28 | MARCH 2 • 2023
OUR COMMUNITY
G
esher Human Services,
a nonprofit that helps
Metro Detroiters with
barriers to employment find jobs,
is collaborating with Detroit’s
College for Creative Studies
(CCS) to offer participants in its
vocational Skill Building Program
the opportunity to explore vary-
ing disciplines of art in a semes-
ter-long program.
Gesher’s Skill Building Program
provides Metro Detroiters with
intellectual and developmental
challenges vital skills to help them
become more integrated into the
community through meaningful
volunteer and other work.
The new collaboration with
CCS brings participants from its
program to the college one day a
week to explore fields of art.
In a separate collaboration with
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
(DSO), participants go to the
Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher
Music Center once a week to
meet with a certified music thera-
pist along with DSO musicians.
Over the next three months,
participants will learn about
music as a profession, learn how
to play various instruments,
choose music they would like
to perform, and plan for a per-
formance where they will be
accompanied by DSO musicians
in front of an audience.
“With the CCS program, our
goal is to make our participants
aware of the many different
careers in art and design and
show how these relate to everyday
life, whether it’s animation they
see on television or the design on
a pair of gym shoes,
” explained
Gesher Human Services’ VP of
Vocational Services Lillie Sorrell.
“With the DSO, our partic-
ipants, who are often artistic
and musical, have the chance to
explore music in depth and deter-
mine what forms of music they
enjoy most, and perhaps discover
instruments they would like to
learn. Everyone attending has the
chance to explore career fields
in art and music they might not
Gesher Human Services Skill Building Program participants get
a chance to work with Detroit’s College for Creative Studies and the DSO.
Exploring the Arts
ALISON SCHWARTZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
COURTESY OF GESHER
ABOVE: Music group at the DSO learning about percussion and rhythm.
BELOW: Participants give the art and music programs a big thumbs-up.