ALL NEW—Marisa Brown and Jolene Schmidt-Howard relax in the recently renovated living room of the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. Brown became the MJCC’s director of marketing on July 23; Schmidt-Howard joined the center Aug. 16 as membership services coordinator.

MJCC offers member deals

By Jewish Review

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As program offerings mushroom at Mittleman Jewish Community Center, the center has created three special membership offers to ensure that the ranks of people flocking to the center to take advantage of those programs will swell as well.

MJCC’s fall program guide is 28-pages of classes and programs at the renovated center. The program offers the largest selection since programming at the center was curtailed due to its financial crisis three years ago.

Special rates for social and cultural memberships, free one-year teen memberships for recent b’nai mitzvah and half-price discounts for those joining a local synagogue for the first time are all designed to bring people back to the center. Membership has rebounded to more than 785 members.

Initially the new fitness facilities were the main draw for center users. However, the fall program guide includes a host of social and cultural programs such as Mah Jongg, Hebrew and a life learning series offered by Jewish Family and Child Service for adults, as well as art and social programming for youth.

While a full center membership ranges from $550 for senior singles to $800 for a family, MJCC now offers an entire year of "Social and Cultural Membership" at a mere $90 per person or $180 for a family.

Social/cultural members receive preferred member rates for all social and cultural classes and events, members-only offers and information, free entry to First Friday Shabbat activities and member rates for spa services.

"Membership at the J is not about just working out," said Marisa Brown, MJCC director of marketing. "We want to make sure this is a welcoming place for everybody. The social and cultural membership was created for those who don’t want to use the fitness facility but who want to be able to take advantage of member rates and programs."

The center also intends to enhance customer service to serve the influx of new members. Staff training will include an October program led by Lisa Sedlar, president of New Seasons, which has "a spectacular customer service record," according to Brown.

"We are trying to reintroduce ourselves as the community center we are," said Jolene Schmidt-Howard, new MJCC member services coordinator.

To enable parents to take advantage of center amenities without having to find a babysitter, the MJCC now offers drop-off child care Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9 to 11 and Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8. Children ages 6 months to 5 years can be dropped off while their parents stay in the MJCC for a program or to exercise. The service is free for members or $5 for nonmembers.

For more information on membership or programs, call the MJCC at 503-244-0111, visit www.oregonjcc.org or call Schmidt-Howard at 503-452-3435.