Andrew Guckes | Staff Writer
In Eric Naftulin’s office, there is an old maintenance worker’s uniform framed and hung on the wall.
It’s not some sort of corporate gesture by Naftulin, who is in charge of a major housing corporation, or a signifier of a wonderful but atypical relationship between an executive and a lower-level employee.
It’s his. The uniform belonged to Naftulin. When he first started at Federation Housing, more than three decades ago, he was Eric Naftulin, groundskeeper and maintenance man. Now, he is executive director. He runs the day-to-day operations of the organization and answers to its board of directors.
“Anything’s possible. I never thought I would be in this seat,” he said. “Helping people every day is not something that everybody gets to do, and that’s what motivates me to get out of bed in the morning.”
At Federation Housing, a motivated, altruistic Jew joined a business based in Jewish values that served the area he loved and was given the chance to prove himself. Since 1970, Federation Housing has thrived. Since 1989, Naftulin has been a part of that.
While he is quick to deflect credit, he has overseen a vast expansion of Federation Housing’s portfolio. The organization, which provides housing to economically disadvantaged seniors of all creeds and colors, has expanded from six properties to 13 since 2004 when Naftulin took over.
“That’s not my doing any more than the board, but I’ve been very proud to add seven additional buildings over my tenure,” he said.
For Naftulin, all he needed was a shot to succeed. An executive gave him the chance early on based on how Naftulin carried himself and handled his work. After discussing long-term plans and admitting he might not want to be in maintenance forever, Naftulin was offered a deal by Federation Housing founder Ephraim Goldstein.
“He said, ‘I think you should stick around here. Why don’t you go to college? I’ll put you through school,’” Naftulin said. “I went to Gratz College and I took business courses, Jewish communal agency governance courses, accounting courses, and I graduated with an associate’s degree.”
That allowed Naftulin to swap out his blue collar for a white one.
“I got out of what I’ll call ‘the field,’” he said. “I came to the corporate office as a facilities manager.”
Not long after assuming responsibilities for the physical condition of Federation Housing’s properties, Naftulin moved into the company’s No. 2 role. Then, one day, his boss told him he was moving to another organization.
“The board decided to do a national search for a new executive, and at the time I was not feeling as though I was qualified, so I didn’t put my name into the ring,” he said.
During the search, he got a call from a board member who was confused as to why Naftulin’s resume had yet to cross his desk.
“He said, ‘Don’t sell yourself short,’” Naftulin said. “So I went in front of the board panel. They interviewed people nationally for the job, and ultimately I was given the opportunity in 2004, and I’ve been in the executive director’s seat since.”
While he admits to being a bit intimidated by the prospect of working with so many “heavy hitters” of the Federation Housing board — many of whom were some of the biggest names in the Philadelphia Jewish community — he never doubted his abilities.
“I had a good grasp of what the organization needed because I had been out in the field,” he said. “I was confident that I could do the job.”
A large reason why Naftulin always felt like this organization was one that he could thrive at was because Jewish values were the foundation for the work that Federation Housing did. He was raised Jewish and has always led a Jewish life, but the chance to let Jewish values guide work for the whole community is exactly what he always wanted.
“What gets me up in the morning is [that] through a Jewish values[-based] opportunity, I am able to help thousands of people,” he said.
Federation Housing’s creed is to offer seniors shelter that affords them dignity and independence. The mission is summed up on a framed quote on Naftulin’s desk: “We welcome refugees not because they are Jewish, but because we are,” he said.
“We can do good for all, and not just a segment of the community, and that is what really motivates me on a daily basis,” he said.
Naftulin said that he was raised with these values.
“My Jewish values [were] important to my parents and my grandparents before them. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother in Overbrook Park when I was growing up, and a lot of [what I learned] just stuck with me,” he said. “Do good upon others. It doesn’t matter who you are, what color your skin is, what religion you are — to be a good Jew is to help the world.”
Family and altruism inspired Naftulin’s first career choice, which never quite panned out, due to no fault of his own. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Philadelphia Fire Department. After passing the exam, Naftulin was placed on a waiting list to join the force. That’s when he decided to comb through the paper and look for a placeholder summer job before eventually settling on a relatively low-key-sounding position working maintenance for a local housing company.
Not long after that, there was a hiring freeze by Philadelphia for all city services. That meant that the waiting list Naftulin was so anxious to climb was thrown out.
“I still needed a job, so I [decided I would] stick around Federation Housing and see where it [would lead],” he said.
Nearly four decades later, Federation Housing and Naftulin are both glad he made that decision.
“We do everything through a Jewish lens, and it’s worked incredibly well,” Naftulin said.