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I think it’
s not only good for our 
persons served, but I think it’
s 
been a great experience for Soul 
Studio, too.
”
Forty tablets were donated to 
Friendship Circle by Jay Feldman 
from Feldman Automotive 
and Mark Wahlberg to help 
in this endeavor, Daniels said. 
Many JARC residents don’
t 
have computers or phones, so 
this increased access to the free 
instruction. 
Classes with JARC, which 
began April 14, are divided 
between eight groups, four on 
Tuesdays and four on Thursdays. 
They run 45 minutes. Art proj-
ects have included drawing, col-
lage and will soon be moving into 
painting. Marcellini says he and 
facilitating artists Nick Kramer 
and Vickie Shaheen are experi-
encing joy and enthusiasm right 

along with JARC participants. 
He describes how the four 
women living at Samuels Home 
in Beverly Hills are always excit-
ed for class and willing to try 
anything. “Their shyness, and 
maybe their fears about their own 
artistic ability, has fallen away,
” he 
says. “They’
re getting much more 
creative and expressive. It’
s really 
great to see.
” 
Nancy Alpert, age 58, lives 
at Samuels Home. She looks 
forward to art class each week, 
especially since she hasn’
t been 
able to attend her regular day 
program at Judson Center, an 
organization in Oakland County 
helping individuals with special 
needs build skills and prepare for 
employment. 
Art classes are new to Alpert’
s 
routine but, she says, Soul Studio 
instructor Nick Kramer is a good 

teacher who’
s “
patient” and “
nice” 
to students. Creating collage art 
has been her favorite project so 
far, and she’
s excited by the pros-
pect of painting. 
Tierney, who attends each vir-
tual class, says it’
s a lot of fun to 
see how participants are coming 
out of their shells and taking in 
art differently than they may have 
before. Part of that comes from 
learning to embrace their individ-
uality and unique approaches to 
the projects, she said.
Each home’
s direct support 
staff also play a role in helping 
classes go well, Marcellini points 
out. When projects are a success, 
it’
s because that staff has made 
sure the right materials are there 
and is supporting each partici-
pant in a hands-on way. 
“Some of the support staff are 
deaf themselves, but they all sign,
” 

he explains. “They’
re interpreting 
what’
s going on to their partici-
pants, sometimes from Abigail, 
who’
s the deaf interpreter. It’
s a 
complex and fascinating process 
to be a part of… We’
re learning 
a lot.
”
Virtual classes don’
t replace 
the studio experience, Marcellini 
adds, but it may groom new art-
ists. “When this is all over, there 
may be people who are excited to 
come to the studio who wouldn’
t 
have come before.
”
For the future of Friendship 
Circle and those they support, 
Marcellini and Shemtov agree 
that some continuation of online 
programing will likely continue 
long term. Even after life settles 
down, virtual classes will offer 
a way for Friendship Circle to 
access communities who they 
aren’
t normally able to reach. 

F

or four years, 33-year-old 
Zack Glazier has been 
working at the Alpha 
Automotive repair shop in Royal 
Oak. However, the shop was not 
able to renew its lease, which 
ended May 31, and was on the 
hunt for a new location during 
the midst of the coronavirus 
pandemic.

Alpha Automotive has been 
around for almost 38 years. 
Glazier and the owner of the 
shop, Tim Siterlet, couldn’
t stand 
the thought of the shop closing 
for good. 
“The owner of the shop has 
about 2½ years left before retire-
ment. So, I said, ‘
Listen, why 
don’
t I take over? I’
ll sign the 

new lease, I’
ll front the money 
and you can work for me as 
long as you want,’
” Glazier told 
the JN. “I told him, ‘
Don’
t touch 
your retirement fund’
 because 
that’
s what he was going to do to 
make this work. I thought that 
was silly.”
With the deal in place, Glazier 
began looking for a new place 
to house the repair shop about a 
month ago. He found the perfect 
location just two miles up the 
road in Berkley. Glazier’
s new 
location opened June 1.
“It is an adventure, to say 
the least. Trying to coordinate 
workers to get stuff done and 
get the shop up and running has 
been hectic,” Glazier said. “Since 
everybody is just beginning to 
start working again, it has been 
hard to get on schedule.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer announced on May 
21 that automotive shops could 
reopen by appointment only, but 
Alpha Automotive has been an 
outlier in that order because it 
was already allowed to operate 
during the shutdown.

“We have always been essen-
tial workers because we are 
contractors for a government 
account. Right now, 70% of our 
customers are in that govern-
ment account,” Glazier said. “So 
it hasn’
t actually affected us too 
much.”
With the new, larger shop in 
Berkley, Glazier will be able to 
set up appointment times instead 
of just having people drop off 
their cars and wait to hear back 
about when they’
ll be done.
“My goal and vision for this 
new shop is to have a dealership 
feel and look, but with mom- 
and-pop prices,” Glazier said.
Glazier is awaiting more lifts 
for the garage. For now, he will 
be continuing to only service 
the government account but 
hopes to have the shop finished 
and opened to the public in two 
weeks.
“We pride ourselves on deliv-
ering excellent service, and now 
I want to move that forward 
even more and make it a place 
that people actually want to 
come to,” Glazier said. 

Jewish-Owned Auto Garage 
Moves Locations During 
Coronavirus Pandemic

Zack Glazier believes the rewards of 
moving outweigh the risks.

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

PHOTO COURTESY OF ZACK GLAZIER