As a JFRE member, you have the power to change lives for the better. Through the Jewish Federation Real Estate Fund, JFRE members make an impact on the lives of millions.
Each year, the fund invests hundreds of thousands of dollars to support capital projects in Greater Philadelphia and Israel.
GRANT RECIPIENTS
In 2024-2025, JFRE allocated $317,096 to 10 projects locally and in Israel. This is in addition to the $232,000 that JFRE allocated this year to the post Oct. 7 humanitarian relief efforts in Israel.
Each year, the fund invests hundreds of thousands of dollars to support critical projects. With the unprecedented global rise in antisemitism following Hamas’ attacks in Israel, JFRE largely focused this year’s funding to support security projects that protect the community against increased threats from Jewish hate.
LOCAL PROJECTS
Camp Galil
Camp Galil is a Jewish overnight camp in Bucks County. JFRE Fund’s grant will support security infrastructure expansions, including perimeter enhancements and the building of a guard shack that is more optimally located for monitoring and quick response. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Camp Ramah in the Poconos
Camp Ramah in the Poconos is a Pennsylvania overnight Jewish summer camp for kids and teens. JFRE’s grant will support security upgrades for communication systems, such as walkie-talkies and cameras. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Federation Housing, Inc.
Federation Housing provides affordable housing communities and services that empower low- and moderate-income seniors to live independently and with an enhanced quality of life. JFRE Fund’s grant will support enhanced security systems for their newest development, the Daniel G. Green House. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Golden Slipper Camp
Based in the Pocono Mountains, Camp Golden Slipper provides a meaningful summer of fun for over 500 children, ages 7 to 15, and approximately 100 professionally trained staff. Rooted in Jewish values, the camp provides kosher-style meals and a variety of Jewish activities. JFRE Fund’s grant will support upgrades to the camp-wide communication system, including new cameras and walkie-talkies. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
KleinLife
KleinLife is a Philadelphia community resource center that helps families, seniors, and youth with programs and services. Based in the Northeast, Kleinlife has been a target of threats over the past two years, with a total of eight incidents reported. JFRE’s grant will support security upgrades, including exterior lighting and entrance barrier enhancements as well as access card readers. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Makom Community
Makom Community provides Jewish after school care, enrichment and education as well as camp during the summer. JFRE Fund’s grant will support security installation for their new building in Graduate Hospital that is being established to meet increased enrollment. Security needs include shatter-resistant windows with exterior lighting, a high-tech security system at its entrance, alarm system, camera installation and bus wrap signs to limit visibility from the street. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Mitzvah Circle
The Mitzvah Circle provides basic material goods, case management, coaching, and referrals to individuals and families facing poverty, homelessness, serious illness, and difficult circumstances. JFRE Fund’s grant will support increasing security needs, including equipment for a new warehouse in Montgomeryville. Security needs include camera and alarm systems, wiring and sensors, and a monitoring station. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Politz Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov
The Politz Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov, formerly known as Politz Hebrew Academy, is an Orthodox Jewish Day School in Northeast Philadelphia that provides education to children in grades K-8. JFRE Fund’s grant will support the expansion of security infrastructures to ensure electrical runs through to their guard shack and parking lot gate. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
Kibbutz Naaran
Naaran is a young, growing kibbutz at the northern end of the Dead Sea, three miles from the Jordanian border, that is dedicated to agriculture, education and social action in Israel. JFRE Fund’s grant will support the purchasing and installing of cameras and a monitoring system on the perimeter fence to act as an early detection system for forced intrusion or threat post. Oct. 7. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
In 2023-2024, JFRE allocated $759,459.68 to 24 projects in Greater Philadelphia and Israel.
Each year, the fund invests hundreds of thousands of dollars to support critical projects. Grants undergo a stringent vetting process by lay leaders and professionals to ensure that JFRE is supporting the greatest need and creating the largest impact.
This year, capital projects remained a funding focus. However, with the ongoing rise of antisemitism, ensuring the safety, security and resiliency of our agencies became a priority as well. Thanks to the JFRE Fund grants, training, tools, and resources will be made available to protect those inside synagogues, schools, summer camps, and other centers of Jewish life.
LOCAL PROJECTS
Mitzvah Food Program
The Mitzvah Food Program helps provide nutritious fresh products (including dairy, proteins, fruit and vegetables) to disadvantaged Jewish households in the Greater Philadelphia community. The JFRE grant is being used to update aging cold storage equipment that needs to be improved to keep all of their fresh food products stored for long periods, given their growing demands. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Moishe House
Moishe House is the place for Jewish 20-somethings and their friends, with two Houses and one Pod, each planning 3-7 programs a month. The community and activities are centered around the homes where groups of young community builders live and host events. The grant will provide furniture and programming supplies for better living conditions and a more welcoming environment for visitors. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Federation Early Learning Services (FELS)
FELS provides early care and education for infants to five years old in Philadelphia. The JFRE grant will be going towards critically important capital improvements to our Mary Bert Gutman Early Learning Center including: replacing the existing non-functional playground equipment and rubberized safety surface and helping replace the current lights from fluorescent to LED as it will improve our children’s health and productivity. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Golden Slipper Camp
Golden Slipper Camp is a boys and girls overnight camp in the Pocono Mountains near Stroudsburg, PA. The JFRE grant will allow Golden Slipper Camp to upgrade their dasher boards that are multi-purpose use along with a newly installed floor, much-needed lighting and a new steel roof/cover to allow the structure to be used in almost all weather conditions. This will also reduce maintenance costs due to constantly needing to remove debris adding minor damage to the floor and facilities. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Hebrew Free Loan Society of Greater Philadelphia
Now approaching its 40th year, Hebrew Free Loan provides solutions to borrowers experiencing a crisis or challenge. Interest-free lending is a lifeline for those struggling to make ends meet. Since 2018, housing loans have increased 180%. The JFRE grant will be used towards interest-free loans for housing needs, including home repairs, home purchases, rent payments, mortgage payments and relocation costs. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia
The Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) is a cluster of homes where people have aged in place and now need services to maintain independence and remain at home. NORC helps primarily low-income Jewish older adults living in Northeast Philadelphia to age in place safely. Many older residents with limited, fixed incomes and declining health cannot keep up with ongoing home maintenance; and they cannot afford or physically complete repairs to preserve their homes as safe, affordable places to live. Therefore, home repair/modification is a critical component of the NORC program. The JFRE grant will be going towards overall project expenses, including home repair materials and staff time of their Home Repair Coordinator. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Habonim Dror Camp Galil
Habonim Dror Camp Galil is an overnight summer camp serving Jewish youth whose activities occur across a 60-acre facility. The JFRE grant will replace and upgrade the radios their staff carry and use. The upgrade will increase their capacity to ensure that any group of campers is with a staff member with a radio with redundancy built in. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Jewish Relief Agency
The Jewish Relief Agency (JRA) is built on the foundation of its monthly food distribution; their programs relieve the pangs of hunger, bring meaning to their recipients and volunteers, and build a caring and connected community. JRA was founded in 2000 as a hunger relief organization working to inspire volunteerism in Philadelphia, under the conviction that no community member should be hungry. The JFRE grant will go towards upgrading fixtures and flooring, increasing the number of storage carts and bins to match the increase in products JRA are currently providing clients, and enhancing security equipment due to the increase of antisemitic incidents occurring and allowing volunteers and staff to feel safe doing this work. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
KleinLife
The JFRE grant will enhance its security features due to increased threats against the organization over the past two years and building maintenance. These features include increasing and enhancing exterior lighting, applying a glass bonding agent to reduce the likelihood that entrances could be breached and adding access readers to several additional doors to prevent unauthorized access to portions of their building. Additionally, part of the grant will be used to repair a portion of their roof over the swimming pool to ensure a structurally sound facility for years. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Kol Tzedek
