18 | DECEMBER 5 • 2019 

Jews in the D

continued from page 16

their adult children when they were unable 
to do so. She was assigned to help a group of 
parents who formed the Parents Association 
for Jewish Residential Care in 1969. A few 
years later, the first JARC group home opened 
with six men and women residents, Alterman 
says. JVS and JFS were both involved with the 
home’
s residents and the program was a “col-
laborative community effort.
” 
More homes soon followed but community 
reaction to them was not always positive in 
the early years. One home in Pleasant Ridge 
was fire bombed, Alterman recalls. JARC 
makes special efforts to maintain their group 
homes and be good neighbors.
Joyce Keller joined the organization as 
executive director in 1978. She “took the orga-
nization to great heights” during her decades 
of leadership, according to Alterman. “People 
had a great quality of care.
”

A GOOD LIFE
Bob Boesky, 86, a retired CPA who lives in 
Florida, is one of the parents grateful for the 
constant care provided for his daughter Julie, 
57, who has lived at JARC residences since 
she was 18. “It has been an incredibly good 
experience for her and our family. JARC has 
made her life good for her,” he says. This is 
her second JARC home and Boesky says that 
she has been happy at both.
Boesky became connected with JARC 
when he did some accounting work there 
while Keller was executive director. His 
daughter was living at another organizational 
group home but when JARC had an opening, 
she moved. Julie works at JVS on a mobile 
crew that cleans apartments, which she likes, 
Boesky says. 
Her future was a serious worry for him 
after his first wife passed away; his other 
children don’
t live in the Detroit area. While 
there have been changes over the years, 
Boesky says that everything is working out. 
“JARC has made her life as close to perfect as 
it can be,” he says.
One of the major changes affecting JARC 
in recent years is the aging of some group 
home residents. Friedberg says that 50 to 60 
percent are now more than 60 years old.
“They have the challenges of aging we 
all have so there is a need for more staff,” 
Braunstein says. JARC’
s goal, she says, is for 

residents to remain at home throughout their 
lives, avoiding nursing homes and hospitals.
“Staffing is always a challenge; and this is 
not easy work. It’
s a national issue,” Friedberg 
says. JARC is committed to paying its direct 
support staff more than the allotment pro-
vided by Medicaid contracts — the source 
of most JARC funding — both as a form of 
equity for valued workers and to attract and 
recruit good staff members. 
To help with staff recruitment and reten-
tion, JARC offers a comprehensive benefit 
package and a full employee assistance pro-
gram, as well as vacations and guaranteed shift 
scheduling, which most other service agencies 
don’
t have, Braunstein says.
“Providing staff and funding for state-of-
the-art facilities and programs is an ongoing 
challenge,
” Luckoff says. About 75 percent 
of JARC’
s funding is governmental; and 
Braunstein describes Medicaid as “a moving 
target.
” 
However, Luckoff says JARC’
s financial situ-
ation is “very stable” and that it “has recovered 
or is on the road to recovery” from previous 
financial issues.
JARC’
s recent annual fundraiser Nov. 3 fea-
turing the band Earth, Wind and Fire raised 
$1.8 million from about 1,500 participants, he 
says, inspired partly by JARC’
s 50th anniver-
sary. Luckoff adds that JARC’
s donor base has 
increased by 300 this year. 
Philanthropy is essential for services and 
staffing that are not covered by government 

“My grandparents Ruth 

and Manuel Feldstein 

were part of the JARC 

founding families. We 

owe gratitude to the 

early pioneers who had 

the vision and strength 

to have created this 

organization. They, along 

with supporters and team 

members, should be very 

proud of the impact they 

continue to have on the 

lives of JARC residents 

and their families.” 
 

— STEVE KATZMAN