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in
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JFS Historical Highlights

continued from page 37

1928

• The Jewish Social Service Bureau is incorporated to pro-
mote “family welfare and welfare of children among the
Jewish people of Detroit and environs.”

1930s

• The first Homemaker Service Program in Michigan is started
to serve children in homes with an ill or absent mother.

One of the agency’s first buildings was on
Second Avenue in Detroit.

1940s

• The agency’s focus with children shifted to foster care and
residential treatment of children, services to unmarried par-
ents and adoptive couples.

1950s

• Department of Services for the Aged is created; group home
for teens started.

1960s

Senior Director of Family Life and Wellness Erica Saum role plays as she leads an
ASIST workshop on suicide awareness and prevention.

The agency added family therapy.

remains to be done, but we will
not be stagnant.”
The agency’s responsiveness is
one of the things that attracted
Debbie Feit of
Farmington,
who has been its
communications
manager for the
past three years
after a career in
advertising.
“This is the
Debbie Feit
first nonprofit
I’ve worked for
and making that transition has
been very satisfying to me, even
if my role is a small one. It has
been fascinating to see just how
much we do and have evolved
over the years,” said Feit, 50. “You
don’t have to be Jewish and if we
can’t help you, we will refer you to
someone who can.”
That’s a message JFS, which
helps some 14,000 people each
year, works hard to deliver.
“Oftentimes the perception is,
‘JFS isn’t for me. It’s for a poor
person on the other side of town,’”
said Ohren, 55, of Huntington
Woods. “We are not just for some-
one who is disenfranchised; we are
there for people going through all
sorts of problems or transitions or
challenges. You can be the wealthi-
est person in Detroit and still
benefit from our services. Though
we were founded to help people
who didn’t have two nickels to rub
together, that is simply a piece of
what we do. We are there for peo-
ple when they are going through
something, and that in some ways
is a well-kept secret.”

LOVING SUPPORT

Michele and Michael Colton of
Franklin have each volunteered
their time — and
hearts — through
JFS’ Mentor
Connection.
“I was a
mentor to two
young men,”
said Michael,
63, whose own
Michael and
father died when
Michele Colton
Michael was just
11. “I think it’s essential, and it
became personal for me. I have
three sons of my own and it was
a rewarding experience parenting
them. All three are grown so I had
that jones I had to feed.”
He attended one of the teen’s bar
mitzvah years ago and still keeps
in touch with the young man, who
is now in college. “We had lunch
about nine months ago and he is
blossoming,” he reported.
Michele, 56, had a more chal-
lenging time with her mentee, an
independent-minded teen from
Pontiac. “I saw her every few
weeks for five years. Toward her
later years, I was hoping to have
a real impact, but, by the end, I
was amazed that she graduated
and was not pregnant,” she said.
“She seemed to care about me, but
she wanted to hang out with her
friends, and I ended up being more
of a support system to her grand-
mother.”
These days, Michele has
befriended two senior citizens
through JFS. She plays Scrabble
weekly with a 92-year-old woman
in hospice and takes a 77-year-old
shopping each week and is in the

continued on page 40

38

May 17 • 2018

jn

• Beginning of group therapy
• In response to the Detroit riots, the Housing Relocation
Program is created to move Jewish families from the inner
city to subsidized housing near Jewish facilities.
• Volunteer services formally organized as an entity within the
agency.

1970s

JFS established group homes for
the elderly.

• Kosher Meals on Wheels is initiated with the NCJW and the
Jewish Federation apartments.
• JFS defines poverty as a continuing issue in the Jewish
population and expands financial assistance services.
• Staff undertakes training in family treatment and offers ser-
vices that combine marital therapy, child-parent therapy and
treatment of the complete family unit.
• Group apartments for the elderly are established; the pro-
gram offers congregate housing and support services.

1980s

• In-home respite care started.
• JFS establishes the Skillman Project to work with issues of
neglect and physical and sexual abuse of children.

1990s

• Endowment campaign to fund WINDOWS, the agency’s
domestic violence prevention and treatment program (formerly
Skillman); opening of kosher shelter called “Safe Place” in
conjunction with NCJW; Reva Stocker lecture series begins.
• Transportation starts with one vehicle and three drivers.
• Resettlement of 7,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union.

2000s

Resettlement of Soviet Jews was a major
JFS project.

• Creation of Project Chessed, providing access to medical
care for uninsured Jewish adults.
• Emergency financial assistance in the face of the economic
downturn.
• Gave group apartments for the elderly (Coville Apartments)
to JSL.

2010s

• Emergency assistance during the flood of 2014.
• Focus on teen mental health; introduction of suicide preven-
tion trainings.
• Health care navigation.
• Wellness offerings such as walking group, book club, guest
speakers, diabetes management.

Ongoing

In 2014, JFS mobilized quickly to help
those devastated by flooding.

• Serving Holocaust survivors; in 2016, JFS received a grant
that marked the first time in history that the U.S. federal
government provided direct funding for survivor services.
• Responsiveness to community needs.