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