How to Find a Better
Assisted Living Solution

LOOKING FOR assisted living for your loved one doesn't have to
be difficult. As you research your options, look for these 3 features:

The goal is for the Africans to stay at
the shelters only until they find work
and can move into their own apart-
ments, said Elisheva Milikowsky, 25,
a social work student at Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev who has
become one of the main organizers
overseeing the Africans' needs.
Milikowsky's work is an extension
of the volunteer work she began last
summer in Beersheva, when hundreds
of Sudanese refugees were being
dropped off in the city after being
picked up by army patrols after they
crossed into Israel from Egypt on foot.
The refugees dubbed Milikowsky
the "angel of the Sudanese" for her
help finding them food and shelter.
Outside the shelter on Matalon
Street, a 24-year-old man from Eriteria
who is ill and has trouble walking
approaches Milikowsky and asks for
another appointment with a doctor.
She writes down his name on her
yellow legal pad, which is full of
names and requests for help. Another
Eritrean man shows her his new work
permit folded into a plastic cover and
asks to be remembered if she finds
jobs.
Later, Milikowsky hears the story of
a man whose wife was caught by the
Egyptian police as the couple tried to
cross the border into Israel. He has not
heard from her since, and now he is
alone is Israel with their 6-month-old
baby.
Back at the shelter, Milikowsky
again is asked about how long it will
take for work permits to be processed.
She reminds the men, who at this shel-
ter are mostly from Eritrea, that they
are relatively lucky the Israeli govern-
ment has allowed them to stay at all.
A few blocks away, at a shelter where

the men are mostly from the Ivory
Coast, there are no such reassurances.
The government has stopped distrib-
uting work permits to them, and Israel
is encouraging them to return home.
"Look, I have no slippers;' says one,
showing his two mismatched flip-
flops. Next to him are ripped-open
boxes of donated food and clothes
dropped off for the refugees but first
picked through by local Israelis, many
of them indigent themselves. The
Africans finger the expiration dates on
a cereal box and ask if it is still okay
to eat.
Laso Kosse, 39, arrived in Israel
from the Ivory Coast after a long
journey through Mali, Niger, Libya
and Egypt. At home, he had a clothing
store but fled because of the fighting.
"You cannot be without a work
permit — look around at all these
young men:' he said, pointing at a
small crowd gathered around. "They
are hungry"
Yael Dayan, deputy mayor of Tel
Aviv, said the city is overwhelmed and
cannot handle this wave of homeless
Africans. She urged the Israeli govern-
ment to help.
"They cannot dump this on us; no
municipality can handle this;' she said.
"If they take them out of prison, then
they have to make sure they at least
will have a roof over their heads."
Some 800 Africans remain in
Ketziot Prison. About 80 of them are
women, some with children, including
babies born there.
Human rights groups have peti-
tioned Israel's Supreme Court for
relief, but without success. The state
told the court it is in the process of
improving conditions for the Africans
at the prison. ❑

Honors individual lifestyles. At Renaissance Gardens, residents
live on their own terms, like at home. There is no set schedule
because people should eat, rest, and engage in activities when
they please.

1

Activities and socializing. At Renaissance Gardens, residents'
Ls schedules are based on their interests. Residents also have access to
the 108-acre Fox Run campus. They can go for a swim in the all-season
pool or grab a bite at one of three on-campus restaurants.

Access to health care. Licensed caregivers are on-site 24 hours
a day at Renaissance Gardens, and the full-time Erickson Healthsm
doctors only see residents of Fox Run. There's even a Medicare Advantage
health insurance plan exclusively for Erickson residents.

3

Call today for your personal tour at
248-668-8770 or 1 -800-472-1 299

Rena-rissance gardens

at

Fox RUN

Near the junction of M-5
and 1-96, 275, and 696

www.TheCareExperts.com

Photo by David Debalko

1361830

The Original Since 1939

HAGOPIAN

Your Oriental / Area Rugs at any
Original Hagopian Rug Care Center
and we'll clean every other one

24 Hour Water and Fire Damage Response

Answering
Israel's Critics

The Charge
The United Methodist Church will consider a resolution at its national con-
vention this spring calling for divestment from 20 American companies said
to support "Israel's occupation of Palestinian lane

The Answer
The resolution's sponsors give lip service to Palestinian terrorism, ignore
President Bush's peace efforts and instead focus their main attention on
Israel's presence in the West Bank. Successive Israeli governments have
agreed that the issue of settlements will be a matter of compromise when
Israelis and Palestinians negotiate an end to the conflict.

n Home Cleaning
Specials

Carpet cleaned

Rooms* of

9 995

Rooms* of

4990

Carpet cleaned

S co-fa or

2 Chairs* cleaned

Expect the best...Expect the purple truck!

*Some restrictions apply

1-800—HAGOPIAN
(424-6742)

- Allan Gale,
Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit

(c) Jewish Renaissance Media, Feb. 21, 2008

4 995

Rug Care Centers

Oak Park
8 Mile W / Coolidge

Novi
Birmingham
Ann Arbor
12 Mile & Novi Rd S. Old Woodward N 14 1 12 The Courtyard Shops

February 21 A 2008

A17