Kol Tzedek Synagogue is currently located in the Cedar Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia. They have rented space in a shared church that hasn’t been able to maintain their facility and has failed to keep the building safe, causing security concerns. The JFRE grant will allow Kol Tzedek to add security features to their new location, about 1 mile from where they currently reside, to ensure their new place of worship and gathering is up to standards. These features include: digital locks on all outside doors, cameras at each exit, and motion detectors inside the building to help secure their space. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Mount Carmel Cemetery
Mount Carmel Cemetery is located in Northeast Philadelphia. Due to vandalism and exterior damage, the cemetery has needed costly repairs to boulders and their fence. The JFRE grant will be used to erect bollards or triangular concrete barriers along the perimeter of the cemetery on Frankford Avenue to protect it from cars crashing into the fence and help keep out vandals. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Beth Tikvah B’Nai Jeshurun
Beth Tikvah B’Nai Jeshurun is a synagogue located in Glenside, PA, where, at the local Middle and High School there have been seven hate-related crimes between November 2022 and February 2023. The JFRE grant will update its security system to ensure a safe space. These updates include a new access control system, expansion of their video monitoring system and training staff and congregants on new security planning. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Camp Ramah in the Poconos
Camp Ramah in the Poconos is located in Lakewood, PA, and is home to about 600 campers and staff each summer. As caretakers of other people’s children, we prioritize making our campus as safe as possible every summer. Due to the rise in antisemitism, they request funds to help upgrade their security measures. The JFRE grant will go towards helping expand their security needs, including fencing, equipment and systems. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation
The Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation (PHRF) operates, maintains and programs the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza. Centered around the oldest public Holocaust monument in the United States, PHRF opened the redesigned Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza with new educational features and artifacts in 2018. The JFRE grant will go towards a new Park Manager Booth, to monitor the surrounding grounds full-time and four additional security cameras focused on the high-concern areas. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
South Philadelphia Shtiebel
The South Philadelphia Shtiebel is a Synagogue located off Wharton Street. The JFRE grant will help purchase cameras, turn on their ADT system and install panic buttons. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Temple Hillel
Established in 1944, Hillel at Temple University (Temple Hillel) became a national model for service to commuter students. In 2009, the Rosen Center, a 13,000-square-foot facility, was built to serve the changing needs of Temple students, most of whom were now living on and around campus. The JFRE grant will go to help fund the security camera system including: Laptop at the front desk for the security guard to monitor the live camera feeds, a laptop lock to secure the laptop to the security desk, one security camera in the back hall of the building by the back exits of the building, battery backup and surge protector for the host computer of the security camera system in the basement, a twenty-two-inch computer monitor for the host computer of the security system in the basement, and two TVs to be mounted on the wall of the 2nd and 3rd floor with a live security camera feed of the activities on the first floor of the building. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
The Congregations of Shaare Shamayim
The Congregations of Shaare Shamayim is a Synagogue located in Bustleton that has served the communities of Montgomery County, Bucks County, and Philadelphia for over 50 years. While they have a security guard to help protect the Synagogue, he must use his car if there is adverse weather to protect himself and keep him from being close to the building. The JFRE grant will go towards the installation of a guard shack that will be visible to deter potential intruders, provide the guard with protection from the ambient weather, have a monitor that will provide the guard with continuous access to our video surveillance cameras, and include a button by which to summon law enforcement in case of an emergency. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Politz Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov
The Politz Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov, formerly known as Politz Hebrew Academy, was founded in 1982 and is dedicated to providing quality Orthodox Jewish Day School education to Kindergarten through 8th grade children. They asked the Jewish Federation’s security expert, Scott Kerns, to evaluate their security needs and he recommended a Guard Shack as an immediate need which the JFRE grant will be allocated towards. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
Yad Lakashish
Since 1962, Yad LaKashish has provided creative work opportunities for thousands of Jerusalem’s most deserving elderly residents. The elderly at Yad LaKashish, many of whom do not have nearby family, also gain a sense of community and belonging. Most program participants are Jewish immigrants from the FSU, Ethiopia, South America and Iran, many of whom survived the Holocaust, others walking across the Sudan to save their families from war and famine. The JFRE grant will go towards Yad LaKashish need of new industrial tables, standard tables, and chairs for their workshop as their current equipment is well-worn and has needed to be repaired multiple times. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Leket Israel
Leket is requesting the JFGP’s assistance to specifically support Bet Eliyahu NPO, located in Kiryat Shalom (South of Tel Aviv). Bet Eliyahu services over 1,100 people both through the weekly distribution of food packages and the preparation and serving of 750 meals daily. Of the people served 60% are elderly, including 10% holocaust survivors. 20% of the food recipients are immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. The JFRE grant will fund the following capacity building in the form of, but not limited to: general renovation of the kitchen, including new water and sewerage pipes, retiling of the floor, additional shelving, and distancing the gas supply; ceiling renovation, including the replacement of ceiling tiles; and the completion of electrical rewiring including conversion to tri-phase capacity. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Nirim
Nirim in the Mountains was established to provide a space for the most at-risk teens, ages 14-18, who must be removed from participation in other frameworks due to personal crises, violence, or disruptive behavior. Nirim in the Mountains represents a “last chance” for teens otherwise bound to be incarcerated. Located in a secluded area in the Golan Heights near the Syrian and Jordanian borders, the farm is designed to hold up to 10 teen participants at once, and 30 in a given year. The improved safety measures will better enable the teens to focus on rehabilitation, healing, and learning, without worrying about their physical safety.
The JFRE grant will go towards this central component of these improvements and renovations, which concerns building a life-saving “safe room” in the residential area of the facilities, where participants and staff can gather in times of rocket attacks and/or other security emergencies. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Amigour
Amigour’s “Rupin” Home for the Elderly Sheltered Home, located at 30 Rupin Street in Kiryat Ata, was initially an absorption center established in the 1980s. The nine-story building houses 119 residential units, offering a caring home and refuge to 126 elderly new immigrants and Holocaust survivors. The lobby of Amigour’s Rupin Sheltered Home has not received any notable renovation or upgrade since its inception in the 1980s and is in dire need of revitalization. The JFRE grant will go towards replacing its old flooring, which is currently outdated and needs renovation. The lobby renovation will include installing new flooring, acoustic ceilings, electrical and lighting work, and ornamental work on the walls and pillars. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
Ayalim
Since 2014, Ayalim has operated a student village in Sderot, providing a unique opportunity for students attending Sapir College to reside in the city and experience its manifold benefits. The city needs more development, particularly in cultural enrichment and artistic opportunities. The JFRE grant will go towards the proposed capital project located next to the Ayalim Student Village and will foster an environment for young professionals and serve as a hub for students, artists, travelers, and performers. The center will contain four art galleries, a studio, a performance stage, and an outdoor bar, all along a pedestrian street lined by pergolas. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
The Association for Israel’s Soldiers
The Association for Israel’s Soldiers helps support those Israeli soldiers who may face additional challenges being away from home, including food insecurity, emotional challenges and additional family issues due to their background. The JFRE grant will help fund capacity building for the 638 Battalion of the Technology and Maintenance Support Unit to receive the necessary resources and support to fulfill their duties and provide them with a sense of belonging and comfort while serving in the military. To learn more about this grant recipient, click here.
