Sandy Haft said the only way to fully understand the diverse nature of his job as executive director of the Bayonne Jewish Community Center is to spend a day or week with him.
Haft, who has been credited with helping JCC rebound from financial troubles in the mid-1990s, will be leaving on June 9 for a position as assistant executive director of Richard G. Rosenthal Jewish Community Center of Northern Westchester in Pleasantville, N.Y.
“The most exciting thing about my job is that I don’t know what the day will be like when I start,” he said during an interview in early May. “Although I start out with an idea of what I want to get done, something always comes up that requires my attention. That issue is often as important as the one I initially thought I would be doing. Everyday is different.”
Haft came to Bayonne in October 1996 at a time when the center was struggling financially.
Geared at the time to service the once significant Jewish population in the area, the JCC ran into problems when the Jewish community began to shrink as families moved out of Bayonne and Hudson County.
“The center needed to know where it was going to go,” Haft said. “Since children’s programs were an essential part of what the center did, I knew that was our strength.”
So over the decade, Haft – under the guidance of the Jewish Community Center Board of Trustees and with the help of the staff – began to steer a new course for the center. This meant expanding services to the non-Jewish community, particularly children.
Part of his job has been to get out and meet people in the community, through activities such as Chamber of Commerce events.
“I became the Pied Piper for the Jewish Community Center,” he said.
Haft led a campaign that raised more than $650,000 in its capital campaign in 2000. Henry Sanchez, of United Way, recalled how impressed he was with Haft at the time, and said Haft’s leaving is a loss for Bayonne.
The programs keep the center going
Over the years, finances got better, but depended significantly on the ability of the JCC to sell its programs to the public.
“We get a small grant from the Turrell Fund,” Haft said.
This is a Montclair-based organization that helps organizations that help children, especially groups that hold camps, day programs, programs focused on urban youth and other criteria.
But Haft said for the most part the JCC had to make its programs attractive enough that the public would use them.
“While we offer programs here for every age group from children to adults, it is the children’s programs that make it possible to run this place,” he said.
But the JCC also did not want to turn away anybody that needed the services, and as a result found help from key backers such as Bank of America and New York Mercantile Exchange.
“It is frustrating here in New Jersey where there is no support for centers like ours,” Haft said.
Even seeking businesses for grants can be frustrating since many of the companies in Jersey City’s Exchange Place send the request for grants to their main offices in New York where Bayonne gets lost in the flood of other requests.
Public trust is key
While finances were a problem, the JCC had won the public trust over the years, and this was something that Haft could rely on.
“Parents trust us and believe that we can take good care of their children,” he said. “Here a child is safe and well cared for, and parents could go to work leaving their children in good hands.”
Haft said the after school programs and its summer camp offer a place for kids to go.
“President Bill Clinton pointed to a need for after school programs when he was president,” Haft said. “The situation with latch key kids is worse today. I was a latch key kid when I grew up. I went to the local Jewish Community Center. So I am a product of what I expound.”
The man who makes things work
Raised in the Washington Heights section of New York City, Haft worked in the community center field for more than 15 years prior to coming to Bayonne, working his way up to assistant director in one facility before being offered the job in Bayonne.
“When I came here for the interview, I came early and found something very compelling about Bayonne,” he said. “To this day I feel comfortable here. It is a safe and warm community.”
Haft sees himself as a good program person, someone who can get something to work.
A certified social worker, he also has a talent for talking to people. This became key to his success because he had to talk to a lot of people, not just parents or those who donate to the center, but also to electricians, plumbers and other people who provide important repair or other services to the center.
Haft learned about the nuts and bolts, and along the way found that some of these people became friends, with whom he talked about family and such.
Over the years Haft built important relationships with many of the local merchants, many of whom he will miss greatly, as he will the staff which he credits with getting things done at the center.
“These are great people here and I will miss them all,” he said.
Although the trustees are seeking his replacement, Haft said the community center will continue to have a positive impact on the community.
“Bayonne is a unique community,” he said. “Based on the number of Jews living here, this community center shouldn’t exist. But it has become an important place to everyone in the community. Many people have a shared history here, brothers or sister, aunts or uncles that have come through our programs or our camp.”
The theater program, the camp, and the aftercare have all become vital links in the community that will continue even after June 9 when Haft moves on.
“This is a family place,” he said. “It has always been my goal to provide a place for the whole family.”
Haft said his move to the new facility is a matter of personal and professional growth.
“It is one of the fast growing Jewish community centers in the area and they are planning to expand,” he said. “It is an opportunity for growth.”