14 | APRIL 25 • 2024

Brooke and would love to continue to see
her once the school year ends.
“As a parent, to watch my child
appreciate and truly enjoy spending
time with another person she wouldn’t
have otherwise had the opportunity to
meet, and to see her open up, has filled
my heart and often makes my eyes tear,”
Rosenstock shared.
“I think this experience has shown
her that opening yourself up to make
connections with people, even if it is
outside your comfort zone, can bring
her and others around her such joy, and
she has learned to look past people’s
disabilities and differences to get to their
core and appreciate them as peers.”

JARC CEO Shaindle Braunstein said,
“Many times, the people that JARC
serves feel like they’re on the periphery
of events. They might be in the room,
but they’re not necessarily part of what’s
going on. Our partnership with Hillel
Day School allows for those we serve to
be front and center, and it further allows
for the students to see the people that we
serve as individuals just like themselves,
with senses of humor, likes and dislikes,
and a diversity of interests and talent.”
Braunstein added, “One of the
wonderful things about the program is it
sets the foundation for youth to become
adults who understand that a person
with a developmental disability is not

that different from anyone else.”
Program leader Baron said, “My hope
is the students walk away with some type
of understanding that while people can
look, speak and move differently, they
will focus more on the commonalities
instead of their differences.
“We talk about our core Jewish values
all the time, and I think this program is
a real-life opportunity to show that we
live by our values.”


See a related story on page 40.

If you are interested in learning how you or your

child can get involved with JARC, contact Jessica

Tierney at jessicatierney@jarc.org or (248) 940-2607.

OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY

continued from page 13

TOP, LEFT TO RIGHT:
Hillel students do
manicures with the
ladies living at JARC’s
Pitt Home, 2001. Leor,
a student at Hillel,
smiles with Andy
as they play Bingo
together, 2003.
LEFT: Student Ilana
Goss colors a card
with Julie as part
of Hillel’s JARC
program.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE LEONARD N. SIMONS JEWISH COMMUNITY ARCHIVES