for Holocaust survivors and their
families; and other activities.
JHAS provides financial assistance for
those who can't afford to pay their own
way in what Rosenberg refers to as "acts
of loving kindness" by the community.
Contributions come from the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, the
local Jewish Fund, supplemental Social
Friendships — old and new — come together at the Fleischman Residence-Blumberg
Plaza, circa 1998.
Security Income and state reimbursement
for personal care.
"But we need additional funds to keep
things going here and maintain our year-
around programs:' Rosenberg says. "That
amount varies each year, but if often
reaches close to $200,000." The programs
include fashion shows, fairs, bingo, musi-
cal interludes, dancing and trips to mov-
ies, stores, concerts and beaches.
JHAS is counting on the Sept. 30 cel-
ebration to help raise the necessary funds.
Supporters of the organization can buy
Mitzvah Maker packages, ranging from
$1,400 (for 100 lunches for residents in
need) to $36,000 (covering one year of
residency), to support the Acts of Loving
Kindness: Gimelut Chasadim program,
and/or place ads, ranging from a $54 per-
sonal greeting to $1,250 for a full page, in
a special commemorative journal.
Mitzvah Maker donors will be hon-
ored at a pre-party at the home of
Doreen Hermelin of Bingham Farms in
September, and they will be recognized
with a personal brick to be placed in the
garden outside the Fleischman Residence.
They will receive tickets to the Sept. 30
celebration.
"We've gone through many rough times
in the past 100 years:' reflected Cindy
Schwartz, current JHAS president, who
hired Rosenberg into the organization 27
years ago as a program director at Borman
Hall, "but we keep going and taking care of
our elderly people. Our board, lay leaders,
staff and volunteers all have contributed
greatly. We have much more work to do to
insure that the needs of the growing elder-
ly population are properly and respectfully
addressed."
The 100th anniversary celebration
of Jewish Home & Aging Services
will begin at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept.
30, at the Detroit Opera House, 1526
Broadway, Detroit. The program will
include dinner catered by Paul Kohn
Kosher Catering, a video presenta-
tion honoring Executive Director
Carol Rosenberg and entertainment
by area synagogue cantors. Cost is
$180 per person. For further informa-
tion, call Beth Tryon, (248) 661-2999.
Cindy Schwartz Mark Kowalsky
New JHAS Officers
Mark Kowalsky of West Bloomfield
has been elected president of
Jewish Home and Aging Services.
Other new officers are: Kenneth
Gross, first vice president; Joel
Smith, second vice president; and
Geri Margolis, secretary, all of
West Bloomfield; Matt Lester of
Birmingham, third vice president;
and Mitchell Kantor of Bloomfield
Hills, treasurer.
Cindy Schwartz of Huntington
Woods is immediate past president.
July 5 2007
27