18 | DECEMBER 16 • 2021 OUR COMMUNITY W hen Elana Weinstein moved back to Metro Detroit early in 2021 for a job at JVS Human Services, after previous career moves to Chicago and Denver, she felt her life had gone full circle. Not only was she working at the agency where, in 2009, she had her first experience of working in the Jewish nonprofit world, but she was also heading the same program that had given her that first start. Weinstein, 33, is now program coordinator for JOIN, an acronym for the Jeannette and Oscar Cook Jewish Occupational Intern Program. The paid summer internship for Jewish college students considering a career working in the Jewish com- munity has been instrumental in guiding a gen- eration of young people into careers. Local rabbis, educators, communal leaders and board members have all graduated from the program and work to benefit the Metro Detroit Jewish community. Recruitment for the 2022 program has just started with applications being accepted until late January. “My time at JOIN was life-changing, ” says Weinstein, a social worker and graduate of Eastern Michigan University and University of Michigan. “I was placed with Kadima, the mental health organization, and I got my first hands-on expe- rience of working for the Jewish community as a budding social worker. ” Weinstein’s time at JOIN involved case-manage- ment, taking clients to appointments, managing care and accompanying clients on field trips. “It was an incredible experience and confirmed for me that working in the nonprofit world, for the Jewish community, was where I wanted to be. ” Weinstein was working as a high school student counselor and social worker in Denver when she heard about the opportunity to become JOIN’s program coordinator. She recognized she had big shoes to fill: Debra Silver, who jump-started the JOIN summer internship program gets new leadership. ALISON SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS Hands-On Learning COURTESY OF JVS JOIN at Yad Ezra 2021 JOIN interns working on a project