Project Horizon: $4,500,000*
Grants approved by task force on 1/23/2024 ($3,000,000) and 10/30/2024 ($1,500,000)
Fiscal sponsor: United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York

About Project Horizon
Project Horizon is CJP’s primary partner for community-specific rehabilitation of highly impacted communities in the South. Project Horizon blends philanthropic resources and the partnership of the 150 Israeli Business Alliance members, a group of social entrepreneurs who, at the start of war, shifted focus from their own businesses to crisis response. This model of work was first piloted by CJP’s Israel Emergency Fund with its $1M emergency grant to Kibbutz Re’im and, through two additional emergency grants at scale, extended to cover a total of 54 communities along the Gaza border. Funding deployed through Project Horizon kept communities together in safer parts of Israel when war first began, facilitated communal return home to the South once it was safe to do so, and is now supporting the communities through a critical period of recovery.

Why CJP gave
Grant #1, January 2024, $3M: At the time the emergency grant was deployed, there were more than 100,000 displaced Israelis from the South who need immediate humanitarian support. Included in that figure were 10,000 evacuees from 20 Tier 1 and 2 intensive need communities identified by the Israeli government as the most deeply impacted: Kfar Azza, Nahal Oz, Kissufim, Beeri, Nirim, Kibbutz Holit, Nativ Haasara, Nir Oz, Tzohar, Nir Yizchak, Sufa, Yechini, Ein Hashlosha, Alumim, Erez, Miflasim, Nir Am, Kibbutz Re’im, Sa’ad, and Kerem Shalom. CJP’s grant funded interim housing costs related to full group relocation to safer parts of Israel and wrap-around services in mental health and education support.

Grant #2, October 2024, $1.5M: This emergency grant funds the expansion of Project Horizon, absorbing 34 highly impacted communities into its model of support for a duration of 12–18 months.  Communities included in the expansion receive support through five core services: mental health, community building, resilience, informal education, and employment solutions.

Homeward (Habaita): $1,000,000*
Grant approved by task force on 8/14/2024
Note: The first grant to Homeward/Habaita was approved on 5/13/2024; in the Emergency Social Services area of work, for a total of $1,500,000 to Homeward/Habaita.

About Homeward (Habaita)
Homeward (Habaita) is an organization formed by social entrepreneurs as a result of October 7. After extensively surveying displaced families on their most prioritized reasons for returning to their original communities after war, access to excellent education rose as a determinant factor in their calculations. Homeward is seeking to accelerate and leverage improvements to Israel’s education system as a tool to facilitate the return of displaced people to their home communities.

Why CJP gave
Homeward (Habaita) is aiming to facilitate return and greater communal movement into Israel’s North by executing it’s 2024–2025 academic year projects that aim to improve the education system in the North and infuse the region with human capital talent — educators and counselors — in time for the start of schools on September 1. 

Kibbutz Re’im: $1,000,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/31/2023
Fiscal sponsor: IsraAID (U.S.) Global Humanitarian Assistance

About Kibbutz Re’im
Kibbutz Re’im in Southern Israel was the site of the music festival that was the primary target of the Hamas attack on October 7. The residents of Kibbutz Re’im displayed immense courage, resisting Hamas militants for more than seven hours until reinforcements arrived. The 430 surviving kibbutz members temporarily relocated to a hotel in Eilat, with nothing but the clothes they wore.

Why CJP gave
Money from CJP’s Israel Emergency Fund will provide temporary housing in Tel Aviv for all 430 kibbutz members, along with essential items (such as clothing and furniture), and a communal space in Tel Aviv for Re’im residents to gather for activities. CJP’s grant will also provide much-needed psychological support for survivors of the attack, support for Re’im children as they integrate into Tel Aviv schools, and money to help create a kibbutz business recovery plan. CJP is the first federation to pilot offering kibbutz-specific aid and will report back to Jewish Federations of North America with learning from the grant.

The Upper Galilee Regional Council: $1,000,000*
Grant approved by task force on 8/14/2024
Note: The first grant to the Upper Galilee Regional Council was approved on 3/26/2024 to support the Manara-Gadot Project, for a total of $1,300,000 to the Upper Galilee Regional Council.

