Camp Guide Join us for an incredible summer of fu ! Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit's From Camn "'"n Work Center Day Camp Jewish campers with developmental disabilities train to get jobs. June 22-August 14,2015 2 The only camp where YOU choose the program! + NEW for 2015: Minecraft, Advanced Glass and Ceramics, "Frozen" and a revamped, three-week theater camp! + One-week and four-week camps, with swimming lessons, sports, canoe, zipline, archery, arts and crafts and much more! + Licensed and accredited by the State of Michigan and the American Camping Association + Jewish programming and values + FREE chaperoned transportation to and from most locations in Metro Detroit Raft! Wineburg JTA + Early bird, referral and membership discounts + Programming for children with special needs + Located on more than 200 beautiful wooded acres with archery, gaga pits, pond and nature trails, out- door and two indoor pools EBREW IM Facilitated by counselors from Israel, this camp offers everything from sports to crafts to games in Hebrew, guaranteeing a fun and dynamic learning experience. Register early! ( all-Hehrew language camp is limited to 30 participants. Thisi1111111 il110M. THE AREIVIM PHILANTHROPIC GROUP Please join us for informational meetings at 6 p.m. at the JCC in West Bloomfield Thursday, February 12 I Wednesday, March 25 Monday, April 27 I Tuesday, May 12 For information: http://wbcamp.jccdet.org or call 248.432.5578. Fig Supported by s .‘ p,RTS HERE! THE CENTER DAY CAMPS The Jewish Federation OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus 6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322 www.jccdet.org 1963200 EPIC We Know How to Save! Get The Jewish News For Only $491! Feature your business with OyWhataDeal to acquire quality and eager new customers via risk-free and highly-targeted marketing. By running an offer with 1111=1 so Star t- 0P MEt ra •• ■ ••• ■ ••••••• TIE °. OyWhataDeal, your promotion will be e-mailed to thousands of loyal subscribers who will read about your offer, visit your website, share your business with their friends and follow you on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. 30 February 5 • 2015 JN ike many 22-year-olds, Ben Nadis has joined the work-a-day world. He enjoys his job as a courtesy clerk at the Kroger supermarket near his home in Farmington Hills, bagging gro- ceries and retrieving carts, among other things. Ben, however, isn't like most 22-year- olds. He was born with developmental disabilities. Ben excels at some complex tasks that others might find challenging — like reading from the Torah on the synagogue bimah. But he has dif- ficulties with some things often taken for granted — under- Ben Nadis standing instructions, thinking abstractly and effectively com- municating. His father, Ronn, said he was "always hopeful" that his son would find a job, but also "feared that there would be no way into the workforce' For the past year and a half, Ben has awoken each morning, showered, brushed his teeth and driven to work on his own. "I feel good about myself'," he said. "I feel independent:" He thought for a moment, and added, And I get paid, too, which is great!" Ben is a graduate of Camp Ramah Wisconsin's Atzmayim (Hebrew for "inde- pendent") program — one of the Ramah Camping Movement's four vocational pro- grams designed to strengthen the social and independent-living skills of individu- als with disabilities aged 18 to 25. An extension of Ramah's Tikvah pro- gram, which serves approximately 320 campers with learning, developmental, cognitive and social disabilities through- out the Conservative camp network's eight facilities, Atzmayim is part of a growing phenomenon in the Jewish camp sector: camp-based vocational programs. In addition to Ramalis four programs, there are at least 18 other Jewish camp- based vocational programs, plus at least three new ones opening this summer. Howard Blas, Tikvah director, says he gets calls "all the time" from camps interested in starting their own vocational programs. Many camps see vocational education as the logical next step for the inclusion programs they already have in place for youths with disabilities. "I think that for a young person who grew up in the camp and who knows camp, it's an ideal place to do this:' said Bobby Harris, director of the Reform movement's URJ Camp Coleman, which added a vocational program for the first time last summer. An 'Exploding' Demand Lisa Tobin, director of disabilities initia- tives at the Foundation for Jewish Camp, says the programs are proliferating to meet increased demand. Blas explains what he describes as an "exploding" demand this way: "I think everyone is thinking about what happens to their children as they get older and how they are going to have a meaningful life." Blas has extended the cutoff age for vocational program participants at Ramah New England from 22 to 25 and brought in personal job coaches to work with them. The programs vary at each site. Camp Ramah in California, for example, has an in-camp cafe run entirely by individu- als with social and cognitive disabilities. Camp Ramah Wisconsin partners with local businesses in the nearby town of Eagle River. Ben Nadis worked as a cour- tesy clerk at Trig's supermarket in Eagle River and then at his local Kroger. Other participants in the Ramah Wisconsin program have catalogued books in the library, taken orders at cafes or worked in Eagle River's children's museum. For the participants, the learning expe- rience is as much about honing daily life skills as it is mastering or executing tasks. "We are not just working on technical skills; we are working on getting up on time, asking questions, learning to follow rules, dealing with anger management:' said Ralph Schwartz, Ramah Wisconsin's director of special needs. Ara I Ink;11 Interest in vocational programs reflects not only the Jewish camps' broader effort to be a more inclusive community, but also the uphill battle that many people with disabilities face when looking for work; the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is more than 80 percent. "Employment is a positive thing for anyone, but for people with disabilities, having a job can have a positive impact on life satisfaction:' said Joe Goldfarb, direc- tor of summer programs at Yachad, the National Jewish Council for Disabilities. Yachad, an organization under the