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ABOUT JCF  |
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| WAYS TO GIVE |
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| HOW WE HELP |
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| CALENDAR |
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| RESOURCES |
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| ISRAEL & THE WORLD |
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January 5, 2009 (San Francisco, CA) – The Bay Area is home to one of the most vibrant LGBT communities in the world, as well as a forward-thinking and diverse Jewish community. While a recent survey* found that more than 8% of Jewish households in the region identify as LGBT, very little concrete data exist on the needs or interests of this significant population. To help facilitate future strategic planning and allocation for this population, the Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, and the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay have jointly commissioned a comprehensive needs assessment focused on the LGBT population within the Jewish community of the San Francisco Bay Area. The assessment will result in a portrait of what the Bay Area's LGBT Jews want and need from the Jewish community in terms of services, programs and inclusion. The final research report will also catalog existing outreach and inclusion programs, describe what is meaningful to the region's LGBT Jews in terms of their Jewish identities, identify potential gaps in services, and make recommendations for ways the two Federations and their affiliated agencies might work together to strengthen community efforts to engage LGBT Jews. The project will provide important and timely information and empirical data about some of the barriers and challenges that the Bay Area Jewish LGBT community currently faces; recognize the community’s successes and strengths in relation to LGBT inclusion and diversity; and spur a broad range of institutions to develop and implement new or modified programs that increase LGBT awareness, participation, and services in the region’s Jewish community. The outcomes will help empower Bay Area Federations to better serve and support all members of our Jewish community and to create a more inclusive Jewish community. The assessment will be conducted by Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity. Jewish Mosaic will be interviewing a broad range of LGBT Jews. Jewish Mosaic will also survey the region's Jewish communal organizations in order to catalog LGBT outreach efforts in the Bay Area Jewish community. If you identify as LGBT and Jewish, and would like to participate in the study, please contact 415.652.2210, [ research AT jewishmosaic DOT org ].The study flyer is available online at www.sfjcf.org/groups/lgbt/lgbt-needs-assessment-flyer.pdf If you would like more information about the Bay Area Jewish LGBT Needs Assessment or the LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation, please contact Karen Bluestone at 415.512.6236 or Rabbi James Brandt at 510.839.2900.
About the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties:The central organization for fundraising, planning, outreach and leadership development for Jewish communities in San Francisco, the Peninsula, and Marin and Sonoma counties, and is the first Federation to have an LGBT Division. In fiscal year 2007-08, the Federation’s Annual Campaign raised a total of $30.9 million, allocating $24.3 million to fund programs and agencies providing social services, educational and cultural programs in the Bay Area, in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere in the world. In fiscal year 2008, the Federation’s Endowment Fund, with assets of almost $2.4 billion, provided more than $33 million for a variety of grants, seed projects, and emergency needs. For more information, call 415.777.0411 or visit www.sfjcf.org. About the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay:The Jewish Community Federation is dedicated to building a vibrant and inclusive local Jewish community, and enhancing the well being of Jews in the East Bay, Israel and throughout the world. The Jewish Community Federation’s Center for Jewish Living and Learning (CJLL) supports Jewish education and leadership development throughout the East Bay. The CJLL sponsors Midrasha, the East Bay Jewish Community High School, Let’s Go Israel summer teen pilgrimage, and a variety of other community-wide education programs. For more information, call 510-839-2900 or visit www.jfed.org. About Jewish Mosaic:Jewish Mosaic partners with Jewish organizations, communities, and individuals of every denomination to create a world where all Jews are fully included in communal life, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Jewish Mosaic was founded in 2003 by three former Bay Area Jews and is based in Denver, with a regional office in the Bay Area. Jewish Mosaic is dedicated to helping the Jewish world become more open, accessible, and welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews and their families. For more information, call 303-691-3562 or visit www.jewishmosaic.org. *Jewish community study conducted in 2004 by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. ### For more information please contact:
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