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The Good People Fund

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United States

Refugee Assistance Alliance

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With nine moves in 15 years, Kristen Bloom says: “dislocation is my middle name.” So when she came to know individuals and families in South Florida’s Syrian refugee community — and their struggles adjusting to new lives — she was moved to act. She founded Refugee Assistance Alliance in 2017 to help new Americans from Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries.

RAA places a high priority on teaching English, but has established a holistic approach to resettlement, recognizing that friendships and community are just as essential to successful integration. “People are just people, yearning for connections. Our ultimate goal is to build peace and understanding among the people of South Florida. It’s harder to hate up close.”

Our grant supports pandemic-response initiatives, and a matching grant covers some administrative costs.

TribeTalk

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At one university, a Jewish student resigned from student government after being harassed for her pro-Israel views. At another, neo-Nazi posters were removed. At a third, anti-Israel rallies took place on the quad. The list goes on, as antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents rise on college campuses.

In Massachusetts, visionaries Michelle Black, Robin Friedman, and Jude Sydney recognized that their own children were unprepared to navigate shifting, challenging and sometimes threatening environments. In 2020, the three founded TribeTalk as a resource-rich hub giving college-bound high school students connections and information to help them evaluate Jewish life on campuses … and equip them with the knowledge and confidence to wear their Jewish identities proudly once there — and beyond.

Our funds help cover administrative expenses.

For Good PGH

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Who wouldn’t love to have Kristen Maser and Gisele Fetterman as neighbors? Their belief that in every one of us there is kindness that can be directed to helping others makes life in Braddock, PA, so much better.

This once booming steel town is now home to fewer than 2,000 residents, most living well below the poverty line. Be they struggling single mothers, or people with addiction, or families living with hunger insecurity—the two believe that inclusivity and diversity can make a better world.

For Good PGH offers hope and compassion along with tangible support. That includes food as well as Freestore 10514, a collection of converted shipping containers that offers local residents a place to shop for donated clothing, housewares and more, all free of charge.

Our funds are directed to Covid-related needs and are used to help purchase food and provide mental health support.

Heart 2 Hart Detroit

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Every sandwich Larry Oleinick and his volunteers offer homeless and destitute people who call the area around Detroit’s Hart Plaza “home” comes with caring and friendly conversation. While the sandwich is important, “The greatest gift we offer those we assist is reassurance that they are not alone. With the 3 C’s—Conversation, Compassion and Consistency – we build relationships.” Many lives have been transformed by a connection that comes from the heart. Our funds are directed to administrative expenses and the purchase of basic necessities.

Witness to Mass Incarceration

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Evie Litwok arrived in NYC penniless, homeless and jobless after time in Federal prison. She knows well that establishing a life after incarceration is challenging and frequently defeating, especially for women, LGBTQ+ individuals and others facing systemic and cultural disadvantages and the stigma of having been in in prison.

She used her experience as a social activist – culled from years in the women’s and gay rights movements – to establish Witness to Mass Incarceration to advocate for prison reform, and to help those just released from the penal system move more smoothly back into society.

WMI runs several projects helping those returning to open society as well as those who have been free for
some time and trying to rebuild their lives. The Suitcase Project provides a cellphone, laptop and gift cards to
purchase essential items. WMI’s latest program, The MAP, is a unique online directory of businesses owned by formerly incarcerated individuals.

Our funds underwrite administrative expenses and supermarket gift cards distributed to newly released individuals.

Food Project

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It might seem to be all about food, but The Food Project (a program of UEmpower MD), housed in a former elementary school in the blight that is SW Baltimore, is so much more. Instead of the usual reading, writing and ‘rithmetic you expect to be taught there, Michelle Suazo and her small staff and volunteers with expertise in farming, behavioral therapy, public health and social work, focus on bringing hope and culinary skills to local youth who have little about which to be hopeful.

As the pandemic raged around them, programming became virtual and the organization quickly pivoted to provide food and other necessities to this poor neighborhood. The Project prepares and distributes
meals, giving participants on the job experience. They also run a weekly market and offers programs to help
young people cope with the increased emotional stress of the pandemic.

Our funds underwrite the purchase of food and administrative expenses.