Jamal Alkirnawi, a member of Israel’s Bedouin community, has devoted his life to helping improve the lives of the nearly 150,000 Bedouins who populate the country’s Negev (and beyond). This Arab-Jewish community-based organization focuses on peace, developing leadership, promoting education and economic success for all residents of the region.
Healing Vulnerable Communities
Shtetl
Most Americans take for granted their access to uncensored media. However, in Haredi (ultra-religious) communities in greater New York and beyond, news is curated and censored.
Naftuli Moster grew up in a Hassidic community in Brooklyn, NY and has created Shtetl, the first free press of its kind both for and about the Haredi community. Shtetl reports on news, politics, religion, culture and other topics that are relevant not only to the Haredi community, but also to those outside the community who can gain a greater understanding of the ultra-orthodox world.
STREETSCAPE
Jen Livovich has a deep personal connection to homelessness. An abusive marriage and alcoholism left her with very little until she found herself homeless on the streets of Boulder, Colorado, a city better known for its affluence and high cost of living. Homeless shelters and sleeping on the streets became the norm, with countless unsuccessful efforts to break out of this endless cycle. It was only after getting frostbite on her left foot, that a Court Navigator successfully connected Jen to a sober-supported transitional housing program, where she received treatment and enrolled at Colorado State University.
When Jen returned to Boulder, her first initiative was “Save-a-Toe,” supplying warm socks to homeless people. Her new organization, with the help of other formerly homeless individuals, is dedicated to effective solutions to end homelessness in Boulder.
Our funds purchased necessary items like sleeping bags, backpacks and household items for individuals transitioning to housing.
Magen for Jewish Communities
Sexual abuse within Israeli society (and elsewhere) has finally come out of the shadows and is receiving the attention it deserves. As the Executive Director, Shana Aaronson and her staff are deeply committed to providing multiple ways to support victims of this trauma. Working with compassion, they offer victims access to therapy and other communal resources. But, perhaps, most important is their belief in the victim, so often missing in these circumstances. Magen also works to educate the community and promotes full transparency. For them, victims’ needs take precedence.
Our funds are directed to advocacy and investigatory staffing.
ZA’AKAH
Asher Lovy grew up in the insular Haredi community of Borough Park, Brooklyn, and was sexually, physically and mentally abused by his mother.
The silence within that community – where discussion of such aggressions was neither welcome nor acknowledged – was unbearable. “I needed to go out and yell about it,” says Asher, who now heads ZA’AKAH (Hebrew for “outcry”) to advocate for survivors of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox Jewish community.
ZA’AKAH raises awareness of child sexual abuse, creates channels to address it and support survivors … and seeks to break the silence. A volunteer-based Shabbos and Yom Tov hotline provides peer-to-peer support, for example, and the organization helped pass the landmark Child Victims Acts in New York and New Jersey to give survivors a path to justice. Our funds cover administrative expenses.
Everyday Boston
Cara Solomon is a born storyteller. Perhaps it was her earlier career as a journalist that directed her to create Everyday Boston, a powerful young program centered on the idea that “Stereotypes Divide Us and Stories Connect Us”.
Everyday Boston maintains an online multi-media library where residents share their stories. A youth program teaches kids empathy along with interviewing skills, while the Bridge Project provides formerly incarcerated people with a vehicle to tell their stories while becoming part of the community.
“More Than a Vaccine: Storytelling to Build Medical Trust” is Cara’s latest project. It amplifies the stories of Black, Indigenous and People of Color and bridges the divide between healthcare providers and BIPOC.
Our matching funds underwrite a digital media producer position.
