Health & Fitness

Worthy Role Model

Businesswoman earns plaudits for aiding less-privileged girls.

team five years ago. She led Dress for a
Dream, an initiative that provided prom
dresses and shoes for underprivileged
high school girls so they could attend the
t work, Marla Tapper Young is
senior prom. Dress for a Dream collected
part of ownership as well as
3,500 prom dresses.
customer relations manager at
"It was so devastating to
Tapper's Diamonds & Fine
me to think that a girl would
Jewelry. Outside the West
not attend her prom because
Bloomfield and Novi stores,
she couldn't afford the
she assists homeless and
clothes that would make her
high-risk girls and young
look and feel great," Young
women avoid violence, teen
told the IN.
pregnancy and exploitation.
Young's parents are Susan
For all her efforts, Young
and Howard Tapper of
earned an Emerging Leader
Bloomfield Hills. She's the
Award from Alternatives for
niece of Patti and Steven
Girls (AFG) at the Detroit-
Tapper of Orchard Lake.
based nonprofit group's
"I was blessed to be born
20th annual role model din-
and raised by a solid, sup-
ner on April 30. She and her Marla Tappe r Young
portive family," Young said.
husband, Brian, live in West
"I was given every opportunity by my
Bloomfield.
family, schools and teachers, and com-
AFG, founded in 1987, provides safe
munity; this truly is a blessing and is
shelter, educational support, skills devel-
totally by chance!"
opment, mentoring and counseling.
AFG's southwest Detroit building
Its goal is to empower girls and young
includes residential shelter housing for
women to make positive choices.
up to 35 young women and up to 10 chil-
Young, 31, joined the AFG volunteer

Robert Sklar
Editor

A

dren. It features a library, kitchen, com-
puter center, health screening room, two
parenting centers, classrooms, an arts
and crafts center, counseling rooms and a
resource center for walk-in clients.
The women whom AFG supports didn't
choose the lifestyles they were born into,
Young stressed. "Many of them:' she said,
"are simply not aware of life's opportuni-
ties like education, careers, high-quality
families and values. They live the life
they see and know, and so do not build
the proper self-esteem and self-worth to
live good, healthy, clean lifestyles!"
Today, Young participates in AFG
fundraisers. She previously served on the
Women's Advisory Group. "My husband
and I will become mentors this year
— hopefully, to a brother and sister in
Detroit through AFG," she said.
Part of Young's inspiration is the
Tapper family's strong commitment to
community involvement — as individu-
als and as a company.
"My family has raised me to under-
stand that running a business in a vac-
uum is not an option," Young said. "We
are all part of a local, national and global

community; as a human being, we are all
responsible for one another!'
Young embraces that responsibility.
"I want to show the girls and young
women of AFG what is out there:' Young
said.
"I want to teach them how to reach
higher, giving support and encourage-
ment and building their self-esteem!"

By The Numbers

During fiscal year 2005-2006, AFG:
• Provided 8,909 nights of care to
homeless young women and their
children;
• Provided 1,597 outreach hours
to young and adult women on the
streets;
• Engaged 176 elementary and
high school girls in ongoing after-
school academic and cultural enrich-
ment programming.

Source: www.alternativesforgirls.org

Art for Life

Show marks 10 years
of senior service.

T

he Dorothy and Peter Brown
Jewish Community Adult Day
Care Program is celebrating
10 years of service dedicated to assist-
ing older adults with memory disorders
remain able actuve and alert.
The environment at the Brown Centers
— Southfield at JVS, and West Bloomfield
at Jewish Home and Aging Services — is
designed to enhance the self-esteem,
wellbeing and dignity of each participant.
Through a partnership in caregiving, the
program enables family members to keep
their loved ones at home.
The 10th anniversary will be celebrated
in conjunction with the second annual Art
for Life boutique show, Thursday-Friday,
May7-8, at the Jewish Community Center
in West Bloomfield.
There will be a special breakfast, which
has been provided for by an anonymous
donor, and a preview prior to the opening
of the Art for Life Show. Sponsorships are
available.

At the West Bloomfield Brown Center this winter, Dorothy Lieberman enjoys

expressing her creativity in painting colorful designs.

All proceeds from Art for Life will ben-
efit the older adults with Alzheimer's- and
dementia-related disorders that the pro-
gram serves.
Art for Life is jointly sponsored by JVS,
JHAS, the JCC and the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit.
Geri Margolis is show chair. Susan
Brown Lewis is honorary chair.
Committee members include Elaine

Beresh, Geri Litt, Sheila Levine, Lainie
Lipschutz, Dana Lowenstein, Fran Martin,
Shirley Schang and Susan Weinstock, with
support from Noemi Herzig, the Active
Life director at the JCC; Leah Rosenbaum,
executive vice president and COO, JVS;
Carol Rosenberg, executive director, JHAS;
and Peter Ostrow, director, Dorothy and
Peter Brown Jewish Community Adult
Day Care Program.

Brown Program participant Seymour
Lansat and Art for Life committee
member Dana Lowenstein help greet
customers at the Brown Program booth
during last year's Art for Life.

❑

May 7 3 2009 Cl