A fluent Arabic speaker and former journalist, Rabbi Elhanan Miller saw that many Muslims he knew didn’t have a clear understanding of Jewish practices and beliefs. What better way to effect mutual understanding and friendship between people in the Middle East with different religious and cultural backgrounds than education? People of the Book uses short animated videos that explain Jewish faith and ritual in Arabic and compare them to similar Muslim practices. The success of Rabbi Miller’s approach is best found in the tens of thousands of subscribers who access the People of the Book social media channels. Our funds are used for website development and administrative expenses.
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.
NechamaComfort
Reva Judas lost her son, shortly after birth, 35 years ago. At the time there were very few resources for families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. Following this loss, Reva found herself counseling others. Hearing from people across the US and overseas, she quickly realized that there is a dearth of resources available to help those grieving this kind of loss. Her response was to obtain chaplaincy certification as well as certification as an Infant Loss Facilitator.
The organization supports people from all backgrounds and raises awareness of pregnancy and infant loss in the greater community and with professionals such as clergy, funeral directors, medical and mental health practitioners. Our matching funds are directed to administrative expenses.
Medical Justice Alliance
Founder Dr. Mark Fenig is an emergency room physician in New York. His organization MJA seeks out volunteer healthcare professionals to protect incarcerated people’s constitutional right to medical care. They also seek out volunteer attorneys to advocate in the courts on behalf of these rights.
The organization focuses on: advocacy (policy change) to ensure that incarcerated people receive the care they are entitled to; recruitment and training volunteer healthcare professionals to offer pro bono and heavily discounted expert medical witness services in legal claims involving incarcerated people; and educating medical professionals and attorneys about the need for their services and the best way to offer those services.
Our matching funds are directed to a new staff position for this volunteer-run effort.
Candles of Hope
Pregnancy and infant loss is rarely discussed in Israeli society. Elysa Rapoport and her husband had very few resources available to them when they lost a child and went through their unique journey of grief. In Israel approximately 6 infants are stillborn per 1000 live births and 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in loss, but there was no national pregnancy and infant loss response or support services. (According to a 2016 study, the first of its kind in Israel, over a third of women who suffer pregnancy or infant loss go on to develop full PTSD.)
This young program has already held a national symposium which was very well attended. Our matching grant is directed towards a brochure to disseminate to the medical community and beyond.
Covid
Covid’s enormous economic, social and humanitarian toll continues to challenge the world in unprecedented ways. The Good People Fund’s structure enables us — and our mission compels us — to respond to needs emerging in the moment, and to those demanding long-term solutions.
Our Covid funding has helped current grantees deal with shortfalls in their own funding as well as for the increased needs they are seeing in their client base. We use existing and new networks of on-the-ground change makers to help in meaningful and impactful ways.
We are adopting a greater scope and reaching beyond our usual parameters as we help to mitigate Covid-related needs of people throughout the US, Israel and beyond.
The Good People Fund’s ability to act quickly and thoughtfully makes it possible for thousands of people to not only receive critical material needs, but also the comfort in knowing that someone, a stranger, cares and can help.
