American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Inc

THE AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE (JDC) IS THE WORLD'S (CONT. ON SCHED. O) LEADING JEWISH HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE ORGANIZATION, WORKING IN MORE THAN 70 COUNTRIES AND IN ISRAEL.

SAVING JEWISH LIVES: RELIEF AND WELFARE PROGRAMS PROVIDE HUMAN SERVICES AND SUPPORT TO JEWS IN NEED IN COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT MEET CRITERIA RELEVANT TO THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT, SUCH AS POVERTY AND INCOME LEVELS, THE EXISTENCE OR LACK OF AVAILABLE SOCIAL SERVICES WITHIN A COUNTRY, AND CONSIDERATION FOR PHYSICAL MOBILITY, DISABILITIES, AND UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES. PROGRAMS INCLUDE: FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES HOMECARE MEDICAL SERVICES, EQUIPMENT, AND MEDICINES (CONT. ON SCHED. O) EMERGENCY GRANTS IN 2019, JDC PROVIDED ROUGHLY 120,000 JEWS IN NEED AROUND THE WORLD WITH MUCH NEEDED RELIEF AND WELFARE SERVICES. IN 2019, JDC PROVIDED OVER 22 MILLION HOURS OF HOMECARE TO OVER 30,000 NEEDY ELDERLY IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.

INNOVATIVE SOCIAL SERVICES IN ISRAEL: JDC ASSISTS VULNERABLE JEWS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. THIS MISSION IS CRUCIAL IN ISRAEL, WHERE A REMARKABLE ECONOMIC BOOM HAS NOT REACHED EVERYONE. SO JDC PROVIDES AID TO ISRAEL'S MOST VULNERABLE CITIZENS, INCLUDING UNEMPLOYED ISRAELIS, CHILDREN AT RISK, ELDERLY AND ISRAELIS WITH DISABILITIES. JDC USES A UNIQUE MODEL, WHICH MAXIMIZES OUR IMPACT. WE PROMOTE INNOVATION, RUNNING PILOT PROGRAMS TO DEVELOP AND TEST MORE PROMISING WAYS TO DELIVER SOCIAL SERVICES. IF A NEW IDEA SUCCEEDS, THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER THE PROGRAM AND IMPLEMENTS IT THROUGHOUT THE NATION. WE USE THE ACRONYM "DNA" TO DESCRIBE THIS (CONT. ON SCHED. O) APPROACH, SINCE OUR INVOLVEMENT WITH A PILOT HAS THREE STAGES: 1) DESIGN (I.E., COMING UP WITH A NEW IDEA); 2) NURTURE (I.E., TESTING THE NEW PROGRAM); AND 3) ACCELERATE (I.E., IF IT WORKS, SCALING IT UP AND HANDING IT OFF TO BE REPLICATED). IN 2019, JDC DIRECTLY IMPACTED OVER 245,000 ISRAELIS, PLUS COUNTLESS OTHERS WHO BENEFIT FROM PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO SCALE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

BUILDING JEWISH LIFE: JDC STRENGTHENS JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN THREE WAYS. FIRST, WE ENGAGE JEWS WHO FEEL NO CONNECTION TO JUDAISM, OFFERING PROGRAMS THAT ARE INCLUSIVE AND PLURALISTIC. SECOND, WE NURTURE INSTITUTIONS AND TRAIN LEADERS, SO COMMUNITIES ARE EFFICIENT, TRANSPARENT, REPRESENTATIVE, AND (EVENTUALLY) SELF-RELIANT. THIRD, WE URGE COMMUNITIES TO CARE FOR THEIR MOST VULNERABLE MEMBERS. AS A RESULT, THERE ARE SYNERGIES BETWEEN OUR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND CARE MISSIONS: INDIVIDUALS ARE MORE LIKELY TO RECEIVE CARE AND JDC HAS LESS NEED TO PROVIDE IT IF VIBRANT LOCAL COMMUNITIES TAKE ON THIS RESPONSIBILITY. PROGRAMS FOCUS ON CAPACITY-BUILDING THROUGH EFFORTS TO SUPPORT THE CREATION AND MAINTENANCE OF JEWISH COMMUNITIES, TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES BY BUILDING COMMUNAL (CONT. ON SCHED. O) PARTICIPATION, AND TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY LIFE. PROGRAMS INCLUDE: LEADERSHIP INITIATIVES & TRAINING DEVELOPING VOLUNTARISM CAMPING AND RETREATS INFORMAL JEWISH EDUCATION (CLUBS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES) JEWISH TRADITION/RELIGION/HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS FORMAL JEWISH EDUCATION (SCHOOLS) EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES & MATERIALS (PUBLICATIONS, CURRICULA, E-LEARNING, WEB-RESOURCES, LIBRARIES, ETC)IN 2019, SOME 80,000 JEWS BENEFITTED FROM ACCESS TO JDC'S PROGRAMS IN COUNTRIES IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION, EUROPE AND LATIN AMERICA, AS WELL AS AN ARRAY OF TRAINING PROGRAMS AROUND THE WORLD.

GLOBAL RESPONSE & INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT (GRID) PROGRAM: THIS PROGRAM RESPONDS TO HUMANITARIAN CRISES AND NATURAL DISASTERS THROUGH EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND RECOVERY WORK FOR VULNERABLE POPULATIONS PROVIDING FOOD, WATER, MEDICINES AND SHELTER AS WELL AS PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT, OPPORTUNITIES TO REGAIN THEIR LIVELIHOODS AND PREPARE FOR FUTURE CRISES. JDC ALSO CONVENES AND COORDINATES THE JEWISH COALITION FOR DISASTER RESPONSE, AN ALLIANCE OF OVER 40 JEWISH AGENCIES THAT RESPOND TO MAJOR GLOBAL CRISES SUCH AS SYRIAN REFUGEES, THE ROHINGYA CRISIS AND MAJOR DISASTERS. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT: THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDE JDC'S RESEARCH INSTITUTES, OTHER TYPES OF RESEARCH STUDIES AND JDC'S INVESTMENT IN DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGIES AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS. ENTWINE: AN INITIATIVE OF JDC, IS A ONE-OF-A-KIND MOVEMENT FOR YOUNG JEWISH LEADERS, INFLUENCERS, AND ADVOCATES WHO SEEK TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON GLOBAL JEWISH NEEDS AND INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ISSUES.