About The Upper Galilee Regional Council
The Upper Galilee Regional Council serves 22,000 residents from 29 kibbutzim in the North. It is continuing to provide municipal services to residents who remained and to residents who evacuated, in addition to soldiers now stationed in the area during the active war in the Northern Front. 

Why CJP gave
This grant is funding protective zones, including bomb shelters and safe rooms, at eight strategic school sites serving kindergarten students in the Upper Galilee Regional Council, timed for the September 1 launch of the 2024–2025 academic year. The successful opening of schools on September 1, including upgraded security for the most vulnerable children attending these institutions, is seen as significant milestone for Israelis considering staying in the region and for the long-term health of the region by keeping communities together and functioning in the day-to-day environments despite the ongoing security challenges. 

The Upper Galilee Regional Council: Manara-Gadot Project: $300,000*
Grant approved by task force on 3/26/2024
Note: The second grant to the Upper Galilee Regional Council was approved on 8/14/2024 to support protective zones, for a total of $1,300,000 to the Upper Galilee Regional Council.

About The Upper Galilee Regional Council
The Upper Galilee Regional Council serves 22,000 residents from 29 kibbutzim in the North. It is continuing to provide municipal services to residents who remained and to residents who evacuated, in addition to soldiers now stationed in the area during the active war in the Northern Front. Kibbutz Manara is a particularly vulnerable community of 300 residents where, since October 8, more than 70% of its infrastructure has been decimated by missile attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon and residents dispersed in evacuee hotels. Kibbutz Gadot, in a safer part of the North, has decided to absorb as many residents of Kibbutz Manara as possible and needs funding for lifeline services for the 120 members who have decided to move there together while waiting for their home to be safe again.

Why CJP gave
CJP strongly believes that funding community relocation projects that keep communities temporarily together while they wait for safe returns home is in the best interest of those community members and their chance at resiliency. Like CJP’s funding of the Kibbutz Re’im Pilot Project, and additional funding of Project Horizon, funding from this community rehabilitation grant will open kindergartens, provide temporary housing, and infuse Kibbutz Gadot with the funds they need to create social resiliency projects for its new residents from Kibbutz Manara until their home is safe to live in again.

ImpactIsrael (formerly Yemin Orde): $100,000
Grant approved by task force on 10/19/2023
Note: Another grant approved on 3/12/2024; in emergency social services area of work, for a total of $229,000 to ImpactIsrael.

About ImpactIsrael
Needham-based ImpactIsrael (which has a longstanding relationship with CJP and many of our volunteers) is the North American philanthropic partner of Yemin Orde and Village Way Educational Initiatives (VWEI), both based just south of Haifa. Yemin Orde is home to 400+ at-risk and immigrant youth from around the world, and provides teenagers who have suffered neglect, abandonment, and extreme poverty the chance to find a home, a family, and a future. VWEI brings the groundbreaking educational methodology originally developed at Yemin Orde to 78 different communities across Israel, reaching more than 35,000 at-risk youth and their 3,600 educators.

Why CJP gave
In the immediate response to the war, CJP’s emergency grant funded ImpactIsrael’s enhanced security at Yemin Orde, including portable and renovated shelters, monitoring systems, and additional equipment and capabilities; emergency financial assistance for graduates and their families; significant, increased mental health resources for youth, graduates, and staff; and resources for VWEI communities in Southern Israel that have been devastated. In addition to this immediate response, and in accordance with the increased numbers of evacuees from the North, CJP has allocated a second grant to support ImpactIsrael’s deployment of its specialized education programs in 14 high schools in the North that have now incorporated evacuated youth from the most vulnerable communities on the Northern Front.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum: $1,500,000*
Grants approved by task force on 4/9/2024 and 9/11/2024
Note: Another grant to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum approved on 6/11/2024; in Emergency Trauma/Mental Health Support area of work, for a total of $1,629,000 to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

About The Hostages and Missing Families Forum
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is the lifeline service organization delivering support to the 240 families — approximately 1,000 individuals — impacted by the October 7 Hamas kidnappings. Families gather daily at the Forum building located near Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, where they eat meals, meet with psychologists, field media requests, and spend time in community with one other. The building and the Forum’s services are serving as the heartbeat and point of connection for these families as they cope with the days, weeks, and months of pain, loss, and suffering. The Forum oversees 10 divisions of service to the families in the areas of mental health support, financial aid, and advocacy. 

