Gerald Cantor, president of the Central federation, said two special allocations were being made from the organization’s reserve fund to deal with the “tsunami” of problems locally and in Israel.
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January 22, 2009
If not now, when? That was the question tackled by the executive board of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey last week.
The board’s members decided to draw from the organization’s reserve funds to provide special help for local people overwhelmed by the economic crisis, and for Israelis traumatized by the conflict with Hamas.
Federation executive vice president Stanley Stone said $176,000 from the fund will go to Jewish Family Service of Central NJ to finance a mobile crisis response team. Working with consultants and volunteers from the community, the team will reach out to agency clients and to members of local synagogues struggling with the stress of job losses and economic hardship.
A further $50,000 has been allocated for use in southern Israel, to provide trauma counseling and respite trips for children, the elderly, and new immigrants in areas hit hard by missiles fired from Gaza.
Federation president Gerald Cantor described the allocations as “a statement.”
“If the reserve fund is for a rainy day — well, this is a tsunami,” said Cantor. He likened the decision to allocate the emergency funds to the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“We can’t run a second campaign, but we could do this,” he said.
After 9/11, extra allocations were halted after a year; this time, Cantor said, the special funding would be in place for no more than two years.
He said JFS already has a backlog of 70 families waiting for counseling services. “We’re seeing people who used to have six-figure incomes, people who were donors. They’re so used to being givers, they don’t know how to ask for help,” said Cantor.
Community benefits
Stone said the mobile crisis team concept grew out of discussions with agency directors, rabbis, and congregational leaders that revealed the need for this type of program. Federation leaders then explored ways to implement the program and concluded that JFS was best equipped to assemble and activate the team.
Stone said the allocation to JFS will enable the agency to hire a full-time social worker and a full-time employment outreach coordinator to facilitate formal and informal networking opportunities and develop workshops on all aspects of the job search. Two consultants will assist the team: a credit counselor and a resume specialist/writer. The team will also reach out to the community, to develop a bank of qualified volunteers willing to provide advice to people struggling with severe financial problems.
JFS executive director Tom Beck said he was gratified by the federation’s action. “I’d like to thank the federation for recognizing and addressing the problems our community faces as a result of the economic downturn and for the confidence placed in us,” he said. “We believe that helping families in need will benefit our entire community.”
Marcy Lazar, chair of the federation’s allocations committee, shares that view. She said, “There is an ever-growing need within our community for counseling and career advisory services. The new mobile response team will offer convenient private and group sessions, and act with a sensitivity to possible feelings of misplaced shame or embarrassment.
“After all, gemilut hasadim is one of federation’s core pillars in its mission statement.”
The $50,000 allocation will go toward the Israel Emergency Campaign of United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization of the North American federations. Stone said the board had settled on the amount it regards as the federation’s “fair share” of the $10 million special allocation made by UJC.
The money includes special donations contributed by the community in the past few weeks since the outbreak of the conflict with Gaza.
“These actions are what federation is all about,” said Stone. “Thanks to our infrastructure, we have the ability to respond to crises quickly.”
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