JFRI allocates nearly $3 million for critical needs & services
Reprinted from the 6/12/09 issue of The Jewish Voice & Herald
by Claire M. Roche

Jewish Federation of Rhode Island (JFRI) Board of Directors voted on May 27 to approve the allocation of $2.8 million dollars to priority programs and services benefiting the Rhode Island Jewish community and Jewish communities in Israel and across the globe.

First among the programs receiving funding are: a kosher food pantry, an economic assistance fund, and financial support for families who want to enroll their children in a Jewish summer camp experience.

“It is no surprise that the economic situation has guided our work this year,” said Richard Licht, chair of the Community Development Committee (CDC), the panel charged with making key recommendations to the JFRI board. “We have to make sure that the most vulnerable among us have food, clothing, shelter and access to medical care.”

This year’s allocation process was markedly different than in years past. In conjunction with JFRI’s communal strategic plan, the allocations process was changed to enable the JFRI to target funds directly to identified programs and services. In the past, funds were mostly given as general grants to agencies; this process served the community well for decades. The new system allows greater focus on developing compelling community priorities followed by the allocation of funds directly to the programs that achieve these priorities.

“Our second top priority, after the top priority of taking care of vulnerable Jews, is the urgent need to support Jewish communal life, particularly for young families, teens and young adults,” Licht said. “We need to make sure nobody is left out of Jewish life. Scholarships for Camp JORI and other Jewish camps, Israel trips and Jewish experiences are essential to nurture the next generation of Jews.”

More than $1,000,000 is being directed at programs to support Jewish life and learning in Rhode Island. Of this, nearly $600,000 is directed at Jewish programming, education and experiences to children and youth from newborns to 18. In addition, more than $120,000 is programming for Jews in the 18 to 30 age range.

The JFRI Board allocated $40,000 to continue the Kesher social work program. Kesher is a pilot program of Jewish Family Service that provides specialized social services to the community through synagogues. The JFRI Board also approved nearly $40,000 to continue the Bureau of Jewish Education’s highly successful PJ Library program providing Jewish books, music and social and cultural events to almost 800 Rhode Island children, ages 6 months to 7 years, and their families.

This year, JFRI has changed its allocation model (see Doris Feinberg’s column for more information). The allocations granted support every aspect of Jewish communal life: economic assistance, services for the young and elderly, education, the arts, and programs for the whole community, including young families of all constellations.

Three key examples demonstrate the impact and responsiveness of the newly revised allocations model – which transitions the community from funding agencies to funding programs and services – funding for The Full Plate – the new kosher food pantry, support for summer camps, and support for informal Jewish education in Poland.

A response to hunger

An AgeWell initiative, The Full Plate, is greater Rhode Island’s first kosher food pantry. The Caring and Social Responsibility subcommittee of the CDC, chaired by JFRI vice president Jamie Pious, recommended full funding to establish the pantry, and the CDC was able to support it because the flexibility of the new allocations model allowed for it. The Full Plate will help ensure that none in our community go hungry. “Making sure every dollar does the most good and reflects honor on us all is one of the goals of the CDC,” said Pious, “and safety net services for our community’s most vulnerable are the highest priority.”

More access to Jewish life

In addition to a partner allocation to Camp JORI, the Jewish Life and Learning subcommittee of the CDC, chaired by JFRI vice president Richard Licht, recommended funds to help families defray the cost of our community’s summer camp programs. Now, families must choose between the basic necessities and participation in Jewish life, including camp. “These dollars will make a real difference in supporting our community’s parents in choosing a Jewish camp experience for their children,” said Licht.

Jewish community around the globe

The Jewish Peoplehood subcommittee of the CDC, chaired by JFRI past president Robbie Mann, recommended funding for Limmud-Keshet. A program in Poland supported by the Joint Distribution Committee, Limmud-Keshet is similar to our community’s Judge Marjorie Yashar and Dr. James Yashar Evening of Jewish Renaissance and provides a creative and enjoyable format for exposing young Jewish adults and families to Jewish life in Warsaw. In addition to funding programs and services in Israel and around the world through our partners at United Jewish Communities, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Joint Distribution Committee, the CDC has directed funding to several programs in Poland to help support the renaissance in Jewish life and community happening there. Mann explained that, “we asked our overseas partners to help us target specific programmatic and geographic areas for support so that our community can make a real difference in the lives of Jews here at home and abroad.”

Editor's Note:  The FYE 2010 Allocations Report to the Board was finalized and issued on May 27, 2009.  In October 2009, a Supplemental Allocations Report to the Board was issued to document supplemental allocations for the year.

For the complete Report to the Board for FYE 2010 Allocations dated May 27, 2009 and the October 2, 2009 Report to the Board on Supplemental Allocations, click here.  For a one-page combined summary of these allocations, click here.

Claire M. Roche is the director of marketing and communications of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island.