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6 June 9 2016

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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T

his winter, Detroit Jews for Justice
(DJJ) asked ourselves, Why is
it time to care? We wanted to
inspire our Jewish community to action
on an issue we feel profoundly reflects our
values. When we learned that almost half of
all private sector workers don
t receive paid
sick leave, and that single
mothers and people of
color are disproportion-
ately affected by this lack
of rights, we knew that it
was time to act.
Inspired by our tradi-
tion and refusing to accept
the status quo, we set an
ambitious goal to collect
1,000 signatures for the
MI Time To Care campaign.

Jews have a very proud history of leader-
ship in the Labor Movement,
said our direc-
tor, Rabbi Alana Alpert.
We see this work as
a continuation of a sacred legacy.

DJJ Organizing Team leaders Nora
Feldhusen and Oren Brandvain said, There
are people in the Jewish community who are
directly affected by this issue, particularly

those who are low-
income, women and
people of color.

Beyond contributing to the success of
an important cause, DJJ also felt that our
participation in the ballot initiative provided
many opportunities for Metro Detroit Jews
and Jewish institutions to gain organizing
experience and to build relationships both
inside and outside of DJJ.
We did it!
We rallied 50 leaders to circulate the peti-
tion, surpassing our goal in fewer than three
months. Our leaders went to local institu-
tions and events (Jewish and non-
Jewish)
to gather signatures on 22 occasions. In
addition, we hosted five educational pro-
grams on Time to Care in partnership with
local Jewish communities, including events
at local synagogues and private homes. At
these programs, we discussed the history of
DJJ and our mission, offered background on

earned sick time and the ballot initiative, col-
lected signatures and trained circulators.
We have been thrilled by the success of
our Time to Care efforts and particularly
proud that it has helped us achieve our
goal of showing emerging DJJ leaders and
our broader Jewish community what social
action that addresses racial and economic
injustice can look like.
Next fall, we will continue our commit-
ment to the Time to Care campaign, pend-
ing the issue getting on the ballot. We will
engage members of the local Jewish commu-
nity in Time to Care educational program-
ming and recruit volunteers for Get Out the
Vote activities preceding the election.
We hope you
ll join us because it is
time to care! *

Blair Nosan is program director for Detroit Jews

for Justice, www.detroitjewsforjustice.org.

Blair Nosan

Eleanor Gamalski gets folks to sign

the
Time to Care
petitions as part of

a Purim spiel.

guest column

It
s Time To Care

Alyah

Al-azem,

Nora

Feldhusen

and S
am

Levinson

signing

petitions

commentary

Regional Transit Needed Now
I

never want to have to tell
someone,
Sorry, we can
t help
you. Yet the number of those
looking for a daily ride to their job
the number we have to turn
away is startling.
In most cities around the coun-
try, seniors, people with disabili-
ties and anyone without a vehicle
can count on regional public tran-
sit to get them to work and their
daily appointments. This, how-
ever, is not the case in Southeast
Michigan, where too often severely discon-
nected and underfunded regional transit
is unable to meet the needs of the most
vulnerable population.
As part of Jewish Family Service of
Metropolitan Detroit
s mission to strength-
en lives in Southeast Michigan, we offer
door-to-door and cross-county rides. We
are one of a few services like this and see
an overwhelming demand of people who
simply cannot easily or quickly get where
they need to go.
We, unfortunately, just can
t meet all the
demand, as over 60 percent of our time is
booked with standing appointments for
people who need to get to an adult day

program or rehabilitation facil-
ity multiple times a week. We are
struggling with finding another
provider to refer our clients to
when we are unable to schedule
the ride, as most of our riders
need door-through-door assis-
tance, rarely offered anywhere
else.
Many people who rely on
regional transit to maintain their
independence are negatively
impacted by the disjointed system
in Southeast Michigan. They often cannot
rely on public transit if they need to travel
across county lines, such as from Oakland
to Wayne for a doctor
s appointment.
It
s not just seniors and people with dis-
abilities or workers who are struggling.
Our services depend on a team of com-
mitted volunteers. That commitment to
making a difference is sometimes unfairly
challenged by unreliable regional transit.
We are regularly forced to travel and pick
up our volunteers because they do not
have access to connected regional transit
to get them to us, especially if they live in
a different county or even township than
they volunteer in.

Connected public transit in Southeast
Michigan is about increasing access and
opportunity for everyone. According to the
Brookings Institution, 78 percent of jobs
in Southeast Michigan cannot be reached
within 90 minutes on public transit. That
s
simply unacceptable.
We can and must do better. That
s why
we have joined A Coalition for Transit
(ACT) to stand with others in Southeast
Michigan and say
enough! We need
strong, connected regional transit across
our four counties Oakland, Wayne,
Macomb and Washtenaw.
No one should ever be unable to get to
their job, a doctor
s appointment or the
grocery store. The people we strive so hard
to serve and the future growth and
vitality of our region are counting on us
to get this right.
Please visit www.acoalitionfortransit.
com today to learn more and get involved.
Together, we can make frequent, reliable
and connected regional transit a reality in
Southeast Michigan. *

Yuliya Gaydayenko, LMSW, MA, is senior director

of Older Adult Services at Jewish Family Service of

Metropolitan Detroit.

Yuliya

Gaydayenko,

LMSW, MA