LOCAL PROJECTS
Beth Sholom Congregation: Security Door
To prevent breach of security into the synagogue, this grant will enable:
- Replacement of a basement level security door in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed synagogue.
- Repair of the alarm system magnet and reintroduce it to the alarm system circuit.
Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun: Security Upgrades and Building Repair
Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun is dedicated to Conservative Judaism as a means of preserving the best of Jewish tradition and developing Judaism, as an evolving religious civilization. They provide programs, services and activities to engage preschoolers, religious school and teen children, adults and the community at large in a meaningful, educational and inspirational way to promote Jewish values and cultures.
This grant will enable Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun to:
- Install a vehicle barrier between the paved area and the playground enclosures.
- Panic button system.
- Security window film on the exterior-facing windows of the lower level classrooms.
- Additional cameras inside and outside, estimate 10 cameras and installation.
- Fence improvements.
- Address security issues with the various doors: add deadbolts and latch covers; remove mechanical latches and add others; repair doors that function inconsistently.
Camp Harlam: Security Gate
Camp Harlam makes a commitment to its camp community every year, ensuring the safety and security of its campers and staff while they are at camp. Having a secured entry will improve the security of the property and help reduce the risk of threat.
This grant will enable Camp Harlam to:
- Replace its main front security gate offering an extra layer of security in addition to the security guard stationed there.
Camp Ramah in the Poconos: Security Upgrades
Camp Ramah sits in a rural area in the Poconos, therefore it is critical that staff is extremely vigilant regarding the level of safety precautions in place. Enhancing safety protocols will enable Camp to be more proactive against emergency situations and reactive in a more speedy manner should they occur.
This grant will enable Camp Ramah to:
- Install new fencing along the northwestern border of the campus.
- Add lighting along the road and other vulnerable spots
- Purchase additional two-way radios for expanded communication.
- Expand the reach of the new PA system used to announce emergency situations.
- Expand surveillance cameras.
- Acquire security all-terrain utility vehicle.
- Acquire multiple concrete barriers to protect propane tanks and vulnerable access areas.
- Replace electronic gate at kitchen entrance. provide the much needed tools to be both proactive against emergency situations and reactive in a speedily manner should they occur.
Congregation Beth Israel of Media: Security Upgrades
Funding for the proposed projects will protect the synagogue, its congregants, staff, and visitors from threats posed by individuals and groups espousing hatred for people based on their religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identify, and other categories targeted by these persons.
This grant will enable Congregation Beth Israel to:
- Installation of a permanent security barrier to reduce the likelihood of a deliberate or accidental vehicular impact to the building.
- Repairs to a deteriorated portico will reinforce the existing structure and minimize the possibility of a catastrophic failure due to deliberate or accidental vehicular impact.
- Add LTS cameras that will provide greater surveillance capability of the environs of the building and serve as a visible deterrent.
- Install motion-activated perimeter lighting will provide enhanced security during hours of darkness and serve as a deterrent to criminal activity.
Federation Day Care Services (FELS): Security Camera Upgrades
FELS must provide safe and stimulating environments that teach children and their families to respect diversity and honor differences. Video surveillance is a necessity for childcare centers. FELS children are fully exposed on the property during recess hours, even with proper supervision.
This grant will enable FELS to:
- Replace outdated systems and install 20 new HD security camera.
Federation Housing Inc: Security for the New Annabel Gardens
Federation’s Housing’s newest building, Annabel Garden will be 54 one bedroom homes providing affordable housing to 60-75 low to moderate income seniors. The building is expected to open Fall 2022.
This grant will enable Federation Housing to:
- Incorporate sophisticated security technologies to ensure it protects residents, employees and visitors throughout the building.
- Installation of multiple cameras on every hallway of every residential floor, the exterior of each building and in elevators, trash rooms and other ancillary spaces.
- Use of new servers with space to store 180 days of continuous film, enabling the team to review film footage and be able to further assist law enforcement in the event of any threats or crimes committed on or adjacent to the properties.
Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS): Home Repairs
JFCS’s NORC team identifies clients with home repair needs, assesses home safety needs, makes a home repair plan and then makes arrangements for work to be completed. Activities include yard clean-up, replacing smoke detectors and batteries, cleaning gutters, changing light bulbs, fixing toilet flappers and much more.
This grant will enable JFCS’s NORC team to:
- Provide two home repair services to each client.
- Provide grant funds to go towards overall project expenses, including home repair materials and staff time of our Home Repair Coordinator.
JEVS Tikvah Residence: Safety Upgrades
Tikvah Residence offers comfortable and affordable housing for adults with mental health needs. As residents age, their needs are evolving, and they have begun to face additional challenges related to mobility and other physical disabilities. An upgrade and modification of individual and communal spaces, as well as repair to aging structural issues is necessary for residents’ safety and comfort.
This grant will enable Tikvah Residence to:
- Install a new external door with an electric strike prior to the installation of the security system.
- Removal of 130 yards of old carpeting and padding and installation of new carpeting to improve the overall living environment and residents’ well being.
Makom Community
Makom Community is a welcoming Jewish enrichment center open to anyone who wants to engage with Jewish traditions alongside their family, cultivating fluency and comfort in Jewish tradition through joyful youth and family experiences.
This grant will enable Makom Community to install:
- A security monitoring system to enhance video surveillance at entry doors.
- Shatter-resistant film to keep large storefront windows intact in case something is thrown
at them. - Video cameras on front and back entrances.
Perelman Jewish Day School: Space Renovation
A local Jewish day school that provides a rigorous dual curriculum for grades Pre-K-5 on two campuses in suburban Philadelphia.
This grant will enable Perelman Jewish Day School to:
- Hire Education Design International to perform a detailed analysis of the schools current practices, i.e., how we use and structure classrooms, common areas, labs and libraries, how we provide instruction and evaluate learning, and how and where we collaborate as classmates and colleagues – as students, teachers and staff. The master plan will form the basis of a school redesign, supporting a student-centric, inquiry-based, collaborative, interdisciplinary and hands-on learning environment.
Temple Hillel: Security Upgrades
This grant will enable Temple Hillel to:
- Install a new camera system to replace a current system that has been broken for some time enabling staff to see all of the entrances and what is happening in the building. This security enhancement will increase the ability for all staff and visitors to feel safe and secure in the building.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
Eden Association Shelters for At-Risk Teen Girls
Eden’s residential care expansion project addresses a national need for hospitalization alternatives for traumatized girls aged 12-18. This project will enable the organization to address the Ministry of Welfare’s increased requests by 36%.
This grant will enable Eden Association Shelters to:
- Add two prefab transportable houses that can populate up to 20 more girls in the facility, covering expenses for: services and fees for the Project Manager, measurements and architect; construction expenses: transportation of the houses; foundations laid; utilities set-up; refurbishment expenses; four toilets, four bathrooms, and two kitchen renovations; equipment purchase; and addition of two 15 sqm shelters.
ELI: Israel Association for Child Protection: New Offices
For more than 40 years, ELI has worked with abused children and addressed violence in families. They have been asked to open five new offices in Tiberias, Hadera, Jerusalem, Beersheva and Haifa to provide help to educators and school staff attending to the increase in cases of abuse.
This grant will enable ELI to:
- Provide cosmetic renovations to the new offices so that they can provide abused children a strong sense of safety and security which ELI traditionally imparts, and to serve the needs of the school staff.
Nirim Farm
Nirim is a therapeutic farm for teenage boys and girls who reach a state of dysfunctional behavior and are in deep crisis. These teenagers, when in most extreme situations, were bound to be sent to institutions or returned to their destructive environments.
