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