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.

