8 | AUGUST 8 • 2024 
J
N

O

n Sept. 5, the Jewish 
Fertility Foundation 
(JFF) will hold its 
official Detroit kickoff event. 
The national organization, 
which launched with Detroit 
as its eighth location in March, 
provides financial assistance, 
education and emotional sup-
port to Jewish families facing 
fertility challenges.
That means being able to 
award grants for constituents 
who are going through fertility 
treatments, says Detroit man-
ager Carly Eisen, adding that 
JFF’s reach currently encom-
passes Oakland, Washtenaw 
and Wayne counties. JFF also 
offers emotional support with 
a free, therapist-facilitated 
community sup-
port group open 
to women in the 
broader public 
that meets once a 
month on Zoom. 
National support 
groups through JFF are open to 
men who may be experiencing 
male factor infertility. 
 And there’s a “Fertility 
Buddies” program that matches 
individuals currently expe-
riencing infertility or trying 
to build their families with a 
trained buddy who has had a 
similar family-building jour-
ney. Fertility Buddies is also 
open to grandparents, so they 
best know how to show up for 
their kids. 
“We are here for people 
to take advantage of as a 
resource,” Eisen says. “We want 
people to apply for fertility 
grants; we want to help those 
who want to grow their fami-
lies to grow their families; we 
want people who are in need 

of emotional support while 
they’re going through their 
family-building journey to use 
us as a resource.
”
To date, they’ve awarded 
three fertility treatment grants 
in the Detroit community, she 
says. At least one parent has to 
identify as Jewish to qualify for 
the grants or the one parent for 
single parents by choice. JFF 
has also been able to lighten 
the financial burden by offering 
20% discounts at partner clin-
ics, and recipients are eligible 
for medication discounts with 
the nonprofit’s pharmacy part-
ners, she says. The organization 
partners with Hebrew Free 
Loan Detroit, which offers up 
to $20,000 in interest-free loans 
toward fertility treatment. 
A Huntington Woods cou-
ple, one of the first grant recip-
ients in Metro Detroit, says 
a December miscarriage and 
complex health history had led 
them to explore family plan-
ning possibilities. They’
d begun 
to research grants after realiz-
ing how much IVF would cost. 
“While we have some sav-

ings, it was going to be a very 
significant burden on us,
” says 
Hannah (*not her real name). 
Despite both being employed, 
they weren’t sure if the amount 
would be attainable. “Then I 
found out through JFS that JFF 
had just opened a branch in 
Detroit in March this year.
”
They had applied to a hand-
ful of national organizations, 
which had long waits for 
replies, and elaborate rules 
around how frequently and 
when they could be considered, 
the couple says. Meanwhile, 
they collected their financial 
information and references, 
filling out JFF’s application. 
And JFF demonstrated right 
away that they were welcoming 
and ready to help, says her hus-
band, Michael*. 
“They were really respon-
sive and really encouraging in 
what’s inevitably a tough and 
stressful process,
” Michael says. 
“They made it really pleasant.
”
The organization is spread-
ing the word about its presence 
locally with brochures, flyers, 
and conversations around the 

community with clergy and 
others, says JFF’s Eisen, on the 
heels of a warm welcome. A 
year before opening, JFF vetted 
the location with an explorato-
ry committee.
Joanne Aronovitz of 
Huntington Woods originally 
brought the idea 
to David Contorer, 
executive direc-
tor, Hebrew Free 
Loan Detroit, 
after attending the 
International Lion 
of Judah confer-
ence in Atlanta in 
2022. There, she 
heard JFF CEO 
and founder Elana 
Frank speak about 
the initiative and 
was confident it 
would be a good match. 
“It became a strong feeling in 
me that I wanted it here,
” she 
says. “It’s about the next gener-
ation, I feel like we need every 
resource to bring our kids back 
to Detroit, so they want to stay 
here and want it to be the place 
they raise their families.
” 

Carly Eisen

OUR
COMMUNITY

Joanne 
Aronovitz

David 
Contorer

Jewish Fertility Foundation assists 
Metro Detroiters through their infertility journeys.

KAREN SCHWARTZ
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Forging Families
Forging Families

COURTESY OF JEWISH FERTILITY FOUNDATION

