COURTESY OF BBYO
OUR COMMUNITY
Rachel Grey Ellis shows off BBYO’s new sign on Orchard Lake Road.
New Teen Hangout BBYO Michigan opens new office in West Bloomfield with space for Jewish teens. ROBIN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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DECEMBER 16 • 2021
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or more than 97 years, BBYO (formerly B’nai B’rith Youth Organization) has given teenagers a place to build friendships, leadership skills and their Jewish identity. Now, the Michigan Region, which serves 13 local chapters and more than 1,000 Metro Detroit teens annually, has a brandnew space to call home. They recently opened a new office and teen hangout at 7115
Orchard Lake Road, Suite 220, in West Bloomfield. Since the 1980s, BBYO Michigan has been headquartered inside the West Bloomfield JCC. “We’ve been there since the JCC opened. They were a great partner for many decades,” said Rachel Grey Ellis, senior regional director of BBYO Michigan. “Times changed, and we knew it was time for us to move. We found a perfect spot that’s centrally
located for all of the surrounding communities we serve.” Ellis says the team is still unpacking and getting settled into their new digs, which include a conference room, kitchenette and a teen space that members will decorate themselves. There are also places to do homework, supply cabinets filled with art and school supplies, and plenty of snacks. A full-time social worker is on staff to talk to students about whatever’s on their minds. The space is funded by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, which also funded the previous location at the JCC. “This is a space of our own,” said Skylar Elbinger, regional teen president along with Benji Stern, a senior at Bloomfield Hills High School. “With this new space, we’re able to make BBYO something new and something we want it to be.” Elbinger, a senior at Frankel Jewish Academy, joined BBYO in eighth grade. She says participating has given her a social outlet, a place to meet new people and made her a stronger leader. For the last year and a half, COVID-19 has put a damper on in-person activities and events. That’s one more reason the organization is so excited to open up the new space where teens can feel free to stop by anytime during normal business hours. “We were all stuck at home and isolated and didn’t have the personal, human inter-
