Needs and Responses

Human Services (North America)

Needs

Six Key Issue Areas in Jewish Poverty

In October 2020, the National Affinity Group on Jewish Poverty, a collaborative of funders, Jewish Federations, direct service providers, researchers, media outlets, and advocates coordinated by JFN and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, published six funder briefings. These briefings highlight what is being done and outline needs — and concrete ways funders can help — in six key categories. Download PDFs of these briefings below:

End-Of-Life Care, Including Funeral Preparation/Burial Services

According to a document prepared by the David Berg Foundation funerals and burials are the most pressing immediate need as many COVID-19 patients are dying quickly. However, other aspects such as palliative care will also require support. Palliative care will be needed for those who do not recover quickly, have been on ventilators, and will need end of life support.
The Berg Foundation notes that “rules and norms in this area have had to be adjusted due to COVID-19 and there is need for
protective gear. Many Chevra Kadisha [burial society] members are themselves elderly.”
Many families are challenged by a limited amount of burial spaces in certain areas, as well as burdensome fees for additional services beyond burials themselves, such as transportation and headstone installation.

Coping with Closures of Facilities Due to Social Distancing/Quarantine

How to get food, medication and other services to clients if agencies cannot keep facilities open due to social distancing requirements.
Difficulty recruiting and mobilizing volunteers due to social distancing.

Serving Seniors

In a July report on business continuity issues for major Jewish communal networks in response to coronavirus, Jewish Federations of North America noted that “throughout the world, the infirm, elderly population has been the most severely impacted of all population groups during this pandemic period.”

Senior care facilities, according to JFNA, are experiencing significantly increased costs from several factors:

Skyrocketing costs of PPE supplies: “As a result of heightened demand during the pandemic, shortages and distribution issues, it can cost $23 or more in PPE expenses every time a single nurse, caregiver or service worker enters a resident room properly attired.”
PPE, JFNA notes, is not reimbursed and must be paid for directly by each facility. Total increases in PPE costs alone across Jewish long-term care facilities are estimated at $12M for 2020.
Dramatically increased labor expenses, including managing drastic staffing shortages when staff become ill.
Most facilities are closed to new admissions, further impacting revenue streams.
JFNA reports that while all senior care institutions accept Medicare and Medicaid, “it is important to realize that reimbursement levels scarcely account for 50% of the cost of nursing home care during normal days.”

Issues Specific to Community Based Service Agencies as of July 2020 (Source: Jewish Federations of North America)

Read an April 2020 status report on these issues here.

These front-line crisis response service agencies have been highly disrupted by COVID-19 and have needed to close their facilities and dramatically alter the manner in which they operate, resulting in a loss of ability to meet clients in person or deliver home-based services in traditional manners. In almost every case, the agencies are experiencing a decrease in revenue and increased costs associated with providing service. A recent survey of member agencies estimated a total budget shortfall attributable to COVID-19 of $50M through June 30, 2020. This is due to both an increase in required services and a decrease in revenue.

Less than one-third of NJHSA member agencies have some operating reserves on which to draw, and many of these reserves will cover only a small part of this shortfall.
As unemployment grows and as individuals’ unemployment extends into months, agencies are starting to see the beginnings of the tidal wave of resulting need.
Agencies will lose most fundraising revenue from Q2 (and most likely Q3 and Q4) of the fiscal year due to cancelled events. Many are also incurring related cancellation fees.
PPE expenses are rising as supplies are currently sold at a significant markup from pre-COVID prices; the markup associated with this purchase was estimated in the aggregate at $2.2M as of June 30, 2020.

More than a quarter (29%) of member agencies expect to lay off staff, and more than one-third (35%) expect to furlough staff while some expect to do both. Moreover, two-thirds of agencies report an expected inability to maintain current service levels beyond the next three to five months for core populations (older adults, financially at-risk adults, children, teens and college students).

As a result of the pandemic, these agencies are seeing increased and new needs among the unemployed, older adults, families living with high conflict/domestic violence, refugees and asylum seekers, and persons with disabilities

Responses

Since May the National Affinity Group on Jewish Poverty has been hosting a series of webinars and virtual meetups to discuss the many challenges the coronavirus pandemic has created for Jews facing poverty and the agencies that serve them. These briefings are an opportunity to hear the needs from the service providers on the ground supporting our front lines, share best practices and information, and strategize on ways to respond collectively.

Each webinar, moderated by Susan Ditkoff of The Bridgespan Group Boston and featuring key leaders, focuses on particular needs.