This grant will enable Nirim Farm to:
- Address the demands of the regional municipality to build a shelter, large enough to accommodate 20-30 people. This build will include a security house and will include infrastructures, electricity, air-conditioning, relevant security kits and more. This will ensure the safety and security of both the youth, staff and volunteers in times of need.
Orr Shalom: Expansion
Orr Shalom is a non-profit organization that cares for children and youth at-risk that have been removed from their parents’ custody by welfare authorities due to an extreme lack of protection and parental dysfunction. This expansion will enable 12 children to receive the love and treatment offered in Orr Shalom’s Family Group Homes, in a healthy and comfortable environment.
This grant will enable Orr Shalom to:
- Renovate one of their therapeutic Family Group Homes located in Beersheba which will include: preparation of a professional building plan; registration and filing of the building plans; addition of an additional bedroom; reorganization of the existing bedroom areas including moving walls and electrical changes; and additional essential repairs to repair the roof, replace windows and improve insulation.
Jewish Agency for Israel
JAFI’s Security Fund provides infrastructure/training investments to at-risk Jewish institutions and communities around the world (excluding the US and Canada) in order to improve long- term physical security.
This grant will enable JAFI’s Security Fund to:
- Provide grants to congregations and other Jewish organizations around the world for increased physical security infrastructure items such as: controlled entry systems; video surveillance equipment; intruder alert alarm and communications systems; exterior and emergency lighting; x-ray equipment; protective windows and doors; and bollards.
Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry
SSEJ is a U.S. based 501(c)(3), the main source of humanitarian assistance for the Jewish community in Ethiopia. Its programs include: feeding centers, medical care, Jewish and secular education, as well as religious and other communal activities.
This grant will enable SSEJ to:
- Build a medical clinic in Ethiopia that will provide those Ethiopian Jews living in Gondar awaiting aliyah to Israel with medical aid and assistance.
LOCAL PROJECTS
Beth Sholom Congregation: Security Door
To prevent breach of security into the synagogue, this grant will enable:
- Replacement of a basement level security door in the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed synagogue.
- Repair of the alarm system magnet and reintroduce it to the alarm system circuit.
Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun: Security Upgrades and Building Repair
Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun is dedicated to Conservative Judaism as a means of preserving the best of Jewish tradition and developing Judaism, as an evolving religious civilization. They provide programs, services and activities to engage preschoolers, religious school and teen children, adults and the community at large in a meaningful, educational and inspirational way to promote Jewish values and cultures.
This grant will enable Beth Tikvah B’nai Jeshurun to:
- Install a vehicle barrier between the paved area and the playground enclosures.
- Panic button system.
- Security window film on the exterior-facing windows of the lower level classrooms.
- Additional cameras inside and outside, estimate 10 cameras and installation.
- Fence improvements.
- Address security issues with the various doors: add deadbolts and latch covers; remove mechanical latches and add others; repair doors that function inconsistently.
Camp Harlam: Security Gate
Camp Harlam makes a commitment to its camp community every year, ensuring the safety and security of its campers and staff while they are at camp. Having a secured entry will improve the security of the property and help reduce the risk of threat.
This grant will enable Camp Harlam to:
- Replace its main front security gate offering an extra layer of security in addition to the security guard stationed there.
Camp Ramah in the Poconos: Security Upgrades
Camp Ramah sits in a rural area in the Poconos, therefore it is critical that staff is extremely vigilant regarding the level of safety precautions in place. Enhancing safety protocols will enable Camp to be more proactive against emergency situations and reactive in a more speedy manner should they occur.
This grant will enable Camp Ramah to:
- Install new fencing along the northwestern border of the campus.
- Add lighting along the road and other vulnerable spots
- Purchase additional two-way radios for expanded communication.
- Expand the reach of the new PA system used to announce emergency situations.
- Expand surveillance cameras.
- Acquire security all-terrain utility vehicle.
- Acquire multiple concrete barriers to protect propane tanks and vulnerable access areas.
- Replace electronic gate at kitchen entrance. provide the much needed tools to be both proactive against emergency situations and reactive in a speedily manner should they occur.
Congregation Beth Israel of Media: Security Upgrades
Funding for the proposed projects will protect the synagogue, its congregants, staff, and visitors from threats posed by individuals and groups espousing hatred for people based on their religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identify, and other categories targeted by these persons.
This grant will enable Congregation Beth Israel to:
- Installation of a permanent security barrier to reduce the likelihood of a deliberate or accidental vehicular impact to the building.
- Repairs to a deteriorated portico will reinforce the existing structure and minimize the possibility of a catastrophic failure due to deliberate or accidental vehicular impact.
- Add LTS cameras that will provide greater surveillance capability of the environs of the building and serve as a visible deterrent.
- Install motion-activated perimeter lighting will provide enhanced security during hours of darkness and serve as a deterrent to criminal activity.
Federation Day Care Services (FELS): Security Camera Upgrades
FELS must provide safe and stimulating environments that teach children and their families to respect diversity and honor differences. Video surveillance is a necessity for childcare centers. FELS children are fully exposed on the property during recess hours, even with proper supervision.
This grant will enable FELS to:
- Replace outdated systems and install 20 new HD security camera.
Federation Housing Inc: Security for the New Annabel Gardens
Federation’s Housing’s newest building, Annabel Garden will be 54 one bedroom homes providing affordable housing to 60-75 low to moderate income seniors. The building is expected to open Fall 2022.
This grant will enable Federation Housing to:
- Incorporate sophisticated security technologies to ensure it protects residents, employees and visitors throughout the building.
- Installation of multiple cameras on every hallway of every residential floor, the exterior of each building and in elevators, trash rooms and other ancillary spaces.
- Use of new servers with space to store 180 days of continuous film, enabling the team to review film footage and be able to further assist law enforcement in the event of any threats or crimes committed on or adjacent to the properties.
Jewish Family and Children’s Service (JFCS): Home Repairs
JFCS’s NORC team identifies clients with home repair needs, assesses home safety needs, makes a home repair plan and then makes arrangements for work to be completed. Activities include yard clean-up, replacing smoke detectors and batteries, cleaning gutters, changing light bulbs, fixing toilet flappers and much more.
This grant will enable JFCS’s NORC team to:
- Provide two home repair services to each client.
- Provide grant funds to go towards overall project expenses, including home repair materials and staff time of our Home Repair Coordinator.
JEVS Tikvah Residence: Safety Upgrades
Tikvah Residence offers comfortable and affordable housing for adults with mental health needs. As residents age, their needs are evolving, and they have begun to face additional challenges related to mobility and other physical disabilities. An upgrade and modification of individual and communal spaces, as well as repair to aging structural issues is necessary for residents’ safety and comfort.
This grant will enable Tikvah Residence to:
- Install a new external door with an electric strike prior to the installation of the security system.
- Removal of 130 yards of old carpeting and padding and installation of new carpeting to improve the overall living environment and residents’ well being.
Makom Community
Makom Community is a welcoming Jewish enrichment center open to anyone who wants to engage with Jewish traditions alongside their family, cultivating fluency and comfort in Jewish tradition through joyful youth and family experiences.
This grant will enable Makom Community to install:
- A security monitoring system to enhance video surveillance at entry doors.
- Shatter-resistant film to keep large storefront windows intact in case something is thrown
at them.
Video cameras on front and back entrances.
Perelman Jewish Day School: Space Renovation
A local Jewish day school that provides a rigorous dual curriculum for grades Pre-K-5 on two campuses in suburban Philadelphia.
