As the needs of the newly poor increase, emergency aid effort underway for frontline Jewish agencies

A race is on to raise $ 54 million in the remaining days of 2020.

The struggles of the new poor come in all shapes and sizes: Jewish families in Maryland and Virginia look to Jewish social service agencies for help with their electricity and mortgage bills.

Isolated Jewish seniors in Toronto living on a fixed income who, for the first time in their lives, face food insecurity and mental health challenges exacerbated by social isolation.

A 57-year-old Jewish Uber driver in Washington, DC, who quit driving because of the coronavirus and simply ran out of money.

“He had no income to pay his bills,” said Shuli Tropp, executive director of the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Greater Washington, which granted him a loan.

With the loss of more than 10 million jobs in the United States compared to just a year ago, COVID-19 is wreaking havoc not only on physical health, but also on economic well-being and the means of subsistence. The pandemic that exposed weaknesses in health systems has also exposed gaping holes in the social safety net that Jewish agencies are working to fill. In some places in the United States and Canada, government assistance programs are being cut, exacerbating the problems of the newly vulnerable.

In Toronto, Canada’s largest Jewish community, one in eight Jews struggled with poverty before the pandemic. Following the arrival of COVID-19 in the city this spring, the number of vulnerable members of the community has increased.

“Polls show that at least 44% of Canadian households have experienced job loss or reduced working hours,” said Adam Minsky, president and CEO of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, who in as the community’s central Jewish charity, supports dozens of Jewish agencies and nonprofits in the city. “The Jewish community is no exception. Many previously stable, active and middle-class families are now vulnerable. “

Jewish federations across North America – there are 146 – report similar challenges in their communities.

The desperate situation has prompted a group of Jewish philanthropic foundations and Jewish federations to deploy an unprecedented effort to quickly raise tens of millions of dollars to be sent to frontline Jewish service agencies across the continent in an attempt to respond to these. new needs.

The framework is a new $ 54 million social services relief fund in which any money raised by Jewish federations by December 31, up to a total of $ 36 million, will be supplemented with additional funding of 50% contributed by seven Jewish philanthropic foundations. One of these large foundations, the Maimonides Fund, kicked off the campaign when it realized that Jewish federations were drawing on their financial reserves to continue funding projects to help clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. .

“As the pandemic continued, our board of directors became increasingly concerned about the impact on the most vulnerable members of the Jewish community,” said Mark Charendoff, president of the Maimonides Fund. “We wanted to create an opportunity that would help local communities meet these needs. “

They turned to the Jewish Federations of North America, the umbrella organization of the federations, to coordinate the effort. Funding comes from the Maimonides federations, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, the Mandel Foundation, the Singer Family Foundation, Leslie and Abigail Wexner and the Wilf Family Foundation.

Money makes a difference on the pitch.

In Washington, DC, the local federation sent an additional $ 150,000 to the local Hebrew Free Loan Association, allowing the distribution of approximately 60 new loans and an increase in the maximum loan amount from $ 1,500 to $ 2,500.

In Richmond, Virginia, the matching fund helped the Jewish Community Federation raise nearly $ 400,000 from its Jewish population of approximately 12,000.

The extra money will go to preschool programs in the area, helping new needy pay their bills, and tablet computers for seniors stuck at home so they can connect with others through video chat. Among the establishments receiving the tablets is the Beth Shalom Life Care community of Richmond.

“IPads save lives,” said Helen Griffin, whose mother, Beatrice Fine, 93, is a resident of her assisted living facility. “It’s all about human connection.

The importance of maintaining the social engagement of older people cannot be overstated, experts say, noting that staying indoors and being socially isolated can lead to significant mental and physical decline, especially in adults over the age of 18. 70 years.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Jewish Family Service agency uses money it received from the Jewish federation there to provide Jewish seniors with computers, data plans, and training to help them learn to connect. internet and use video chats to interact with others.

These dangers of isolation are most pronounced among Holocaust survivors, according to Julia Migounova, director of community and support services at the Bernard Betel Center in Toronto. The stay-at-home guidelines have brought back memories of their wartime hiding in her Russian-speaking clientele, she said.

“Most of them lived in Ukraine and were sent further east to avoid war. They were crammed into cattle cars with no food or windows. This isolation reminds them of that and they get so anxious, ”Migounova said. “They don’t speak English so they can’t call for food.”

She described the case of an 83-year-old widow whose only son died of cancer a year ago. Still mourning her death, she lives alone in a tiny one-bedroom apartment in Toronto and has no one to support her. She can’t go out because it’s too cold and she has no one to talk to except social workers and neighbors she barely knows. She receives three frozen kosher meals a week and a weekly visit from a home health aide.

“We call her every other day and sometimes she doesn’t want to talk to anyone,” Migounova said. “It is a very tragic case.”

In New York City, an 89-year-old survivor named Dina had frequently visited the Jewish Community Center in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, before the pandemic. She used a walker for the two-block ride from her apartment to attend the Yiddish, Singing and Good Neighbors clubs. Widowed, she had a home help from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

But when the pandemic started, her ability to move deteriorated dramatically and she developed back problems. Her home health agency refused to increase the hours for help, so Jewish social service agencies intervened.

“With funds from the UJA New York Federation, we provided his son with emergency cash assistance so he could hire a 24-hour home helper,” said Alex Budnitsky, CEO of Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst. “It saved her as she fell in the middle of the night in May and the assistant called an ambulance which took her to the hospital.”

The New York federation raises $ 2 million through the Human Services Relief Fund. This will net the federation another million dollars from the 50% matching program.

“The good news,” said New York Federation board chairman David Moore, “is that the people who can are stepping up.”

In total, 110 federations participate in fundraising. The amount that each has been asked to raise is commensurate with the size of the local Jewish population.

“The combination of the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19 will have long-term consequences for our overwhelmed human services network,” said JFNA National Campaign Chairman David Brown, who is leading the effort. funding. “Federations will play a critical role in mobilizing and providing the critical resources needed to meet these critical needs.

“We are fortunate to have a generous community of philanthropists who are able to help at this critical time. “

This article was sponsored and produced in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America, which represent 146 local Jewish federations and 300 networked communities. This story was produced by the JTA Native Content Team.

By Stewart Ain