DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD.
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It Doesn't Have
To Cost A Fortune…
Only Look Like It!
Complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling
as well as furniture design and installations
including granite, wood and other materials.
Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989
me — I’m valuable!’ That’s the basic
concept of our program: to give people
confidence to get involved in actively
finding a job and marketing their skills
effectively.”
This year alone, the program has
assisted in placing nearly 50 people in
13-week internships. As part of the pro-
gram, JVS offers employers qualified job
candidates, pays the intern’s wages for
the duration of the 40-hour-per-week
internship and provides ongoing sup-
port for the entire internship period.
“The goal of the internship is to get
one’s foot in the door, which would
hopefully lead to a regular full-time job,”
Baltrusaitis added. “Almost half of the
people we’ve sent as interns have gained
employment, which is a great statistic.
Even those who weren’t retained by that
first company have been instilled with
the confidence to move forward and
have found other jobs elsewhere in a
relatively short time.
“That’s the real key to the program’s
success: giving people that initiative,
that enthusiasm. That’s where I can
connect with my clients. They know
I’ve been unemployed and in the same
situation as them. I know what they’re
going through and can understand and
offer personal support. If we can make
a connection from the emotional side,
then we can lift people up and increase
their chances for finding a job they’ll be
qualified for as well as really enjoy.”
The program involves a weekly class,
held at JVS on Mondays from 3-5 p.m.
It’s an interactive forum, where partici-
pants (usually a small group of under
10) share both frustrations and suc-
cesses in the job-seeking arena.
However, he pointed out, unlike some
of JVS’ other job-assistance programs
that have a specific duration, the New
Experiences Internship Program doesn’t
operate with a finite beginning and end
time. “It’s an ongoing workshop, whose
goal is to magnify individuals’ success
by coming together as a group.”
The internship program has part-
nered with all types of employers, and
some have even requested multiple
placements. Baltrusaitis noted the oldest
participant JVS placed in an internship
was 74.
“There wasn’t anyone serving the
older worker population, an almost
forgotten demographic,” Baltrusaitis
said. “Helping them gain skills and
confidence is very fulfilling for me. If
I, and the tremendous staff at JVS, can
give these people hope, build them up
and increase their self-esteem, that’s my
reward. I’m lucky to be working with
this program.”
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18 December 1 • 2016
Anyone interested in joining the program can
contact Baltrusaitis at JVS, (248) 233-4288, or
gbaltrusaitis@jvsdet.org.
Heschel To Speak
At Adat Shalom
F
or its SYNergy Shabbat, Dec.
9-11, Adat Shalom Synagogue
is bringing in Susannah
Heschel, American scholar and pro-
fessor of Jewish studies at Dartmouth
College, who will speak on three
occasions over the weekend.
Heschel’s schol-
arship focuses on
Jewish-Christian
relations in
Germany during
the 19th and 20th
centuries, and the
histories of biblical
Susannah
scholarship and
Heschel
of anti-Semitism.
She has received
many grants and awards, including
four honorary doctorates. She has
also edited, translated and published
numerous works by her father, Rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel, who
marched with Martin Luther King Jr.
— and is considered a leading Jewish
theologian and philosopher of the
20th century.
Following a Shabbat-Appella
Service at 5 p.m. Friday will be a din-
ner and a presentation by Heschel
on “Essential Writings of Abraham
Joshua Heschel.”
On Shabbat morning, she
will speak on “Human Dignity
in Judaism: Divinely Bestowed,
Humanly Performer.” That afternoon,
following Kiddush, she will discuss
“The Jewish Fascination with Islam:
The History of Jewish Scholarship
on Islam and its Impact on Modern
Jewish Self-Understanding.”
At 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning,
an excerpt will be shown of the film
Shared Legacies: Honoring the Black/
Jewish Civil Rights Alliance. Heschel
will moderate a Q&A session follow-
ing the film.
Other SYNergy offerings include
a 9:45 a.m. Shabbat morning Torah
study session with Rabbi Jason Miller
and Soulful Yoga with Rabbi Rachel
Shere at 10 a.m.
The Friday evening program is
co-sponsored by the JCRC/AJC. The
Sunday event is co-sponsored by
Hadassah Greater Detroit.
Dinner is $56 per household or $25
per adult; $13 for child ages 3-12; no
charge for children under 3. Dinner
reservations are required. There is no
charge for other programming. The
community is welcome.
Complete details and response
information are available at www.
adatshalom.org or call Adat Shalom
at (248) 851-5100.
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