Good News Update

Love in the Time of Sirens

In the midst of war, when uncertainty fills the air and sirens interrupt the rhythm of daily life, Rachel Kolette Wheeler and Shoshi Margolin, founders of Collective Lavo B’Tov are busy doing what they do every day: helping people with disabilities build lives full of meaning, dignity, and possibility.

Recently, that meant helping Michael and Ahinoam get married.

With Rachel and Shoshi’s steady guidance and unwavering support, this beautiful couple was able to move forward with their wedding despite the chaos surrounding them. A simple dining hall was found and lovingly transformed into a place of warmth and celebration. Family and friends traveled from across Israel to share in their joy. And in that room, for that moment, there was no war. There was only love.

This is what Collective Lavo B’Tov makes possible every single day. Through their work, people with disabilities find their way to fulfilling relationships, meaningful employment, independent living, and vibrant community connection. Rachel and Shoshi believe, with every fiber of who they are, that disability is never a barrier to a full and beautiful life.

We are deeply honored to partner with them, and endlessly inspired by the world they are helping to create, one person, one milestone, one wedding at a time.

Spreading the Good Word

In March, GPF Board Chair Beth Gansky opened her home for a beautiful gathering alongside board member Jody Harburger and Julie Fisher. Together, they introduced the community to the tzedakah work of the Good People Fund in an evening that was warm and engaging.

Guests asked thoughtful questions and were moved by the stories we shared of the remarkable people the Good People Fund is proud to support. Our deep gratitude to Beth for a lovely evening.

Resilience During Operation Roaring Lion

Many of our grantees are sharing on-the-ground updates from Israel during these challenging times. Here is an update from our grantee Ma’atzimot, Empowering Ethiopian Women:

During these days of Operation “Roaring Lion,” we are all experiencing complex and challenging times. This is especially true for the women in our community : mothers, young women, and girls , who are dealing with uncertainty, anxiety, and concern for their children and families.

At the Empowering Ethiopian Women NGO, we believe that it is precisely in moments like these that the importance of community strength, our connection to one another, and mental resilience becomes clearer than ever.

Based on the understanding that emotional resilience is particularly critical during this period, Empowering Ethiopian Women has launched the “Minute of Resilience” series. This community initiative aims to strengthen resilience, featuring facilitators and women from the community who share a short, practical tip every day for coping with the situation.

In addition, we held a special and joyful Zoom session with a professional dancer who led a shared movement experience for mothers and daughters.

Over 70 women participated in a meeting filled with energy, connection, and joy. It offered a moment of release, movement, and smiles within the challenging routine, and we received heartfelt feedback on how meaningful and strengthening the session was during this time. Given its success and demand, we plan to continue offering similar sessions in the near future.

11,000 Acts of Kindness in Boston

Good People Fund grantee Everyday Boston, founded by Cara Solomon, continued their beautiful tradition of “Love Your Wicked Awesome Neighbor,” their annual Valentine’s Day kindness card campaign, now in its seventh year. Community members across Boston, in schools, workplaces, nonprofits, and prisons, sit down and write heartfelt notes of encouragement to strangers. The cards are then collected and distributed to strangers across the city on Valentine’s Day.

This year they surpassed their goal of 5,000 cards, ultimately collecting 11,000. Everyday Boston strives to make Boston the most connected city in America, using a signature curriculum that helps people strengthen the listening and communication skills needed to connect across differences. We celebrate their good work spreading kindness, fostering connection, and building bridges.

A Special Message from Naomi Eisenberger

Surely there is something symbolic about the fact that I am writing my final message as The Good People Fund’s Executive Director in the midst of our 18th year celebration! What a ride it has been. I feel deeply grateful to have had the zechut, the honor, to act as your Shlicha Mitzvah — your messenger of acts of kindness. And I am tremendously excited to pass the baton to Julie Fisher, who will assume the role of Executive Director on July 1st. I have every confidence that Julie will carry out our mission with love, clarity, and deep compassion. In the 2+ years that she has been by my side, she has already created many new programs to benefit our grantees as well as strengthen our internal structures. I know that in Julie’s hands, The Good People fund will continue to grow, thrive, and catalyze more good.

When I think back to 2008, the year this adventure began, I remain grateful to The Good People Fund’s founding board for sharing my vision and bringing it to fruition by adding their talents and generosity. I am also indebted to our current board, whose foresight and commitment has made it possible for the work to continue. Together, we have all built something truly unique in the Jewish philanthropic world. We have invested in so many extraordinary people in exciting and impactful ways, almost too numerous to mention … helping feed those who are hungry, welcoming the stranger to a new country, empowering women too often left behind, or combating hatred and bigotry in Israel and in the US.

Thanks to your generosity, we have sparked hope and goodness in a world that is often consumed by despair. This work has given me the oxygen to breathe each day, and is an antidote to the depletion many of us are feeling at this moment.

No organization can succeed without a staff that is also deeply committed to its mission and while the The Good People Fund’s staff is small, it is also mighty — and more than a little fun! From Jordan Namerow and Randi Cairns (the first former grantee who fulfilled a lifelong dream to work for The Good People Fund), to Sandy Ungar, Sondra Kasdon and though no longer here, Glenn Rosenkrantz, z”l, our former Communications Consultant who died tragically last December — thank you for the many talents you have brought to our work. And, finally, to Andrea Good our Director of Operations whose title barely describes her many talents and her deep commitment — thank you for embracing the true meaning of this special work.

For me, the new titles of Executive Director Emerita and Master Mentor mean that I will continue to be part of the family that I helped create, and do one of the things that I most enjoy — mentoring our grantees as they build their programs.

The greatest joy of my life, aside from my beautiful family, has been the chance to meet both our inspiring grantees and the generous people who believe in a modest experiment and helped transform it into a meaningful force in Jewish philanthropy today.

I am deeply grateful to all of you for joining me on this remarkable journey. Together, we have touched and changed countless lives — and we have much more work to do together! I will always treasure the role each of you plays in The Good People fund, and look forward to championing the next chapter.

Naomi

When Our Good People Meet…

We love to connect our Good People to each other for community and collaboration! This past week, Good People Fund grantees Elhanan Miller, Founder of People of the Book, and Mohammad (Mo) Al Samawi, Founder of Abrahamic House, met in Washington, DC for the first time. They are each doing important bridge-building work and approach their work from different lived experiences. Elhanan is Jewish (and a rabbi!) and from Israel. Mo is Muslim and from Yemen, originally. They share a deep commitment to breaking down barriers and building bridges of connection and conversation. We look forward to what will come out of this connection and are thrilled that the Good People Fund brought them together.