This grant will enable Perelman Jewish Day School to:
- Hire Education Design International to perform a detailed analysis of the schools current practices, i.e., how we use and structure classrooms, common areas, labs and libraries, how we provide instruction and evaluate learning, and how and where we collaborate as classmates and colleagues – as students, teachers and staff. The master plan will form the basis of a school redesign, supporting a student-centric, inquiry-based, collaborative, interdisciplinary and hands-on learning environment.
Temple Hillel: Security Upgrades
This grant will enable Temple Hillel to:
- Install a new camera system to replace a current system that has been broken for some time enabling staff to see all of the entrances and what is happening in the building. This security enhancement will increase the ability for all staff and visitors to feel safe and secure in the building.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
Eden Association Shelters for At-Risk Teen Girls
Eden’s residential care expansion project addresses a national need for hospitalization alternatives for traumatized girls aged 12-18. This project will enable the organization to address the Ministry of Welfare’s increased requests by 36%.
This grant will enable Eden Association Shelters to:
- Add two prefab transportable houses that can populate up to 20 more girls in the facility, covering expenses for: services and fees for the Project Manager, measurements and architect; construction expenses: transportation of the houses; foundations laid; utilities set-up; refurbishment expenses; four toilets, four bathrooms, and two kitchen renovations; equipment purchase; and addition of two 15 sqm shelters.
ELI: Israel Association for Child Protection: New Offices
For more than 40 years, ELI has worked with abused children and addressed violence in families. They have been asked to open five new offices in Tiberias, Hadera, Jerusalem, Beersheva and Haifa to provide help to educators and school staff attending to the increase in cases of abuse.
This grant will enable ELI to:
- Provide cosmetic renovations to the new offices so that they can provide abused children a strong sense of safety and security which ELI traditionally imparts, and to serve the needs of the school staff.
Nirim Farm
Nirim is a therapeutic farm for teenage boys and girls who reach a state of dysfunctional behavior and are in deep crisis. These teenagers, when in most extreme situations, were bound to be sent to institutions or returned to their destructive environments.
This grant will enable Nirim Farm to:
- Address the demands of the regional municipality to build a shelter, large enough to accommodate 20-30 people. This build will include a security house and will include infrastructures, electricity, air-conditioning, relevant security kits and more. This will ensure the safety and security of both the youth, staff and volunteers in times of need.
Orr Shalom: Expansion
Orr Shalom is a non-profit organization that cares for children and youth at-risk that have been removed from their parents’ custody by welfare authorities due to an extreme lack of protection and parental dysfunction. This expansion will enable 12 children to receive the love and treatment offered in Orr Shalom’s Family Group Homes, in a healthy and comfortable environment.
This grant will enable Orr Shalom to:
- Renovate one of their therapeutic Family Group Homes located in Beersheba which will include: preparation of a professional building plan; registration and filing of the building plans; addition of an additional bedroom; reorganization of the existing bedroom areas including moving walls and electrical changes; and additional essential repairs to repair the roof, replace windows and improve insulation.
Jewish Agency for Israel
JAFI’s Security Fund provides infrastructure/training investments to at-risk Jewish institutions and communities around the world (excluding the US and Canada) in order to improve long- term physical security.
This grant will enable JAFI’s Security Fund to:
- Provide grants to congregations and other Jewish organizations around the world for increased physical security infrastructure items such as: controlled entry systems; video surveillance equipment; intruder alert alarm and communications systems; exterior and emergency lighting; x-ray equipment; protective windows and doors; and bollards.
Struggle to Save Ethiopian Jewry
SSEJ is a U.S. based 501(c)(3), the main source of humanitarian assistance for the Jewish community in Ethiopia. Its programs include: feeding centers, medical care, Jewish and secular education, as well as religious and other communal activities.
This grant will enable SSEJ to:
- Build a medical clinic in Ethiopia that will provide those Ethiopian Jews living in Gondar awaiting aliyah to Israel with medical aid and assistance.
LOCAL PROJECTS
Abrams Hebrew Academy | Security Upgrade and Enhancements
Abrams Hebrew Academy is an independent, co-educational Community Hebrew Day School that embraces Jewish families from all backgrounds. The school is the only Hebrew Day School in Bucks County, and is a center for Jewish life and learning in the immediate and surrounding communities. The JFRE grant will be used to replace a 15-year-old security system with a new Honeywell Vista 250 FBT addressable security system that can integrate with the CCTV and Access control system. Additional enhancements include active shooter pull boxes, technology to identify the alarm origination, and full integration with the Honeywell security equipment.
Center City Eruv | Capital Improvements
The Center City Eruv serves about 400 – 500 residents, including about 100 families, and covers the city’s major hospitals for visitors and tourists. Maintained by a non-profit created by volunteers, the Eruv requires regular repairs and maintenance, and occasional expansion projects as the Jewish community in Center City grows. Constructed 13 years ago, the current structures are extremely vulnerable to damage resulting from poor weather conditions, nearby construction and increased traffic. The JFRE grant will fund work to replace and reconfigure the existing Eruv wires and poles on Poplar Street, from Broad Street to I95.
Gan Israel Day Camp | Creative Arts Center
The Gan Israel Youth Services programming provides support and inspiration through their flagship Summer Day and Overnight Camps, plus year round activities to keep the children connected, such as Winter Day Camp, and weekly Sports Leagues and Clubs. The Creative Arts Center is intended as a space for kids to reconnect with the free spirit of their childhood and reinforce the value of their imagination and creativity, however the structure has fallen into disrepair. The JFRE grant will supplement additional dollars raised to build a refreshed, inviting Creative Arts Center to replace and upgrade the current 30-year-old stage.
JEVS Human Services | Capital Improvements
The Tikvah Residence is a supportive home in Delaware County that strives to improve the quality of Jewish community life for vulnerable adults with serious and persistent mental illness. The residence was built in 1966 and the building has experienced repeated plumbing emergencies during the past year. The JFRE grant will address structural issues, including the replacement of failing pipes that have caused flooding and apartment damage, as well as installing new fire-rated steel entrance doors, frames, and hardware.
The Mesivta High School of Greater Philadelphia | Capital Improvements
The Mesivta High School of Greater Philadelphia is an Orthodox Jewish boys’ high school, educating students in grades 9-12 in Torah, Jewish Law, Ethics and secular disciplines. The Mesivta has two sets of boilers, gas and oil, both of which are 30 years old and in need of replacement. The JFRE grant will replace the oil boiler that handles the heat on the educational side of the school building.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
ELI: Israel Association for Child Protection | Equipment Upgrade
The Israel Association for Child Protection (ELI) is recognized by the Government of Israel and other human service agencies as the only organization in Israel that deals specifically and exclusively with all of the various aspects of child abuse. Their school-based child abuse prevention and awareness program educates and screens approximately 60,000 children annually for child abuse, which reveals nearly 1,000 disclosures of abuse not previously reported. The JFRE grant will help replace and upgrade ELI’s scenery and equipment for the program that will be used by therapists and other trained professionals at schools around the country for many years to come.
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia | Israel Emergency Campaign
In response to the rocket fire and unrest in the streets of Israel, the Jewish Federation launched an Emergency Campaign to address needs in Israel with a special emphasis on our partnership region of Netivot and Sdot Negev. The JFRE grant will support a number of capital and infrastructure-related work: updates, upgrades and relief supplies for bomb shelters, including air conditioning units, emergency lighting, mattresses, fire-fighting kits, as well as furniture and blankets for soldiers in Iron Dome posts.
