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— N PR
to the ocean, Acker says. Craft for
Community had a soft launch in
November and started hosting
groups in December 2017.
The project was self-funded, and
they’ve now started a GoFundMe
crowdfunding page to help finance
the addition of an outdoor learning
center.
Today, they partner with two area
nonprofits to help find, house and
support volunteers at their center.
The program was built as a social
enterprise, Acker adds, so a percent-
age of fees from programs guests
choose to participate in are donated
to the local nonprofits.
“People always ask us, ‘Why El
Tránsito?’” Cooper says. “We just had
this feeling — when we walked on
the beach there, we saw all the fisher-
men walking with their catch there.
We just had this magical moment of
knowing this was our community.”
The pair, who live in the village
with their 1-year-old son, James,
are getting ready to welcome visi-
tors from Michigan — February and
March at their lodge are almost com-
pletely booked already, with Temple
Israel slated to bring a group of high
school students in April. “We really
want to work with groups to make
the experience meaningful for them,
and the way we do that is by craft-
ing an itinerary that meets both the
needs of the group and the needs of
the community,” Acker says.
“We wanted to live in a beauti-
ful place, for our son to grow up
speaking both languages and have a
cultural experience,” he adds. At the
same time, they wanted to do some-
thing more than just run a hotel on
the beach.
“We knew we had to be mentshes
in that way, and we wanted to give
back to the community and create
meaningful experiences for people
to change the way they think and be
cognizant about being better people.
We know that our program can really
offer travelers that experience, to bet-
ter themselves and also better a com-
munity while also on vacation.”
Growing up with a Jewish back-
ground also taught them about
connecting with others. Acker spent
nine years at Hillel Day School,
where his mother was a teacher, and
grew up at Adat Shalom Synagogue,
both in Farmington Hills. Cooper’s
grandparents on her father’s side are
Holocaust survivors.
“We are very culturally Jewish
— we do seders and fast on Yom
Kippur,” he says. “But what a lot of
that has really taught us is to build
empathy for your fellow human
being, and we think this project goes
a long way in terms of trying to build
that empathy between cultures.”
Dr. Michael Treblin, who lives in
West Bloomfield and who, with his
family, spent years living across the
street from the Ackers, says he’s been
amazed to see the couple’s project
unfold. “I watched him grow up, and
now he’s carving a place out of the
jungle and making a magnificent
project, he and his wife,” Treblin says.
“It’s something to behold.”
He says he’s not surprised that
Acker, who has always had an adven-
turous and compassionate spirit,
and Cooper have undertaken such
an endeavor. “They came up with
what sounds like a winner of an idea,”
he says. “And we’ll keep our fingers
crossed. Hopefully, it’ll catch on
because it sounds great.” •
W I NN ER ! BR OA DWAY.C OM ’ S AU DIE N C E C HOIC E AWA R D F OR BE S T MUSIC A L
!$ #
BroadwayInDetroit.com,
ticketmaster.com, 800-982-2787 & box office 313-872-1000. Groups (12+):
6:30PM Feb. 11.
Groups@BroadwayInDetroit.com or 313-871-1132.
22
January 18 • 2018
jn
Jared Acker and Jennifer Cooper with their son, James, in the town of El Tránsito