17
OTHER VI
Hillel Day School's Prudence
read Editor Robert Sldar's commen-
tary, "Stronger School Leadership,"
with much interest. Day school
governance has become a central focus
in the national "conversation" about the
effectiveness of Jewish day schools.
PEJE, the Partnership in Excellence in
Jewish Education, recently completed a
strategic plan that will change its focus
to school governance and leadership,
helping Jewish day schools across the
country professionalize their opera-
tions in order to manage costs, preserve
affordability and build excellence.
While I appreciate Mr. Sklar's confi-
dence in Detroit's local day schools, I
am only qualified to speak about Hillel.
Hillel Day School's leadership takes
seriously all of its responsibilities,
including those effecting governance,
fiscal management, strategic planning
and fundraising. For the past seven
years, Hillel has balanced its budget,
operates debt free and has a reserve
account in order to respond to unex-
pected emergencies.
As our immediate past president, Jim
Berger, likes to say, Hillel is in
sight and works in concert
the elite 4 percent of Jewish
with the professional leader-
day schools that are debt free.
ship. The partnership between
While managing tuition is a
the Hillel board and the pro-
serious challenge, our tuition
fessional leadership has been
is still among the lowest of all
the key to Hillel's success.
independent schools in the
Hillel is also blessed to
area.
have the incredible support
We keenly recognize that
of the Jewish Federation of
tuition increases have to be
Metropolitan Detroit. It is a
Steve
managed, and as the study
key partner and supporter.
Freedman
Mr. Sklar refers to suggests,
Its annual allocations, along
Community
the ultimate answer includes
with the Shiffman Family
View
better communal fundraising
Day School Tuition Assistance
and endowments and the abil-
Fund, help us to meet the
ity to think out of the box and combine
increasing need for financial assistance
resources of local organizations.
among a large segment of our com-
It is nothing less than remarkable that munity. It also allowed Hillel to launch
Hillel has managed, again, to create a
the new Variable Rate Tuition Program,
balanced budget for this fiscal year in
increasing allocations to middle-income
spite of being in the state at the center
families for the 2009-10 school year.
of the national economic crisis.
The school and our community are
The Hillel Board of Trustees not only
also profoundly grateful to the handful
develops financial strategic plans, but
of major donors who support us, along
also creates annual goals to ensure that
with an anonymous donor who has been
the plans are executed and achieved.
giving the school S500,000 annually.
The board maintains tight fiscal over-
The Hillel board, under the new lead-
ership of Nancy Adler, has recommitted
their efforts to manage costs and to
focus on fundraising and donor devel-
opment.
Hillel provides an outstanding edu-
cation. For five decades, Hillel has
produced our community and national
leaders, rabbis, educators, professionals
and business executives — all commit-
ted to the future of our Jewish commu-
nity and the Jewish way of life.
While it is the responsibility of the
professional staff to ensure that Hillel is
an excellent Jewish day school for our
current students, the board fully recog-
nizes and embraces its responsibility
to ensure that Hillel is strategically and
fiscally positioned to be an excellent
Jewish day school for generations to
come!
Steve Freedman is head of school at Hillel Day
School of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington
Hills.
Women Helping Women
M
arking 10 years of women
helping women, the Jewish
Women's Foundation of
Metropolitan Detroit (JIATF) hosted its
2009 "Women Lighting the Way" luncheon
on June 9.
Rather than the usual event, the JWF
invited Jewish women in the community
to a taste of the trustee experience — a
meeting to support and participate in a
critical needs allocation exercise and learn
a bit about grant making. Trustees meet
regularly at board and committee meet-
ings to plan and implement community
forums and an annual grant cycle.
This luncheon experience was one in
which we came together to nurture our
community by using our experience,
financial resources and creativity to bring
about change. Together, 160 participants
raised more than 523,000 for critical
needs in our Jewish community.
In 1999, the JWF began with a whisper
of three simple words, "Imagine the pos-
sibilities."We imagined what we could
accomplish if we combined our philan-
thropic dollars to build a fund that would
empower us to help the Jewish women
and girls of today, and also those of future
36
August 6 . 2009
generations.
With seed support from
the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit and the
United Jewish Foundation of
Metropolitan Detroit and 11
founding trustees, we launched
an inspired experiment in col-
lective philanthropy
We are now 189 trustees
strong and growing, with more
that 53.3 million in trustee
commitments and a S3 million
endowment.
In our 10 short years, we have
awarded more than S1 million in grants
and allocations. We are proud of that
accomplishment, but we have so much
more to do. We are addressing the real and
present issues and challenges to women
and girls in the community and in Israel
— and we are creating change.
Yes, Jewish women suffer from addic-
tion. Yes, women in our community are
victims of domestic abuse and violence.
Yes, Jewish girls need mentoring, as do
Jewish women in Michigan's prisons.
Because many single Jewish mothers
experience significant economic distress
and have nowhere to turn, they
need free loans to help them
through times of crisis.
Women of all ages and all
streams of Judaism seek educa-
tion and training. We are touch-
ing the lives of those who need
training to enter the job force
as well as older women, widows
and women with developmen-
tal and emotional disabilities
by awarding grants for a wide
variety of programs that enrich
their lives, prepare them for
new challenges and protect
them from the ravages of isolation. We
offer hope and a sense of belonging to a
community that cares.
We also respond quickly to urgent needs
outside of our regular grant cycles. In
2006, when war broke out on the Israel-
Lebanon border, we provided funds for
crisis intervention and post-traumatic
stress-counseling services for families in
areas under intense rocket attack.
Last year, we provided funds for
resettlement services and counseling in
the wake of the devastating Hechtman II
Jewish Apartments fire.
And throughout the past fiscal year,
we disbursed almost S100,000 to help
community agencies meet the enormous
need for emergency assistance to Jewish
families.
The candlesticks on our logo speak to
our heritage, passing inspiration from
generation to generation and to a future of
"Women Lighting the Way." There truly is
no limit to the positive change that we can
make so long as we continue to pool our
resources and imagine the possibilities.
We are bringing about change as only
women can — for women, by women.
Margo Halperin of Birmingham is founding
chair of the Jewish Women's Foundation.
For information about the JWF
and trustee commitments, contact
Director Helen Katz: (248) 203-1483
or katz®jfmd.org with the subject
line stating "JWF inquiry." To learn
about JWF grant awards and the
grant application process, go to the
JWF Web site:
www.jewishdetroit.org/jwf.