Why CJP gave
Since October 7, family members of hostages are unemployed, need therapy services, and are spending their time largely together at the Forum for support and in community. CJP’s grant is designated to support psychological services, direct financial aid, and towards subsidizing delegation travel for Forum families who travel all over the world to keep the story of their loved ones and the hostage narrative alive in the media aiming for their safe return. CJP’s support is designated toward the mental health and financial aid needs of families of hostages and excludes funding for political advocacy work carried out by the Forum.

Brothers for Life: $1,050,000
Grants approved by task force on 10/15/2023 ($250,000), 12/12/2023 ($300,000), and 8/1/2024 ($500,000)

About Brothers for Life
BFL is a non-profit organization – created and run by injured Israeli veterans – that gives critical and immediate help to other injured Israeli combat veterans who sacrificed their lives for the safety of the Jewish People.

Why CJP gave
Brothers for Life is deploying teams to the hospitals to conduct more than 1,000 initial meetings with injured soldiers, assessing each soldier’s immediate needs, such as financial needs or accommodations for family members to stay near the hospital. BFL is distributing short- and long-term personal needs for extended hospital stays – from personal hygiene items, bedding, and clothing to laptops and iPads, and helping families of injured soldiers living near the Gaza Strip with financial aid, short-term housing, and personal household goods. BFL will continue to provide emergency services as the war continues, and support the rising number of soldiers who are wounded and facing PTSD.

Israeli Children’s Fund: $1,000,000
Grant approved by task force on 8/14/2024

About the Israeli Children’s Fund
The Israeli Children’s Fund is providing direct financial aid and resiliency support to the 414 (as of this writing, August 2024) Israeli orphans of the war. Support programs include education scholarships, transportation and housing costs, mental health support, and milestone grants that ensure their new family structures are as strong as possible even through this most difficult loss of a parent. 

Why CJP gave
Orphans of this war are defined by having lost at least one parent, if not both, through and following the attacks of October 7. For 82% of these orphans, the parent they lost is also their primary breadwinner. Family members are working through trauma and destabilization of income crucial to their lives. After careful assessment, CJP concluded that the Israeli Children’s Fund is a trusted partner for long-term stewardship of the needs of orphans and CJP’s grant will fund wrap-around needs orphans will encounter as they grow from childhood to adulthood. 

Dror Israel: $600,000*
Grants approved by task force on 10/19/2023 ($100,000), 3/12/2024 ($250,000), and 10/2/2024 ($250,000)

About Dror Israel
Dror Israel works to build a caring, just, shared society in Israel through innovative education, around leadership and responsibility for self and community, promoting social activism to drive positive change. Dror Israel comprises 1,300 trained educators in 16 communities on the social and economic periphery who are dedicated to bridging gaps and solving local problems, bettering the lives of 150,000 people every year.

Why CJP gave
In the beginning of the war, CJP granted Dror Israel $100,000 to fund its operation of 14 centers with day care and programs for evacuees from communities along the Gaza Strip, running educational activities in public shelters in Southern Israel in the most underprivileged neighborhoods and in hospitals to allow medical staff to work without worrying about their children, funding youth counselors in bomb shelters, and providing in-person and online programming and activity kits for children and families sheltering in place. With a second grant of $250,000, CJP will fund Dror’s intentional strategic shift to operating in the North, where 70,000 evacuees have left their home communities to safer areas. With no plans for evacuees to return home in 2024, this grant supports Dror’s activities in the education space supporting evacuees from the North for the next 12–18 months. A third grant to Dror Israel is funding increased activities and special programs for children and teens who are living through escalation and school disruptions in communities in the North as war continues.