ADDITIONAL PROJECTS
In addition to seven above capital projects, JFRE launched an emergency campaign to provide immediate resources and relief for our community during the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on food insecurity, totaling $157,016 in pledged and matched contributions to the following initiatives:
- Mitzvah Food Program, for those who have recently become food insecure, to offset the cost of food and supplies for an increasing client base
- KleinLife’s Meal Delivery Program, home delivery program for older adults
- MANNA, to provide medically-tailored meals and nutrition education for people with serious illnesses
- Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association’s Hospitality Workers Relief Program, to provide gift cards for local grocery stores and pharmacies to be distributed to hotel employees who have been furloughed, laid off, or lost their jobs
LOCAL PROJECTS
Camp Ramah in the Poconos
Camp Ramah in the Poconos has close to seventy years of experience in creating innovative programming, exciting, experiential Jewish learning opportunities, and building life-long relationships and connections to the Jewish tradition at its overnight camp facility in the Poconos.
The camp will use the new JFRE grant to add a significant expansion to house a new woodworking program. In it, campers, staff, and retreat guests will experience engaging, hands-on, wood construction activities resulting in completed projects to take home.
Ramah Day Camp
Ramah Day Camp is an excellent Jewish day-camp experience for young people in the local Philadelphia community, introducing them and their families to the joys of Jewish living, Hebrew language, and connection to Israel. Ramah Day Camp will use their grant to fund an outdoor space expansion that will allow the camp to leverage their already beautiful green space and create additional programming areas through shade and creative design. The creation of these spaces will then allow them to offer new, and enhanced, Jewish cultural experiences to the campers and their families.
Caskey Torah Academy
Caskey Torah Academy is an Orthodox Jewish Day School which educates boys and girls from nursery through grade eight in the Lower Merion, Northeast Philadelphia, Elkins Park, and Cherry Hill communities. CTA has over 350 students and provides a dynamic education that fosters intellectual, as well as spiritual understanding. Caskey Torah Academy is looking to use their JFRE grant to better secure its building and property.
JEVS Human Services
The Tikvah Residence is a supportive home in Delaware County that strives to improve the quality of Jewish community life for vulnerable adults with serious and persistent mental illness. Tikvah Residence offers the psycho-social supports, linkages to medical and mental health care, access to the full range of JEVS services, and perhaps most importantly, the genuine sense of belonging to and being valued, that are so critical to residents’ continuing recovery and satisfaction in life. To this end, the Tikvah Residence looks to JFRE to improve safety, security and accessibility at Tikvah Residence.
Camp Havaya
Camp Havaya is all about the joy of summer camp with the freedom to be who you truly are. Camp Havaya will make a number of needed upgrades that will increase the aesthetic, use, safety, and security of the building. The focus of the upgrades will be on the Main Lodge, a 15,000 square foot building that includes the dining hall, kitchen, administrative and program offices, and housing for adult staff and visitors.
Makom Community
Makom Community is a Jewish enrichment center that creates family-centered Jewish experiences. They cultivate fluency and comfort in Jewish tradition through inspirational and cutting-edge Jewish education for youth and families. Makom Community is growing quickly and has the opportunity to build out a space that would increase their capacity. They will use their JFRE grant build out the location in order to have space for staff offices, classrooms, a kitchen, a learning garden, and gatherings for Family Shabbat Celebrations and eventually B’nai Mitzvah celebrations.
Habonim Dror Camp Galil
Habonim Dror Camp Galil owns and operates a summer camp facility in Bucks County, its primary patrons are children and youth from the Greater Philadelphia area but it also serves as a retreat center for Jewish college-aged programs. Camp Galil will use their grant to replace and relocate their Counselor-in-Training (CIT) program. The CIT Village will create separate personal living and communal spaces for the CITs and their staff, it will foster their own interpersonal bonds and increase Galil’s ability to recruit and retain older campers.
Pinemere Camp
Pinemere Camp’s mission is to provide its campers and staff members with a group living experience rooted in the religious and social traditions of Judaism. Campers summer camp experience at Pinemere enables them to establish a strong Jewish identity by developing lifetime friendships with other Jewish youth, engage in Jewish practices and create strong connections to Israel.
Pinemere Camp will use JFRE funding to enhance security to ensure the safety of the campers, staff and visitors and to provide parents with a sense of confidence that their children are safe.
KleinLife
KleinLife’s Grow for a Friend program cultivates partnerships with onsite and volunteer led community gardens. The program is currently entering its ninth growing season, with half an acre of KleinLife’s campus transformed into an edible landscape. KleinLife’s Grow for a Friend program will use JFRE funding to rehab deteriorated infrastructure and to hone the growing spaces and assets to their fullest production. Through this restoration and expansion, they will be able to promote healthy eating, provide fresh food to an at-risk population, build community with the many volunteer opportunities, and engage KleinLife membership with educational programming.
The Mesivta High School of Greater Philadelphia
The Mesivta High School of Greater Philadelphia is an Orthodox Jewish boys’ high school educating students in grades 9-12 in Torah, Jewish Law, Ethics, and secular disciplines. The JFRE grant will greatly improve the outdated electrical and safety systems in the building, and enhance the security of the property and grounds.
Perelman Jewish Day School
In 2017, Perelman opened a Hebrew-Immersion Junior Kindergarten (Ganon) on the Stern campus. Tremendous community interest has driven Perelman Jewish Day School to consider expansion of the Ganon program by opening a second classroom in 2019. The JFRE grant will allow expansion of Ganon which will not only help Perelman build enrollment, it will also enhance engagement of young Jewish families and connect them to the Jewish community and its constituent agencies at an earlier stage.
URJ Camp Harlam
Harlam is one of the oldest, largest, and most significant assets of the Union for Reform Judaism’s camping system. Thousands of campers and staff have made Harlam their summer home, enjoying the enriching and powerful Jewish environment, extraordinary leadership and traditions, diverse programs, and an expansive facility. Using the JFRE grant, Harlam will create a much safer and more secure environment on the Main Camp property, increase range of vision on campus, and enhance the practical and perceived security level at the main gate.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
Ayalim Association – Communal Library in Sderot
Ayalim was founded in 2002 to strengthen social engagement in the Negev and the Galilee in the spirit of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion. Ayalim establishes student villages throughout the geographic and social periphery, while educating the students on the values of Zionism, encouraging young entrepreneurship, and creating connections between the younger generations to the land of Israel. Ayalim will utilize grant money to create a shared learning space which will enable students living in the city to enjoy a communal study room.
Hemdat Hadarom Academic College of Education
For young men and women who wish to specialize in education and live in the south of Israel, specifically in the Jewish Federation’s partnership region, Hemdat Hadarom College is the ultimate option. This teacher’s college for religious teachers who are teaching in the Orthodox stream offers first rate training programs ranging from pre-school to Junior-High school in the following areas: sciences, English, mathematics, literature, special education and Jewish studies. The Hemdat Hadarom Academic College of Education will use the JFRE grant to build a security fence around the campus in 2019.
Yahel – Israel Service Learning
Yahel – Israel Service Learning is an educational non-profit organization that offers service and social action programs in Israel. Yahel offers both short and long volunteer programs for teens, college students and post-college participants which combine hands-on volunteer work with in-depth learning and immersion in Israeli society. Yahel is looking to build two pop-up libraries in Rishon LeZion and Lod that will bring the joy of reading to local residents, strengthen English language skills in children, offer recreational and educational activities to locals, and connect residents to services offered by their local library.
