26 | NOVEMBER 14 • 2019
continued on page 28
L
eah Rosenbaum had recently
finished a degree in social work
and psychology at Michigan State
University and was considering a job in
disability insurance when, in 1979, she saw
a job listing at Jewish Vocational Services in
the Detroit Jewish News for a case-worker
position that fit her to a T.
“I remember reading the ad and thinking
that job is me,
” recalled Rosenbaum of her
first position at the agency. She remembers
thinking she would stay in the position and
at the agency for a year or so, until she got
bored or until the Michigan winters drove
her to search for a job in warmer climates.
Now, as she sets her sights on retirement
in 2020 from the agency she helped build
over the last 40 years, she still hopes to
spend the winter somewhere warm. But she
never for one minute got bored.
“
At JVS, we have strived to continually
change with the times while always focusing
on the dignity of the people served by JVS
to strive to get the outcome they want for
their own lives,
” Rosenbaum said. “That is
why I have stayed.
”
Rosenbaum’
s decades of service helped
the agency grow from a budget of $8
million to $26 million and a staff of more
than 400. In the last four decades, JVS
launched an adult day program for those
with dementia, developed services and
community integration for people with
disabilities, and expanded career services
for job seekers at every level and stage in
their career, including laid-off executives,
people experiencing homelessness and
women returning to work after a break.
As government funding shrank,
Rosenbaum spearheaded efforts to create
new revenue streams by creating eCycle
Opportunities, an electronics recycling
program that provides jobs for people with
barriers to employment, raises revenue for
agency services and keeps tons of electronic
parts out of landfills.
Under Rosenbaum’
s leadership, JVS
20 years ago established the Dorothy and
Peter Brown Jewish Community Adult
Day Program, designed to ease the way for
families who wanted to keep their loved
ones living with dementia in their own
homes at a time when nursing homes were
the only option. That program, operating
in partnership with Jewish Senior Life, has
blossomed into two locations in Southfield
and West Bloomfield.
“For the last 20 years, this program
has allowed people to maintain their
dignity as best they can in dealing with a
disease that is anything but dignifying,”
Rosenbaum said.
GREAT RECESSION YEARS
Over the years, Rosenbaum said she could
forecast the economy by who and how
many came into the JVS offices seeking
employment advice. It was during the
Great Recession of 2008-2009, when
Rosenbaum and her staff saw the numbers
of those seeking employment assistance,
that she realized that to help them, JVS
Dedicated
Service
After 40 years at JVS, CEO Leah Rosenbaum is retiring.
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
After 40 years of making an impact
at JVS, CEO Leah Rosenbaum plans
to retire in 2020.
Jews in the D
JOHN HARDWICK