Publisher's Notebook TO BENEFIT PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES A Unique PartnerJltip L growing elderly and frail elderly populations? ast month's town hall-style meeting • What growing role can Hillels across sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Michigan play in helping to match college gradu- Metropolitan Detroit's CommunityNext ates with meaningful employment opportunities young adult initiative and hosted at Quicken Loans' throughout Southeastern Michigan? Detroit headquarters was refreshing for many • To lessen the stress on our community's safe- reasons. ty net of social and financial services by those Framed by Quicken CEO Dan Gilbert's big and who are unemployed or underemployed, can we bold vision for downtown Detroit and a "Web- have someone working under the umbrella of the ward Avenue technology corridor',' the grass-roots Federation CEO's office who eats, sleeps, thinks, gathering generated a stream of ideas, hopes and Art h ur NI. dreams, owns and does jobs every day for the challenges related to engaging young Jewish adults Hor Jewish community? in building a vibrant and vital urban presence and Publ isher • How are we anticipating Federation's all- helping to reverse a debilitating trend — the exodus of our children and grandchildren to other parts of the country. important annual campaign will be impacted by the deaths of significant donors and a general decline in the overall While many younger Jews are not animated by the thought number of contributors? of staying in (or returning to) Southeastern Michigan to live, work and play — having a dynamic urban core in Detroit is a Community infrastructure key ingredient for a revitalized city and alluring region. • If synagogue capacity, especially in the Conservative Our Federation leadership should be congratulated for movement, was built for a much larger population, should arranging this town hall meeting and open forum. As the current overhead and cost structures be sustained for Federation CEO Scott Kaufman posted on his Facebook page during the event, "super energy and passion at Quicken Loans another five years? Ten years? • Can the leadership of the Jewish Community Center tonight for the Detroit town hall meeting." But why stop with generate enough outside revenue over the next five to 10 one town hall meeting focused on engaging young Jewish years to maintain and sustain the largest facility of its kind adults with the city of Detroit? in North America without losing its Jewish character? There is a dizzying array of demographic and economic issues challenging our com- • Can the community continue to support the grow- ing financial needs of outreach organizations, such as munity and requiring a clear, compelling and realistic overall vision for a Jewish com- the Jewish Community Relations Council, the ADL and American Jewish Committee, even if some of their agendas munity that is smaller, older and less flush with assets and influence than it used to be. are overlapping? The challenge of attracting and retaining • Can the community complete the integration of Jewish Home & Aging Services and Jewish Apartments & Services young adults is one part of a bigger picture. Dan Gilbert into Jewish Senior Life, providing a model for future consol- Federation needs to paint that bigger pic- idations that could include services provided Jewish Family ture with us and for us. A series of energetic and passionate Services, JVS and Hebrew Free Loan? community-wide town hall meetings would • Given current and anticipated needs locally and in Israel and overseas, can Federation sustain its allocations model? provide Federation with grassroots input in constructing this overarching vision while securing the buy-in necessary for making Miscellaneous potentially tough decisions that recalibrate • Can we meet the needs of the Jewish community and become more engaged in helping to shape the future of long-standing funding models. Scott Detroit and Southeastern Michigan? Among the areas that could be explored Kaufman • Can we change the narrative about living, and living and discussed are the following: Jewishly, in Detroit and Southeastern Michigan and commu- nicate it effectively? Demographics Perhaps Federation can enlist Dan Gilbert and additional • Based on the latest projections, what will our community visionary community leaders to help host these town hall look like in five years? Ten years? meetings. In the new era of Facebook- and Twitter-fueled • How will the decline in school-age children impact our revolutions, engaging constituents at the grassroots level preschools, day schools, religious schools, day and overnight about our collective future — especially face to face — is camping programs and teen youth groups? always a good strategy. Hi •What additional resources will be needed to serve our STANDING L to R: Rabbi Levi Shemtov (Friendship Circle), Mark Lit (JCC), SEATED L to R: Rick Loewenstein (JARC), Barbara Nurenberg (JVS) THE CENTER pre GREAT PRIZES Travel Sports Shopping TICKETS $50 each # 3/$100 LICENSEE: ARC • STATE OF Ail(HIGAII RAFFLE 409122 Pctrchroe Tickets at SuperRaffie.org OR 248.538.6610 x349 February 24 R 2011 5