Grieving Grandmother Benefits Group Homes

MONNI MUST NATURALLY PHOTOGRAPHY

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

From tragedy and grief has come a generous gift that will help those in the community who are struggling with mental illness.

Mary Must, 102, has donated $100,000 to JVS+Kadima, which runs 20 residential houses and apartments for adults with severe and long-term mental illness.

The gift continues Must’s munificence to the organization. In 2008, she bought a home in Southfield, to be administered by JVS+Kadima, in memory of her granddaughter, Miya Jo Must, who died by suicide in 2007 at the age of 28.

Must also included JVS+Kadima in her will, planning to leave $100,000 to the organization. She recently decided to make that gift now, in her and her late husband’s names, while she is still living. The new Mary and Mike (z”l) Must Home Improvement Fund will enhance life for JVS+Kadima’s residents. She said this would let her see the benefits her gift made possible. After her death, she asked, “How would I know then?”

Mary Must was born in Detroit. She and Mike married when he was 23 and she was 18. They worked side-by-side in the family business, Dairy Fresh Foods Inc., a regional wholesale distributor that grew from a small cheese-making business started by Mike’s father. She oversaw the back-office activities for decades, said grandson Jay Must, of Bloomfield Township.

“My grandmother worked and still meaningfully contributed into her 98th year,” he said. “I know because I was one of three people who shared her workload when she was off!”

The Musts lived in Detroit, Oak Park and Southfield. Mary moved to a condo in Bloomfield Township after Mike died in 1997. They had three children, Alan Must, the late Madelon Seligman and Joel Must. Mary has eight surviving grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren ages 3 months to 22.

The Musts were longtime members and lay leaders of now-defunct Congregation B’nai David, where Mike was a past president. For many years, Mary cared for the underfunded B’nai David Cemetery on Van Dyke in Detroit. She stopped only when the groundskeeper left. The Musts supported many Jewish causes locally and in Israel.

Miya Must attended CranbrookKingswood School and graduated from Bloomfield Hills Andover High School.

She struggled with mental health problems from an early age, said her younger sister, Kacee

Hadassah sent a letter to members of Congress outlining the disproportionate impact infertility has on the Jewish community and urging Congress to recognize that infertility is a disease that needs further research to improve treatments and outcomes and that individuals and families need access to infertility-related services.

“For too long, infertility and the struggle toward parenthood have been topics of quiet suffering, particularly in the Jewish community,” said Rhoda Smolow, Hadassah National President. “That’s why Hadassah is leading the call for change. By asking policymakers to expand access to infertility care and reduce the financial burden of treatments, we are empowering all of the patients, families and communities infertility affects. We are grateful for the strong support of our partners across the Jewish community.”

One in eight couples in the United States reports having trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy and nearly 12% of women have received infertility services in their lifetime.

The letter asks members of Congress to support a bipartisan, Hadassah-backed resolution sponsored by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX).

Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have co-sponsored this resolution with

Must, of Huntington Woods. Though her illness made it difficult for her to cope with the normal struggles of young adulthood, she found communities that accepted her loving, outgoing nature.

Miya attended Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado, where she eventually settled and ran a yoga studio, The Yoga Room. She relished the small-town life, the mountains, skiing and other forms of recreation.

She was sensitive to those who felt isolated or perceived themselves as outliers, and she touched many lives during a short period of time, her family said. Even as she struggled with her own demons, she tried to help others, bringing together the area’s other fitness business owners to accomplish various goals.

She loved animals and volunteered with the Gunnison Valley Animal Welfare League. After her death, a gift from her family in her memory helped that organization build a new shelter.

Miya’s mother, Monni Must, a portrait photographer in Sylvan Lake, said her suicide was such a shock because the family thought she was able to recognize when she was heading in the wrong direction and seek help. “She was the most together/untogether woman I’ve ever known,” said Monni, who is married to Mary’s son Joel.

Kadima’s Miya Must Home has many of Miya’s personal belongings, including a kitchen table, chairs and pieces of her artwork. One of the residents is a man who knew Miya as a girl. “She would be so grateful and proud that she has helped and protected him,” said Monni Must, who has befriended the man. “His family feels grateful and relieved that their son and brother is in a place where he is safe,” she added.

Mary Must adored her granddaughter and got involved with Kadima as a way of generating some good from a horrific event, said Monni, who also helps the organization by taking photos of the residents and staff.

“JVS+Kadima is immensely grateful for Ms. Must’s continued generosity and the support of generations of the Must family,” said Paul Blatt, president and CEO of JVS+Kadima.

“With this gift, Ms. Must has allowed JVS+Kadima to invest in improving our homes in a meaningful way. In particular, we have immediate plans to renovate a bathroom, address kitchen ventilation and fix a concrete driveway — and that’s just the start!”

JVS Human Services and Kadima Mental Health Services officially joined together in January 2022. A new name for the joint organization will be announced soon. Information about the mental health programs, including residential care, is available at www. kadimacenter.org.

Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Crenshaw, including Michigan lawmaker, Rep. Elissa Slotkin [D-MI-8].

Hadassah also supports infertility treatments and research through the work of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel.

In a country that is the worldwide leader in in-vitro fertilization (IVF), with the most IVF cycles per capita of any other, the Jerusalem medical center’s fertility clinics stand out. They are renowned for their services and techniques and have made Hadassah a leader in fertility treatment and research since the 1960s.

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