Homeward (Habaita): $500,000*
Grant approved by task force on 5/13/2024
Note: The second grant to Homeward (Habaita) was approved on 8/14/2024; in the Community-Specific Rehabilitation area of work, for a total of $1,500,000 to Homeward (Habaita).

About Homeward (Habaita)
Homeward (Habaita) is an organization formed by social entrepreneurs as a result of October 7. After extensively surveying displaced families on their most prioritized reasons for returning to their original communities after war, access to excellent education rose as a determinant factor in their calculations. Homeward is seeking to accelerate and leverage improvements to Israel’s education system as a tool to facilitate the return of displaced people to their home communities.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s grant will help fund a summer school program for 12,500 students in grades four through 12 that will take place this summer in the Western Negev. The program will run in July and August and, in turn, help to bring families back to the region so their children can re-enroll in school for the 2024–2025 academic year. This is an important effort to help facilitate the return home for these families, build resiliency, and reunite children and teens with their friends, teachers, schools, and communities for the first time since October 7. 

Brothers and Sisters for Israel: $450,000*
Grants approved by task force on 10/19/2023 ($250,000) and 12/12/2023 ($200,000)

About Brothers and Sisters for Israel
Brothers and Sisters of Israel is the largest civilian aid organization operating in Israel, entirely powered by volunteers who are former IDF soldiers. 100% of funds raised for the organization are used for acquiring essential resources and supplies, including humanitarian support, meals, clothing, and evacuation for those in war zones, and accommodations for the displaced.

Why CJP gave
Currently, there are more than 200,000 refugees without homes in Israel. Brothers and Sisters for Israel is helping families who have been displaced and need a place to sleep, and providing them with medical supplies, clothing, food, and water. The organization is also supporting psychological support for children and families who have experienced trauma, and in partnership with the IDF and the Israel Security Agency, is using advanced facial recognition software to identify hostages and missing people. As needs increase in many areas, we are supporting the organization’s efforts to equip its command centers, the civilian emergency squads of first responders in the south, and the continued demand for mental health services.

Osim Shechuna: $300,000*
Grant approved by task force on 9/11/2024

About Osim Shechuna
Founded in 2021, Osim Shechuna’s presence and activities cultivate positive local leadership, decrease crime in vulnerable neighborhoods, and restore a sense of personal safety to the streets. This grassroots model enables community activists to identify the basic needs of their neighborhood and assume leadership positions to assure implementation of programs and activities for the benefit of the entire community. By strengthening values of mutual responsibility and community involvement, neighborhood residents remain engaged, fostering a sense of pride in their work and environment.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s grant supports the expansion of Osim’s work from Central and South Israel to three vulnerable communities in need in the North. The three communities were selected in partnership by Osim and Israel’s Ministry of Interior; this department is also matching CJP’s funding towards this expansion. Intended outcomes for the project include increased army matriculation rates by young adults at risk, decreases in overnight calls to police departments, and other measurable goals.

Tzafona Medical Center’s Galilee Talentech Initiative: $300,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/30/2024

About Tzafona Medical Center’s Galilee Talentech Initiative
Tzafona Medical Center is a newly created, state-of-the-art rehabilitation center located in Poria, in Israel’s North. The ongoing conflict has dramatically increased the demand for rehabilitation services. Given the shortage of rehabilitation beds, services, and specialized personnel — particularly in the northern periphery — there is an urgent need to expand available rehabilitation services in Israel and strengthen the pipeline of professionals who will practice in the region.

Why CJP gave
To address the nationwide shortage of rehabilitation professionals, Tzafona Medical Center, in collaboration with philanthropic organizations, regional stakeholders, and the Israeli Ministry of Health, has launched the Galilee Talentech Initiative. This joint venture aims to recruit top-tier experts, provide extensive training, offer relocation incentives, and foster future leadership for excellence and accessibility in rehabilitation services amid current security threats. Through a strong cohort of philanthropic partners, CJP’s emergency grant will support the relocation-related costs of 550 professionals moving their families to the region and create a pipeline of 100 professionals currently in training to move there when their trainings are completed.

