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Coordinated Efforts
Politicians tour Jewish agencies.
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Congressmen-elect
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Gilda Jacobs meet
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Photo by Fred Levine
P.J. Cherrin
Special to the Jewish News
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December 25 * 2008
ocial welfare and mental
health services provided by
Jewish communal agencies
were showcased at a Dec. 15 agency
tour for U.S. Congressmen-elect Gary
Peters, D-District 9, who represents
most of Oakland County, and Mark
Schauer, D-District 7, who repre-
sents Jackson, Lenawee and most of
Washtenaw Country.
Accompanied by State Sen. Gilda
Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, the
newly elected legislators visited agen-
cies and met with leadership from
Friendship Circle in West Bloomfield,
Jewish Apartments & Services (JAS) in
Southfield, JARC in Farmington Hills,
Jewish Family Service (JFS) in West
Bloomfield, JVS and Kadima, both in
Southfield. All are agencies that pro-
vide services on a non-sectarian basis
to vulnerable at-risk populations.
The program included tours of a
JARC home, the Friendship Circle and
the Meer Jewish Apartments, followed
by presentations and a discussion with
lay and professional leadership from
all the participating agencies.
The tour was sponsored by the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Government Relations
Oversight Committee (GROC).
Jewish communal social service
agencies work together to provide
services for vulnerable populations,
including support services for children
with developmental disabilities and
their families (JARC and Friendship
Circle); residential, case management
and employment services for adults
with developmental disabilities (JARC
and JVS); a continuum of services
for vulnerable older adults, including
housing, in-home supports, day care,
transportation and case management
(JAS, JFS and JVS); and residential and
support services for adults with chronic
mental illness (Kadima, JFS and JAS).
The congressmen-elect left with an
understanding of how Jewish commu-
nal agencies coordinate their services
and use their government funding to
leverage philanthropic dollars, which
enhance and fill the gaps in the gov-
ernment-funded services and enable
the agencies to serve more people.
GROC co-chair Dennis Bernard
delivered a clear message: "Our coor-
dinated efforts allow us to eliminate
duplication and maximize communal
and government resources. Private
contributions are used for infrastruc-
ture and administration, allowing all
government dollars to be used for
direct services to clients."
During these challenging economic
times nationally, and particularly in
Michigan, GROC's overriding goal is
to protect current governmental fund-
ing for mental health, health care and
social services for the Jewish commu-
nal agencies, especially Medicare and
Medicaid dollars.
"Federation and its affiliated agen-
cies run a very lean operation:' Marc
Weinbaum of GROG, told the politi-
cians."These agencies leverage state
and federal funds in a meaningful
way. Sustaining the high quality of
social and mental health services is a
partnership of government dollars and
philanthropic support."
Both Peters and Schauer expressed
appreciation for the tour and voiced
their intention of supporting legisla-
tion that strengthens critical social
service safety nets.
❑
P.J. Cherrin is assistant director, public
affairs, of the Jewish Community Relations
Council of Metropolitan Detroit.