Facing The Downturn

ON THE COVER

Learning The Ropes

JVS' Paul Blatt
felt unemployment
firsthand.

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

0

nly seven months ago, Paul
Blatt was unemployed. Now
he's director of career and busi-
ness services for JVS, bringing firsthand
knowledge to his work with the agency's
career counselors and those they help find
employment in Michigan's dismal eco-
nomic climate.
Blatt, 39, was without a full-time job for
13 months. Time enough for his stay-at-
home wife, Faye, to pick up work from her
former employer. Time enough for Blatt
to use skills he didn't even know he had
by taking any job that came his way. Time
enough for the family to cut expenses to
the bare minimum, including giving up
their house phone and shutting off the
cable TV service at their Oak Park home.
Time enough, too, for Blatt to know the
despair that comes with trying your hard-
est to find a job in tough economic times.
Despite job experience in human resourc-
es, headhunting and recruiting, Blatt
found rejection even after getting second
and third interviews for jobs. He even was
turned away by a fresh-faced teen at Taco
Bell, who doubted he would remain in the
job long enough to merit training.
Blatt had been a director for the United
Automobile Workers' Ford Community
Centers in Dearborn and at Wayne State
University in Detroit. He loved his job. As

Ford and the UAW got closer to settling
their contract, the UAW decided not to
negotiate for the centers, concentrating on
wages and benefits instead. The program
was shut down in April 2007.
"We were living tight already" Blatt said.
"We had nothing in savings; we were just
making it. We got into survival mode"
He didn't figure he'd get into "pride
mode," too.
"Most job seekers don't want to say they
have no job:" he said. "There's a stigma. But
my wife looked at me one day and said,
`I'm telling everybody! I wasn't ready for it,
but it was the right thing to do:'

Seeking Help

At his synagogue, Congregation Shir
Tikvah in Troy, he received five or six solid
job leads. Friends came through, too, with
leads and odd jobs. At one time, he was
working several jobs at a time — moving
furniture, wood working, whatever it took.
"It's incredible the people who would
call me with job leads',' he said. "It comes
from being part of the Jewish community"
A big worry was health insurance.
Spencer, now 7, and Amanda, now 4, went
on the state's MIChild program for their
medical needs. And just in time. Spencer
broke his collarbone the day after they
enrolled. Paul and Faye turned to Project
Chessed, a Jewish Family Service program
that provides medical assistance to unin-
sured Jewish adults.
When Blatt began experiencing anxiety
and panic attacks associated with the
stress of his situation, he was tested and
given medication by a doctor volunteering
with Project Chessed.
"They have incredible integrity:' he said.

Source from page All

And as the needs have been exploding
throughout Federation partner agencies
(see related story), the dollars have to
measure up or the system fails.

Feeling The Pain

The Detroit Jewish community has sev-
eral challenges to face.
Since 1990, the number of Federation
donors has decreased from 16,500 to
9,700. This decline has been caused by
a number of factors, "including a Jewish
population that has decreased from
the 1990 level of 95,000 to the latest
2005 Detroit Jewish population figure

Al2

February 5 • 2009

iN

Beverly Liss

Gary Shiffman

of 72,000:' said Lisa Cutler, Federation's
Campaign and community development
director. "Factor in a Detroit Jewish com-
munity that has felt the pain of recession
much longer than any other region in this
country, and it's easy to see why there are

The Blatts at home: Spencer, 7, Paul, Faye and Amanda, 4

Blatt knew about JVS and its employment
support services but, he said, "I couldn't
bring myself to come in. I didn't know
what they did. I did keep hearing about
ParnossahWorksDetroit.org [a job search
site connected to JVS), and I used it!'
He also began working with JVS
employment specialist Tsila Pleasant. One
day, he asked her about a blind posting on
the Web site that sounded perfect for him.
"She told me,`You would be my boss,"
Blatt said. Someone had left the position
and it just opened.
So after 13 months of searching and
often working 85-hour weeks at multiple
jobs, Blatt landed his JVS position. "It's
really a good fit;' he said.
"I think I have credibility during a sad

time. I listen during our Leads and Needs
group and tell them not to wait, to get
going now Take the job that presents itself
first and then work to get your career.
Do whatever it takes — that's what this
economy is about.
"And get over not wanting to come in
for help. There are incredible profession-
als putting their resources toward finding
jobs. I learned how incredible this Jewish
community is. I kept track and remember
all the people who helped me — and it
was the Jewish community. I see the sup-
port even more as a professional, but I
truly felt it as it was happening. I get No
Family Stands Alone now," the motto of
the Jewish Federation.
Blatt says his family's life is as stable as
it can be in this economy.
"I take nothing for granted;' he said. "I
am cautious, but thankful." I 1

fewer donors and why it's so important
for us to get everyone involved!"
The economic environment has affected
donors of both large and small amounts,
but a troubling trend has developed, said
Beverly Liss, Campaign co-chair.
"A new group of people are calling agen-
cies asking for help — the middle-class
who have lost their jobs and retired people
who have to go back to work:" Liss said.
"In the past two years, we have found that
some past donors are now recipients of
assistance. This is a terrible situation!"
The effect of the economy on major
donors is another consideration for
Federation.
Franklin philanthropist Mandell "Bill"

Berman, who served as Federation
president from 1972-75, said he can only
speak for himself.
"Yes, this is a difficult thing for me to
do, to maintain my gift where it is now:'
he said. "But I would not think of cutting
back in view of what's going on in the
world now."
Gary Shiffman, Campaign co-chair, is
confident that donors will come through.
"It's not so much a matter of confidence
as it is a sense of responsibility;' he said.
"It's what so many other Federations
across the country have admired about
the Detroit community — our deep corn-
mitment and sense of responsibility to
our community"

"They are keeping us healthy"

Finding JVS