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC): $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/19/2023
Note: Another grant to the JDC approved on 6/11/2024; in Emergency Trauma/Mental Health Support area of work, for a total of $1,250,000 to the JDC.

About JDC
JDC is the leading global Jewish humanitarian organization. Through its significant presence in Israel, the JDC regularly provides services to more than a million vulnerable Israelis (such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and families at risk). At the start of the crisis, JDC activated its emergency response team, establishing a direct line of communication with key government and municipal partners to assess and respond to needs.

Why CJP gave
JDC is training front line social workers, teachers, caregivers, and medical professionals to provide trauma relief in Southern Israel; maintaining strong operations of its support programs for vulnerable populations in Southern Israel, including seniors and disabled citizens who have been evacuated and relocated; and providing emergency financial support to small businesses and municipalities in Southern Israel.

The Galila Foundation: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/2/2024

About The Galila Foundation
Founded in 2005, the Galila Foundation is a nonprofit organization established by residents of the North to support carefully selected, priority needs of communities along the Lebanon border who live in a security threatened region that faces challenges to economic and communal development.

Why CJP gave
The Galila Foundation staff and volunteers are embedded in communities and began carrying out emergency response work through its partnerships in municipalities. Their focus is equipping and training civilian volunteers engaged in “first responder” work. CJP’s grant will be used to prepare 25 non-evacuated communities near the Lebanon border under daily rocket attacks for response. The grant will fund firefighting equipment, civilian first responder equipment, and civilian volunteer trainings for emergency response.

Access Israel: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/2/2024

About Access Israel
Access Israel is an Israeli NGO dedicated to enhancing accessibility for people with disabilities and the elderly. It was established 25 years ago and is credited with producing programs, processes, and policies that support people with disabilities in Israel, now considered one of the most accessible countries in the world. They are the recipient of a United Nations humanitarian award for their volunteer mobilization efforts to successfully evacuate people with disabilities in the Ukraine from dangerous warzones when the conflict began.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s emergency grant will allow Access Israel to operate its emergency response project, “Purple Vest,” for an additional three months with a special focus on supporting people with disabilities in the North. The project enables Access Israel evacuate people with disabilities in Israel’s North region who live in homes without sufficient bomb shelters and safe rooms. Additionally, this grant will allow Access Israel to purchase additional accessible and fire-proof evacuation vans to add to their operating fleet throughout the North, provide funding for hotel stays in safer parts of Israel, and for wraparound lifeline services, such as hot meals for evacuees during their hotel stays. The Purple Vest arranges safe transport home once it is deemed safe for residents to return.

TOM Global: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/2/2024

About TOM Global
Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) is an Israeli-turned-global venture that creates and disseminates affordable solutions to neglected challenges of people living with disabilities, the elderly, and the poor. This emergency is creating an unprecedented number of wounded civilians and soldiers in need of rehabilitation treatment and customized solutions. The war is also exacerbating challenges for people with disabilities. TOM is deploying its unique capabilities to identify the needs of the wounded; develop a portfolio of no-cost, online solutions to help them; and support rehabilitation centers, care organizations, and the wounded by delivering these solutions in a timely manner.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s emergency grant will support two organizational priorities. First, in partnership with Access Israel and the Home Front Command (Israeli Government), TOM has identified 400 apartments and homes of people with disabilities in Haifa, Tzfat, Tiberias, and Ako that can be customized with TOM solutions to create safe routes to protective zones. Solutions include custom couches that turn into wheelchairs, which means that a person does not need to spend time or rely on assistance (which is sometimes not available) to attempt to go back into their wheelchair to wheel out during rocket attacks when alarms sound. These crucial seconds make a huge difference in the feeling of safety and confidence a person will have to choose to stay in their home rather than optionally evacuate. Secondly, the grant will support TOM’s efforts to help wounded soldiers in long-term stays throughout Israel’s rehabilitation centers. Most wounded soldiers who experience loss of limb(s) are eligible for expensive, state-of-the art primary prosthetics. However, through years of working with members of this community, TOM has built out a series of secondary and tertiary affordable prosthetics customized to individual needs, interests, and phases of recovery in partnership with the Ministry of Defense.