Nirim Foundation
Nirim in the Mountains is a therapeutic residential complex in the Golan Heights which serves teenagers, boys and girls who reach a state of dysfunctional behavior and are in deep crisis, by providing intensive and individual care. Nirim will use the JFRE grant to build a residential complex on their therapeutic farm that can be suitable residence for the boys and girls in the program.
Imagine – Steam Inspired Music Education
IMAGINE has created an innovative ‘STEAM’ inspired music education program combining music and technologies specifically for children with disabilities (physical and mental). The STEAM movement has yet to become a major trend in Israel and IMAGINE wants to bring it first to the geographical and social periphery (where all focus is on STEM programs) and also provide for them potential vocation options in digital and electronic solutions for music editing and teaching. The JFRE grant will create sound labs that will serve and better the lives of hundreds of students and youth in the periphery.
LOCAL PROJECTS
Camp Gan Israel – Chilling Room
Camp Gan Israel is a Jewish Camp for all Jewish kids, including those with special needs, who make up approximately 10% of Gan Israel’s campers. The special needs coordinator has been successful in helping these kids, including occasionally taking them out of their bunk for important “decompression time” during the camp day. Camp Gan Israel is seeking to construct a dedicated sensory room at the campsite called the “Chilling Room” that would be available to all campers who need time to “chill” with supervision.
Camp Havaya – Theater Upgrades
At the heart of Camp Havaya’s 120 acres in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania is their Teatron (theater). With seating for 450, a dual-level stage and four classrooms, this indoor- outdoor space is the central gathering point for the camp community. However, the technology is sorely out-of-date. With support, the technical theater will include new stage lighting, microphones, pick-ups for instruments, monitors, microphone stands, a digital projector, sound board, programmable light board, installation hardware and a locked cabinet for storage.
Camp Ramah in the Poconos – New Camper Bunks to Increase Capacity
Established in 1950, Camp Ramah has been creating a warm, nurturing, fun and inclusive environment for their campers for close to 70 years. Summer programs are for children currently in 2nd through 10th grades. Camp Ramah in the Poconos looks to renovate a current programmatic space in camp, with the purpose of creating a new double camper bunk, thereby allowing the camp to clear their wait-lists and increase the current and future capacity by at least 10%.
The Chevra – Security & Life-Safety Improvements to Chevra’s Center City Community Center
The Chevra’s facility, located in the Rittenhouse neighborhood and Market Street West corridor of Center City Philadelphia, is a unique 12,000 square foot facility that is a hub of Jewish communal life for young Jewish professionals and graduate students living, working and going to school in the region. With a grant they will make critical upgrades based on the recommendations of security consultants, which include upgrading the entry system into the building and interior access controls, installing a security fence and gate on the mouth of the 20th Street driveway, exterior security lighting, HD/IP security cameras (exterior and interior), glass treatments/replacements for lower level windows and lobby windows, and modi cations to the 20th Street exterior fire escape system.
Golden Slipper Camp – Volgelson Village Wrap
Golden Slipper Camp was built in 1948. At that time, the original buildings were sided with laminate board. Although portions of the siding have been replaced, much of the original siding remains in place today. The goal is to begin replacing the laminated boards with a high-quality siding that will last 40-plus years. The requested grant would start the process of replacing the siding of three buildings in Vogelson Village, where the youngest male campers live. Not only will the bunks look better but they will also be insulated, enhancing campers’ comfort and safety.
Habonim Dror Camp Galil – Dining Hall Energy Retrofit
Habonim Dror Camp Galil owns and operates a summer camp facility in Ottsville, Pennsylvania (Bucks County). The facility hosts a summer camp from June through August, and retreats throughout the fall and spring. Camp Galil’s dining hall and kitchen is very much the heart of the camp, as the community gathers there each day for meals and programming. But built in 1961, it is an aging facility in need of upgrades. Over the past decade, Galil has renovated the kitchen plumbing and ventilation, and updated the bathrooms. With this grant, the camp will renovate the wiring and lighting in the dining hall and kitchen. This will enhance the time spent in the dining hall by the camp community and outside groups. The money saved annually on electricity by the camp will be reinvested into the camp programs and facility.
Judith Creed Horizons for Achieving Independence (JCHAI) – John and Jacqueline E. Swartz Education Center
This project is specifically for smart boards and other classroom technology for JCHAI’s new John and Jacqueline E. Swartz Education Center. The building will be used to provide education across all of JCHAI’s programs that will help their clients get jobs and live independently in the community, reducing their vulnerability by increasing their ability to earn a living wage and live with fewer support services.
JEVS Human Services – Tikvah Residence Renovation Project
Tikvah Residence specially serves individuals with a disability caused by serious, chronic mental illness, which can disrupt individuals’ thinking, mood, and ability to relate socially, as well as diminish their capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of daily life. Tikvah Residence strives to improve the quality of Jewish community life for vulnerable populations. JEVS requests a grant to create a safe living environment in one kitchen and two bathrooms for Tikvah residents, focusing on making the spaces safer for residents with a variety of disabilities to navigate. Renovations will include upgrading stoves and appliances, installing new flooring, installing grab bars, new lighting, installation of new toilets and vanities.
Jewish Farm School – 707: The Center for Cultural Resilience
Jewish Farm School equips and mobilizes Jews to be part of creating and maintaining a just, equitable, and sustainable food system. Through their programs we build the Jewish community’s capacity to live more sustainably, support the work of local farms and food justice organizations, and connect these efforts to Jewish traditions, values and the cycles of the Hebrew calendar. Working closely with several partners, JFS opened Yibaneh: The Center for Cultural Resilience, which serves as shared office and programming space for Jewish Farm School and several other Jewish and social justice organizations. The first floor storefront is JFS’s home for sustainability skills workshops, classes and events, and the space is already being utilized as a community library and beit midrash. A programmatic home increases JFS’s capacity to engage more members of the Jewish community in West Philadelphia and beyond, and will enable us to collaborate with other Jewish organizations to create a unique and innovative hub for Jewish life in Philadelphia.
Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia – JFCS Technology Capacity Building Project
Jewish Family and Children’s Services proposes two technology-related improvements. The first is developing a live-stream and webinar series available to clients unable to travel to the Brodsky Enrichment Center for programs due to health, financial or family constraints. The second is upgrading the Internet network infrastructure to increase inter-office communication efficiency, better linking staff who work across JFCS’ ve Philadelphia area offices and reducing the need for travel time between o ces for meetings and collaboration. These improvements will enhance the quality of Jewish community life by ensuring everyone in the community can benefit from JFCS’ high-quality enrichment programming. It also ensures that JFCS’ five regional offices have the infrastructure needed to ensure quality client services with no technology-related disruption.
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia – Northeast NORC Build 2018 with Habitat for Humanity
The NORC proposes replicating the successful model of partnering with Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia to provide critical repairs for low-income older adults living in Northeast Philadelphia. Habitat for Humanity will provide extensive repairs for six to eight homes, dependent on need and work-scope, and will provide the materials, logistics support, and additional planning to support minor maintenance, repairs and energy efficiency projects for an additional 15-20 households that will be performed by up to 100 JFRE, NextGen and community volunteers on a designated day in October. This project helps rehabilitate and preserve the homes of low-income older adults, allowing them to age safely in place and mobilize volunteers from Jewish Federation’s affinity groups.
KleinLife – Energy Efficient Lighting
KleinLife proposes to replace 1,090 lighting fixtures throughout its 106,000 square-foot facility with energy-efficient LEDs. This upgrade will net KleinLife an energy cost savings of nearly $35,000 per year, which would be directed to the health and wellness program for Holocaust Survivors from the former Soviet Union, a Person-Centered Trauma-Informed support service recently funded by the Jewish Federations of North America’s Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care.
