Understanding Our Jewish Community
Understanding basic socio-economic, demographic and public health trends across the region’s population is essential to enhancing and targeting service delivery for the most vulnerable and at-risk populations. The 2019-2020 Community Portrait is a population study, commissioned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia once every 10 years, that will help us to most effectively evaluate and support the needs of our local Jewish communities. Findings from the study will help to direct resources to where they are most needed so our entire Jewish community can continue to grow and thrive
The 2019-2020 Community Portrait was conducted January through June 2019 in over 2,000 households across the region. The study gathered information regarding socio-economic and demographic trends, social service utilization, philanthropic giving, public health trends and other information about unmet need across the five-county, Greater Philadelphia region.
Building a Community Profile
Demographics are characteristics of a population used to identify subgroups. Examples of demographics include age, income, education and martial status and are used to learn more about a population’s characteristics for many purposes including policy and program development efforts.
Socio-economic characteristics relate to both economics and social factors and includes characteristics such as employment, education, and income. These factors provide insight into understanding how local or regional trends impact unmet need.
Public health is a combination of disease prevention, health equity and promoting health through informed choices and organized efforts. These trends inform programs with the goal of enhancing health status and addressing barriers to care within a community.
Social services are programs designed to improve the well-being of individuals, families and communities and include food subsidies, home care services and older adult services. Understanding social service utilization within a community is important in addressing unmet need for the most vulnerable populations and improving existing resources.
Philanthropy implies a general interest in human welfare by providing financial or volunteer support to a person or organization to reduce pain and suffering and promote the welfare of others. Philanthropic trends provide insight into the priorities of donors and volunteers and supports forecasting patterns of giving in the future.
Community engagement is a process of collaborating with community groups that have a shared interest to address issues impacting the collective well-being of these groups. Understanding community engagement techniques is critical in being better able to address unmet need within a specific community.
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The Community Portrait was commissioned by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia