$65,000 in Economic Impact Grants Announced for Jewish Family Service, Jewish Day Schools

Today, we are pleased to announce $65,000 in grants to six local Jewish organizations in the greater Seattle area. The Challenging Times Economic Impact Grants were created to help local Jewish organizations meet growing needs for services and scholarships due to the economic downturn.

The largest grant recipient is Jewish Family Service who received $39,000 for Safety Net-related needs: $10,000 for Aging and Adult Programs, $10,000 for Emergency Services, $10,000 for the Food Bank and $9,000 for the Seattle Association for Jews with Disabilities.

“This offers us much needed additional assistance for serving those in our community with critical needs,” reported Ken Weinberg, CEO of Jewish Family Service. “We are most grateful to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle for these grants and for our ongoing partnership with them,” added Dianne Loeb, JFS Board President.

Specifically, these funds will provide: 20 care hours for 40 clients during the year; 5 households with an additional $600 for rent and utilities; assistance to 10 new households with an average utility bill of $300; financial assistance of $400 to 15 disabled clients and their families for supported living services; $200 in stipends to numerous disabled clients for medical and dental co-pays and prescriptions; and 10,000 protein and non-food items distributed to 3,000 clients.

“Through these economic impact grants, we are able to immediately give a shot in the arm to families in need. In shifting funds from our long-term community impact grants to these short-term ones, the Jewish Federation showed how flexible and pro-active we can be,” explained Jack Almo, the volunteer chair of the Special Initiatives Fund committee from where these grants were made. “And, we have an amazing partner in Jewish Family Service who could help us quickly disseminate the funds in a targeted and efficient manner to people in need,” Almo continued.

Requests for proposals were sought from local Jewish organizations in four areas: Safety Net, Day School Tuition Assistance, Vocational Counseling/Training and Domestic Abuse. Given the grant’s goals of providing immediate relief and impact, Safety Net needs were deemed the greatest priority.

The other $26,000 of the funds was distributed equally to five Jewish day schools for scholarship assistance. Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle, Menachem Mendel Seattle Cheder, Northwest Yeshiva High School, Seattle Jewish Community School and Seattle Hebrew Academy each received $5,200.

“Once a child leaves a Jewish day school, it is extremely difficult to disrupt their education again and re-enroll them in a future year,” explained Almo. With the importance of Jewish education central to the Jewish Federation, helping keep students enrolled where possible was a priority.

These grants were funded by dollars redirected from the Long Term Community Impact Grants of the Special Initiatives Fund. The fund is part of the Jewish Community Endowment at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle.

$65000 in Economic Impact Grants FINAL.pdf