Perelman Jewish Day School – Security and Fire System (Stern) and Security Cameras and External Lighting (Forman)
Perelman Jewish Day Schools will replace the security and re alarm system at Perelman’s Stern Center and install higher definition cameras and external lighting at Perelman’s Forman Center. A recent security assessment recommended that Perelman effectuate these security enhancements in order to protect the school from a security breach. Both campuses are open and accessible to the public and have no physical barriers. These upgrades will enable the office personnel and administrators to more closely scrutinize the activities of potential perpetrators, which would provide local law enforcement officers with more time to respond.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
Air Force Association – Flight Academy Leisure Club for Learning
The cadets at the Hatzerim base go through a three-year training course, incorporating academic studies and culminating in a Bachelors degree after a full year of studies. There is a critical need for updated facilities and this grant will allow for the renovation of classrooms enabling productive study areas, renovating appropriate facilities for teachers and staff, and a rest area for freshening up between classes.
Amigour – Shimshon-Granit Sheltered Home in Be’er Sheva
Amigour is Israel’s leading sheltered housing company and second largest public housing group. Amigour’s goal is to provide sustainable and affordable housing as well as a range of social and cultural activities to Israel’s older adults, as a means to empower and respect this aging population and enhance their quality of life. While Amigour currently provides about 6,000 residential units, the need is constantly growing with some 27,000 seniors still lacking proper housing. According to the Ministry of Absorption and the Ministry of Housing, an estimated 1,560 seniors are currently waiting for suitable and affordable living arrangements in Be’er Sheva. Amigour has plans to substantially expand the Shimshon-Granit Sheltered Home by constructing a new building with 112-housing units next to the existing complex. In addition to the apartment units, a social hall will be built for events, lessons and gatherings, made available to all residents and community volunteers. These new units and facilities will serve an additional 112-224 individuals, who will join the 132 residents currently living there.
Bina: The Movement for Social Change – New Bina Campus in Tel Aviv: A Home for Jewish Study, Action and Community
Over the past years, BINA has established itself as an authorized and sought-after educational provider for IDF units, which often seek off-IDF-base spaces for programming. Their ability to o er adequate program space is critical in order to expose an increasing number of IDF soldiers and officers to BINA’s pluralistic approach to Judaism, Zionism and Jewish life. BINA’s Tel Aviv campus will complete a full renovation of the ground oor of their Main Building, which will serve as a library, study space and much-needed classrooms, particularly for their work with IDF units.
Hinam Center – Establishing a Center for Tolerance in Abu Ghosh
In order to establish of the Center for Tolerance, the Hinam Center has located and rented a 150- year old stone house in Abu Ghosh, on a total area of 400 square meters. The building has been deserted for the past few years and needs to be thoroughly renovated. Renovations include flooring, plastering and painting the walls, building an accessible bathroom area on the ground floor, renovating the infrastructure (electricity, water and sewage) and building a Roman-style amphitheater in the building’s main hall, where we will hold conventions, seminars, learning sessions and musical events. The center will host high school students, Taglit groups, missions of Jewish Federations around the world and other guests for diverse and experiential activities that will bring different people together. The center will also operate a midrasha, a pre-military program, for youth.
Nirim Foundation – Nirim in the Mountains – Utility Area
Nirim in the Mountains, a therapeutic agricultural farm located in a beautiful spot near the borders of Jordan and Syria, was built six years ago with minimum capital investment and has slowly developed since then. The infrastructure is minimal and, as of yet, does not include living quarters. Rather, youth and staff work the land from sunrise to sunset but sleep, eat and live at a nearby spot where they have built rudimentary structures to allow basic living conditions. A utility area will serve as another step towards improving living conditions at the farm.
Wolfson Community Center – Picnic Area
It is of great significance to develop a park that provides a picnic area for all residents to interact with each other and meet new people. The park will be a tool for facilitating integration, as well as a place for educational and social programs, for events and for recreation. It will be a place where people of different culture and classes can develop a sense of community. The park will connect the existing city of Netivot to its future neighborhoods in the west. The gathering area is planned near the entrance to the park, following the playground.
LOCAL PROJECTS
Golden Slipper Senior Center: Emergency Rent Grant
Golden Slipper provides services for low-income older adults including social activities, educational classes, and nutritious lunches. This project will provide funding to cover the increased rent cost for the senior center’s Wynnfield Heights location. This funding will ensure older adults can remain fully engaged in life as they age in their own homes.
Home Repair for Holocaust Survivors
Our local Jewish community is fortunate to have among us hundreds of Holocaust Survivors living and thriving. While the Claims Conference pays for home care and chore services, many survivors live in Northeast Philadelphia row homes desperate for major home repair and modifications such as a new roof, windows, stair glides, plumbing problems and more. We have identified 15 survivors who need repairs.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Mitzvah Food Program: Digital Choice System Enhancements
The Mitzvah Food Program provides basic pantry staples for food insecure individuals and families living in the Greater Philadelphia area. This project will develop a web-based system for clients to order food remotely, instead of visiting a pantry, increasing accessibility for homebound clients who would not otherwise be able to travel to pantry sites.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Northeast NORC: Habitat for Humanity Rebuild
The Northeast NORC supports older adults living in Northeast Philadelphia to age safely and with dignity in their own homes. The rebuild project will partner with Habitat for Humanity and Jewish Federation volunteers to perform necessary home repairs and provide basic home maintenance. Volunteers provide essential services from changing light bulbs to repairing roofs, enabling clients to safely remain in their own homes as they age.
KleinLife: Grow for a Friend Expansion
KleinLife provides social, educational, and cultural programs, as well as vital social and medical services for people living in Northeast Philadelphia. With JFRE’s assistance, the organization will increase its production by planting a small orchard, building an additional hoop house, and installing a harvest washing station. With this investment, Grow for a Friend will dramatically expand its ability to promote healthy eating, provide fresh and nutritious food to an at-risk population, and build community with many volunteer opportunities.
Latet: Home Restoration Project
Latet provides services for vulnerable populations in Israel including aid for Holocaust Survivors, food rescue and nutritional security programs, professional support for economically disadvantaged women, and programs for at-risk youth. The Home Restoration Project funds home repairs for impoverished Holocaust survivors. It is part of the Aid for Life program, which provides over 1,200 survivors with aid for nutritional, medical, physical, social and emotional needs.
ISRAEL AND GLOBAL PROJECTS
AKIM-Jerusalem: Energy Project
AKIM-Jerusalem provides housing for approximately 90 intellectually challenged youth and adults in Jerusalem. This project will provide emergency generators for backup during snow and rain storms, and enable important medical devices and electric wheelchairs to continue operation.
The Israel Air Force Association: David Sling Club
This Israel Air Force Association supports soldiers with the Israel Defense Forces. This project will provide deployed soldiers working on David’s Sling system, which was designed to intercept tactical ballistic missiles, with a much-needed space to relax and unwind. Soldiers working on this system are deployed to various locations, without a home or supportive facility.
The Wolfson Community Center: Accessible Playground
The Wolfson Community Center builds communities in Netivot by connecting individuals through celebrations of their cultural heritage and the development of local leadership. This project will support the redevelopment of Lake Park in the Jewish Federation’s Partnership2Gether Region, and specifically the creation of an accessible playground, designed for children with disabilities.
JFRE’s impact
See the work that JFRE accomplished in Fiscal Year 2022, thanks to your generosity.