Network Signature Programs

Through the collective support of Network communities and generous donors, we are keeping Jewish Life strong and impacting the well-being of the most vulnerable populations.  These spotlighted priority programs of our global partners deliver vital assistance and strengthen the Jewish people and receive funding from the Network of Independent Communities Annual Campaign.

In Israel

Lunch and Learn – Dimona

Jewish Agency for Israel Signature Project

One in three children in Israel lives below the poverty line, and many of those at-risk children live in periphery cities like Dimona that have large immigrant populations, many single-parent families, and high rates of unemployment. Nearly 500 at-risk elementary students in 13 schools across this Negev city receive extra academic help and a hot meal each school day, along with subsidized schoolbooks and the opportunity to participate in class trips. Lunch and Learn participants show significant improvement in educational achievement, behavior and self-confidence, and continue to excel as they transition to middle school.

JDC Center for Independent Living – Bnei Brak

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Signature Project

JDC, in partnership with the Government of Israel, continues at full speed, providing the opportunity for people with disabilities to live independently and lead rich fulfilling lives.

For Israel’s Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, it has been important to build programming for people with disabilities around cultural sensitivities. Working closely with rabbinic and community leadership, we have focused on independent housing as a viable option for people with disabilities in the cities with large Haredi populations, Bnei Brak and Petach Tikva. Recently, our efforts have come to fruition and a new Center for Independent Living (CIL) in B’nei Brak is being established. Leaders with disabilities from the community will offer peer-to-peer support, training workshops, and advocacy training run by and for people with disabilities. The result will be growing a new generation of leaders with disabilities who promote independent living and full inclusion in the Haredi community.

In the Former Soviet Union

Hesed Eliyahu – Tbilisi, Georgia

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Signature Project

The elderly Jews of Georgia are some of the poorest in the world. They struggle to preserve their Jewish pride and personal dignity while facing unimaginable hardship. Hesed Eliyahu in Tbilisi brings food, homecare, medical care and winter relief to nearly 1,400 individuals. At the Hesed Eliyahu center, they can enjoy communal meals, participate in social activities, and access much-needed resources including free or subsidized medications. Those who are homebound receive visits from Hesed workers who deliver groceries or cooked meals, help with bathing, laundry and housecleaning, and forge a personal connection to the Jewish community.

Aliyah of Rescue

Jewish Agency for Israel Priority Project

Tens of thousands of Jews live in hostile areas around the world where their Jewish identity puts them in a constant state of danger.  For Jews in places like Ukraine, France and Yemen, this is no longer an ongoing concern, this is an emergency.  The opportunity to make Aliyah to Israel provides a life-saving escape and the promise of freedom to preserve and celebrate Jewish identity.  Our capacity to bring Jews home to Israel and successfully resettle them is dependent upon support through the Annual Campaign.  $5,000 brings a Jewish family to Israel. For these families, it is a rescue mission, an Aliyah of Rescue.