This past week, the 2025 Annual Meeting of The Jewish Fund felt less like a business gathering and more like a family reunion… It was warm, inspiring, and filled with stories that remind us how deeply connected our community truly is. As leaders from JSL and dozens of nonprofit agencies filled the room, one message rose above all others: hope grows here. And it has for nearly three decades, ever since The Jewish Fund began planting seeds where they were needed most.
Since its founding in 1997 from the sale of Sinai Hospital, the founders and Board of The Jewish Fund have pursued a vision rooted in health, dignity, compassion, and communal responsibility. Today, that vision thrives in initiatives advancing food insecurity, homelessness prevention, youth development, transportation, after-school enrichment, social justice work, and, perhaps most poignantly, the care we extend to both our oldest and youngest community members.
Jewish Senior Life has been deeply strengthened by the longstanding support of The Jewish Fund, whose investments have ensured that older adults receive the care, connection, and dignity they deserve. From honoring the Dorothy & Peter Brown Jewish Adult Day Program with both ongoing grant support and the prestigious Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence, to funding urgent needs during challenging times, The Jewish Fund has consistently helped JSL meet critical priorities. Its grants have supported post-pandemic outreach, building rehabilitation at Fleischman Residence/Blumberg Plaza, deficits in Meals on Wheels and Chaplaincy services, and the addition of a Coville Resident Service Coordinator to address senior isolation and crises. The Jewish Fund Teen Board has further enriched JSL by supporting mental health initiatives, kindness-focused educational materials, and a safe, senior-friendly fitness and wellness center at Prentis Apartments. Thanks to this generous and sustained partnership, growing older in our community remains a shared and supported journey.
At the other end of the age spectrum stands Alternatives for Girls, recipient of this year’s Robert Sosnick Award of Excellence. Supported in part by The Jewish Fund, AFG has long served girls and young women facing homelessness, exploitation, crisis pregnancies, violence, and profound vulnerability.
The stories shared at the meeting were unforgettable: young women arriving frightened and unsure where to turn, then, through the safety net created by community partners and grants, finding stable housing, emotional support, academic encouragement, and a nurturing environment. Hundreds are now thriving, continuing their education, and imagining futures filled with possibility. These aren’t statistics. They are transformations.
Throughout the Annual Meeting, nonprofit leaders echoed similar stories of hope. We learned about Detroit youths being fed and finding purpose through the Detroit Boxing Gym’s mentoring program, and about families freed from the fear of hunger through the vital work of Yad Ezra, Forgotten Harvest, and Metro Food Rescue. Each story is unique, yet each is made possible by the same unwavering source.
At the heart of The Jewish Fund’s work is a simple but profound belief: every Metropolitan Detroit resident, regardless of age, faith, background, or circumstance, deserves care and support, opportunity and connection. Looking ahead to 2026, new focus areas including infertility support, genetic screening, and social justice initiatives reflect a continued commitment to addressing evolving needs while remaining rooted in the Fund’s original values.
The Annual Meeting was a tapestry of gratitude, partnership, and shared purpose and reminded us that when a community chooses compassion and when it invests in the dignity of all its residents, extraordinary things can happen.
May the lights of Chanukah shine joyfully upon you and your family and may each of us have both the choice and the ability to share that light with others. Wishing you a safe, healthy, and beautiful weekend, and a holiday season filled with blessing.
Shabbat Shalom