Caring for the vulnerable

Many of the people we help come from our community’s most vulnerable populations — children, the elderly and the poor.  We support agencies like Jewish Family and Children’s Services and the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center which help:

• ensure the elderly have access to safe housing and healthy meals as well as help them with their medical and transportation needs
• counsel families and individuals in need
• educate teens about date violence
• secure safe housing for victims of domestic violence
• bring valuable resources to immigrants acclimating to their new home
• build new resumes, find jobs and develop skills for the unemployed

Welcoming interfaith and LGBT couples and families

We believe a strong community is an accepting community. Interfaith couples and LGBT families make up an increasing proportion of the Jewish community and, given current trends, their numbers are likely to continue to grow. Our Jewish community has been at the forefront of spearheading programs that engage interfaith and LGBT families in Jewish life. These efforts have resulted in higher levels of Jewish engagement, as compared with other regions of the country.

Your help supports the many Jewish organizations dedicated to finding ways of connecting, educating, encouraging and increasing interfaith and LGBT participation including:

• educating synagogue staff on how to sensitively and effectively respond to interfaith couples’ questions and needs via the Training the Gatekeepers program.  This program ensures that interfaith couples receive a welcoming and enthusiastic invitation to the community.
• supporting the Camp Weekend at Tawonga for Interfaith Families, which offers an exciting entry point into Jewish community for participants, and opportunities for Jewish learning and community building with each other.
• promoting outreach to LGBT families. The Queer Interfaith Project, a first-of-its-kind program, focuses on interfaith LGBT families, adapting curricula for them that are then used in outreach and educational events at multiple synagogues in the Bay Area.

Connecting people to their Jewish heritage

Education is our foundation. We support many programs that promote and strengthen Jewish identity for all, from young children to grandparents, in the belief that a knowledgeable Jewish community will be an enduring community. Your donation helps sustain and develop:

• early childhood education
• Jewish education for parents
• educational strategies for the classroom
• leadership development programs
• professional development and Israel education for teachers
• events and festivals
• cultural programming
• arts projects

Serving Jews and Jewish communities in times of need

Our community extends beyond the borders of the Bay Area; we aim to help Jews around the world.  Your dollars extend life-saving services to places as far away as Argentina, Asia, Africa and the former Soviet Union by providing fundamental aid:

• food, medicine, housing and heat
• reconstruction of schools
• emergency financial assistance
• job training

Strengthening Israel

From the very start, we have been on the ground in Israel, supporting Jewish values, heritage and people. Our partnership with the Upper Galil, leadership programs and educational support have built bridges between the Bay Area and Israel and fostered lasting connections. With your help, we are able to contribute to the vitality of our Jewish homeland in innovative ways:

• our office in Israel allows us to immediately respond to changing needs
• we help provide job training and assistance for immigrants to Israel
• we build stronger communities through educational and leadership programs
• we help educate our family about Israel with Israel travel
• we promote cultural exchange
• we fund scholarship programs for study in Israel

It takes initiative to change

There are hundreds of vital programs created by our initiatives that need your help. This is your opportunity to change the life of a family living in poverty, encourage and educate our diverse Jewish community, and support Israel and our Jewish family abroad. These pioneering programs can’t survive without you. Make your Campaign 2007 donation today.