metro Grassroots Effort Supporters seek solutions to keep Oak Park JCC open and viable. Keri Guten Cohen Story Development Editor 0 ne week after two public forums were held to elicit comments about the possible closing of the Jimmy Prentis Morris Jewish Community Center in Oak Park, close to 100 people gathered Monday evening for a grassroots effort to keep their JCC open. JPM has been running a deficit of nearly $1 million for several years, and JCC and Jewish Federation leaders see closing it at the end of the fiscal year (May 31) as a part of a solution to the JCC's longtime debt problem. The JCC also includes the much-larger JCC in West Bloomfield, which leaders say has an annual deficit of about $200,000. Both cam- puses are home to apartment buildings for seniors run by Jewish Senior Life. Public forums held by JCC/Federation lay and professional leaders Jan. 12-13 drew a total of about 750 people. Leaders then People broke up into brainstorming groups to come up with suggestions. said the facility would remain Jewish and programming would continue, but perhaps under a different entity than the JCC. At both sessions, passion for JPM and its need to serve the Jewish community surrounding it was keenly evident. A grassroots group evolved from those forums with the mission of saving JPM. Hundreds of supporters already had signed on to Aaron Tobin's Facebook page (Save the Oak Park JCC); other names were added to a clipboard belonging to Ron and Phyllis Aronson of Huntington Woods, who gath- ered contact information during the forums. The result was this meeting at JPM. "There's a time to kvetch and a time to work:' Ron Aronson told the group. "Kvetching was last week We are here to use the incredible ideas that came up last week. This is not the kind of thing the JCC and Federation would do, but that we can do. We begin the process tonight:' People had plenty of questions and not "My father, Louis Berlin, is the third generation of my family to live in what is now Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit. He is living in the Meer Apartments and I am grateful for the wonderful environment provided to my dad." Joyce Weingarten so many concrete answers. They were not deterred, but determined to do what they could collectively to come up with solutions to keep JPM operating. Tobin and Aronson led the meeting, taking comments from the group and working hard to pinpoint areas where their suggestions might make a dif- ference. Getting a clear financial picture of what it takes to run JPM emerged as a major con- cern. "We can't even proceed because we have no financial information," said Jack Zwick of Southfield, a certified public accountant who also suggested a forensic accounting of the information once it is obtained. "We have to look at the [Federation] allocation, at fixed costs. We don't know this." John Klein of Oak Park said, "We need financial snapshots of what is spent and what is coming in ... We need to know how much we need to spend to keep JPM going." Many in the room agreed. JCC board member Bubba Urdan said the JCC audit for the last two years is complete. Late in 2013, inaccurate financial reports were discovered that overstated JCC revenues and under- stated liabilities, leading John Klein to hiring outside firm, Financial One Inc., to examine the JCC's books. At the same time, turnaround expert Jim Issner was brought in as interim executive director. After the meeting, Urdan said he spoke with Issner, who told him he welcomed a meeting to discuss the audits with the group's financial subgroup. Brainstorming Ideas Other concerns identified Monday by the group included membership, fundraising, marketing, customer service, cost-cutting Grassroots on page 18 ° ttaatelsOte cce/(10/4 Z/0-1/( Personal Care Services Available /00 ,;( AD, Ask about our MOVE-IN SPECIALS Complimentary JCC General Membership a residence of MEER APARTMENTS1 6760 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322 JEWISH SENIOR LIFE Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus For information or to schedule a tour call: Cd&I 16 January 22 • 2015 - Lay, it/'t% Marcia Mittelman at 248-661-1836 email: mmittelman@jsImi.org visit: www.jslmi.org for an application Voted Best in Senior Housing Detroit Jewish News reot rkn, 2n1"'