OUR COMMUNITY
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PROJECT CHESED
The Jewish Fund and Jewish Family Service created Project Chesed to provide
free health care to low-income Jewish individuals prior to passage of the Affordable
Care Act. Local physicians, dentists and hospitals donated their services. “This was
truly innovative and impactful,” says Karen Sosnick Schoenberg.
TEEN MENTAL HEALTH
Michael Eizelman says a Jewish Fund-initiated-and-funded Federation survey of
local Jewish teens indicated a need for more resources to help with mental health
problems. “It was an eye opener — the stress the kids were under, some who were
suicidal. I thought, ‘how did we not know this?’” The Jewish Fund provided funding
for Jewish Family Service and Federation to work in Jewish day schools, educating
staff about mental health issues, and providing counseling for teens.
JEWISH HOSPICE AND CHAPLAINCY NETWORK—LIFE ENRICHMENTS
PROGRAM
The Jewish Fund provided a grant for expanded quality of life services including
music, pet and art therapy for palliative care and hospice patients. This program
received a Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence from The Jewish Fund.
BURIAL SERVICES FOR THE INDIGENT
When Mark Davidoff learned about 200 unclaimed bodies at the Wayne County
Morgue, he quickly contacted David Techner, funeral director at Ira Kaufman
Chapel, to come up with a solution. They met with Wayne County officials and
obtained help from local Catholic cemeteries for burial plots and the Michigan
Funeral Association to cover the costs of burial. The Jewish Fund paid for caskets
for these indigent individuals.
FUNDS FOR A JEWISH FEDERATION GRANT WRITER
In 2011, a two-year grant enabled Jewish Federation to pay for a grant writer.
According to Pernick, that capacity-building effort has now brought in $25 million in
grants to help many Jewish agencies and congregations, since its initial develop-
ment.
Making an Impact
Jewish Fund board members, past and present, identified some grants that
had a particularly significant impact:
in Detroit, for its Nurse-Family
Partnership. The grant provided
prenatal and post-natal holistic
care for 100 high-risk pregnant
women in Wayne County —
resulting in healthier babies and
mothers, as well as enhanced par-
enting skills.
Dennis Archambault, vice
president/public affairs at Health
Authority, was a primary contact
with the Jewish Fund. He was
impressed by the personal involve-
ment of some Jewish Fund board
members, who accompanied
and talked with Nurse-Family
Partnership clients on their weekly
walks on the Detroit Riverfront to
encourage physical activity.
“One of the excellent aspects
of the program is the annual lun-
cheon when awards for grantees
are announced. You get a sense of
the community of the recipients
including the past and present
awardees,” he explains.
Michael Eizelman, current chair,
points out that the Jewish Fund
has partnerships with other foun-
dations, especially small ones, and
offers them to oppor-
tunity to piggy-back
with their grants. “We
share our due dili-
gence and can lever-
age grants,” he says.
Pernick and Jewish
Fund board members
are especially proud
of the Teen Board,
which is a group of
local young people
who volunteer to
learn about communi-
ty needs and allocate
grants to help worthy
nonprofits. This is
the seventh year of its operation.
“It gets young people excited
about the community,” says Karen
Sosnick Schoenberg, Jewish Fund
board member and past chair.
Karen
Sosnick
Schoenberg
Michael
Eizelman
16 | APRIL 14 • 2022
The Jewish
Fund provides
grants to
expand health
care access for
underserved
Detroit-area
residents.