OUR COMMUNITY

O

ver the course of the COVID-19 
pandemic, many organizations in 
Metro Detroit have taken great, 
important action. Of those organizations, 
there may be no more profound impact 
made than the efforts of JARC and the 
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. 
JARC, since January 2021, has held vac-
cine clinics at the Federation building in 
Bloomfield Township, receiving 
the attention of the entire state 
of Michigan. 
For JARC CEO Shaindle 
Braunstein and Chief of Staff 
Jacob Gottlieb, the vaccine clin-
ic process has been a full-time 
job, but a rewarding one.
“We never considered we 
were going to be in this business, so to 
speak,
” Braunstein said. “It’s sort of become 
part of our fabric.
”
JARC has run more than 25 clinics since 
Jan. 14, 2021. Andrew Mac of AMAC 

Pharmacy, one of JARC’s pharmacy part-
ners, estimates he’s given about 8,000-10,000 
individual shots, and with two other vaccine 
providers they’ve used, JARC estimates 
about 5,000 people have come through their 
doors to get a shot.
The youngest vaccinated person in a 
JARC clinic was a child on his fifth birthday, 
and the oldest was 95 years old. People from 
Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw and Macomb 
counties and people from as far away as Kent 
County have been vaccinated in the clinics. 

A PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIP
Over the course of the past year, Federation 
has given JARC the space, marketing and 
much more to make the clinics happen.
“Partnering with JARC to provide COVID 
vaccinations was an important opportunity 
for the Jewish Federation to support our 
community during the pandemic,
” said Steve 
Ingber, Federation CEO. “There’s nothing 
more important than ensuring that everyone 

is properly vaccinated, and it’s been a privi-
lege for us to host this program.
”
Around October 2020, JARC started hear-
ing that vaccines would be on the market 
for long-term care facilities, and that they 
should make sure they were signed up for 
the Federal Pharmacy Program.
Soon after, they were making calls left and 
right to get their people at the front of the 
line to be vaccinated. Right before Christmas 
2020, they received a call from Walgreens 
saying JARC had been assigned to them for 
the program. 
The first clinic, Jan. 14, 2021, had some 
of the first vaccinations in the state of 
Michigan. 
“That clinic was for the people in our 
licensed adult foster care homes who are 
considered the highest acuity and most 
at-risk, and the staff that works with them,
” 
Braunstein said. “We vaccinated about 108 
people.
” 
After that population was taken care of, 

JARC has run more than 
25 clinics in the Federation 
building since last year.

JARC and 
Federation:

Shaindle 
Braunstein

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

34 | FEBRUARY 10 • 2022 

Vaccine 
Warriors