Watch all the webinars in this series here:

Note: This is a YouTube playlist, playing each briefing from newest to oldest. If you click the “list” icon (three horizontal lines over an arrow) at the top of the screen, you’ll see a list of episodes and can then choose which ones to watch.

UJA-Federation of New York has allocated approximately $45 million in emergency funding to meet needs across the New York region and in Israel. In New York, this includes grants to expand food distribution, offer virtual programming for homebound seniors, and support the operational capacity of key human service agencies, Jewish community centers, and to assist low-income populations, and to ensure that no Jewish casualty of the virus will be denied a dignified burial.

The Rose Community Foundation (Denver) awarded over 120 grants totaling $1,566,754. The grants were directed to nonprofit organizations and government agencies on the front lines of COVID-19 prevention, containment and response and are specifically aimed at supporting the Greater Denver region’s most vulnerable and impacted populations.

This collection of grants – focused primarily on prevention, containment and emergency response to the basic need impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations – represents the first of three anticipated COVID-19 grantmaking phases. Future grantmaking will develop to meet evolving community needs and will likely address impact mitigation and, eventually, recovery and stabilization efforts. The Foundation explained its three-phased plan for funding, which it believes can serve as a model for other Jewish funders during the coronavirus crisis, in this eJewishPhilanthropy article.

Providing Critical Personal Protective Equipment for Jewish Healthcare Providers and Institutions: JFN, the Jewish Federations of North America, and the North American Volunteer Network are teaming up (and raising funds) to purchase equipment and distribute to the Association of Jewish Aging Services and the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies. Learn more here.

A document prepared by the David Berg Foundation describes the work being done by nonprofits providing end-of-life and funeral services in response to Covid-19, including a dramatic increase in burials by the Hebrew Free Burial Association in New York, and a successful campaign requesting donated prayer shawls for burial.

The Jewish United Fund in Chicago announced a $26 million coronavirus initiative to be used for: Emergency financial aid, including cash grants for housing, food, medical care and other essentials for individuals and families. Some assistance will be provided through synagogues’ Rabbinic Discretionary Funds; Increased food assistance, including expansion of pantries, grocery gift cards and meal programs; Health and safety, including enhanced staffing, trauma counseling and personal protective equipment for Mount Sinai Hospital, residential programs and other caregivers serving seniors and people with disabilities; and Community stability, including emergency operating support and professional expertise for local Jewish human service and educational agencies.

The Azrieli Foundation approved an emergency fund on March 18, earmarking $2 million to be directed to immediate needs in Canada, and NIS 10M to needs in Israel. Priority areas include serving the elderly and Holocaust survivors (particularly for food and basic needs), the educational and psychosocial needs of at-risk youth and special-needs learners, services for individuals with disabilities.

The Jewish Federation of San Diego County, Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego and Leichtag Foundation have partnered to establish the San Diego Jewish Community COVID-19 Emergency Fund. The accelerating scale of COVID-19 calls for a coordinated, streamlined response to support those who are most vulnerable and impacted primarily in San Diego’s Jewish community. A consortium of initial funders have already contributed more than $1.6 million to launch this Fund. This urgent effort will gather information about community needs and immediately allocate funds, employing effective processes that proved successful in prior crises.

The Jewish Communal Fund announced $1 million in emergency coronavirus response grants on April 6. This injection of funding will be earmarked for food delivery for low-income New Yorkers, cash assistance and social services for single parents and Holocaust survivors, and thousands of Passover meals to go.

The Claims Conference has established a Holocaust survivor COVID-19 emergency assistance fund, with $4.3 million in initial funds, to help address urgent needs worldwide during the coronavirus pandemic. It also announced it will be providing significant advances of nearly $300 million of the over $600 million in previously committed funds to agencies and relaxing reporting deadlines in an effort to mitigate any funding issues. The emergency fund, which includes $100,000 from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and €200,000 from the Alfred Landecker Foundation, will reinforce an array of services already in place, including delivering meals and medicine, assisting survivors with rent and utility payments, supporting short-term sheltering for Holocaust survivors, and expanding virtual/telephonic socialization programs and volunteer programs to help alleviate isolation and loneliness through secure methods. It also seeks to ensure that survivors can be cared for safely, by providing funding for personal protective equipment (such as masks, gowns, gloves, etc.) and sanitizing agents.

The Russell Berrie Foundation has approved $1.82 million in grants to serve organizations based primarily in Northern New Jersey including $235,000 granted to Jewish communal institutions. The grants primarily address medical and health care needs, food insecurity, and economic insecurity.