The Association for Senior Citizens of the Eshkol Region (Neve Eshkol): $200,000*
Grant approved by task force on 2/8/2024

About The Association for Senior Citizens of the Eshkol Region
The Association for Senior Citizens of the Eshkol Region is a nonprofit organization providing social services for the elderly in the Eshkol region. Established nearly 30 years ago, the association operates a center for programming for all-inclusive needs designed to preserve cognitive and physiological skills in old age. The center delivers many mobile programs across the region, including health clinics; wellness programming; and mental health, medical, and social services to around 2,000 elderly constituents.

Why CJP gave
After the attacks of October 7, the surviving elderly of Eshkol were evacuated to hotels in Eilat, the Dead Sea, and Mitzpe Ramon. As the central lifeline services organization for this community, the association is meeting 1000+ of the elderly in their newly displaced locations to continue to provide the social services, mental and medical services (including medicines, immunizations, and therapies), and social activities to help the elderly recover. CJP’s grant covers a series of community resiliency projects and the organization’s 2024 action plan for mediating the evacuees’ return home to Eshkol.

Lev Echad: $200,000*
Grant approved by task force on 12/12/2023

About Lev Echad
Established in 2005, Lev Echad is a civil aid organization focused on assisting in times of crisis in Israel and across the world. Since its founding, the organization has mobilized more than 120,000 volunteers in Israel and beyond to immediately respond to various emergency events, including the 2014 Gaza War, the Ukraine conflict, and the Morocco earthquake.

Why CJP gave
Since October 7, Lev Echad has operated a Central Emergency Response Center Network in Israel, with more than 20 emergency centers providing around-the-clock support throughout the country. These centers offer services including shelter, transportation, counseling, and medical assistance. The organization has provided aid to 400 young survivors of the October 7 Nova music festival attack by Hamas, set up centers for the elderly, and offered food and other aid to more than 25,000 soldiers and civilians. Moving forward, Lev Echad will continue to mobilize volunteers, address emerging needs from the war, and serve thousands of internally displaced people who were forced to relocate to temporary facilities in Eilat, Jerusalem, and Haifa, with particular focus on youth education.

Pitchon-Lev: $200,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/30/2024

About Pitchon-Lev
Pitchon-Lev is one of Israel's largest humanitarian organizations and directly assists over 200,000 individuals and families every year, distributing thousands of food parcels, clothes, home equipment, and much more to needy families on a weekly basis. During the emergency, Pitchon-Lev has greatly expanded its humanitarian aid deliveries to meet the needs of the homebound and displaced.

Why CJP gave
Low-income communities in the North are in dire need of basic humanitarian support, including access to food. This emergency grant will fund the purchase, storage, and delivery of 2,000 food parcels to families in need living in evacuated and non-evacuated zones in the North, where access to purchasing food and work have been disrupted.

The Equalizer (Sh’ar Shivion): $192,000*
Grant approved by task force on 3/26/2024

About The Equalizer
The Equalizer is a nonprofit that supports children ages 8–17 in after-school programs within marginalized communities using sports as a tool for education, equality, leadership development, and strengthening social cohesion. The Equalizer works in more than 450 schools in 123 communities across Israel. Since October 7, the organization has established 42 teams in hotels and evacuation centers to support 600 children.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s funding for The Equalizer will allow it to extend the 42-team program for displaced children as they remain in evacuated hotels and manage resilience programs for groups as they return home. In addition, the funding will infuse current Equalizer communities that have had their municipality funding frozen and diverted from their budgets to wartime priorities, keep its programs active during this interim period.

Krembo Wings: $150,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/30/2024

About Krembo Wings
Krembo Wings is a fully inclusive youth movement in Israel that brings together children and youth with and without disabilities for weekly social and educational activities. Since October 2023, the organization has been working to expand their activities to provide support to youth who need it most. With emergency support thus far, Krembo Wings opened new branches and programs to serve the needs of evacuees in Israel’s North and South.

Why CJP gave
The organization is currently focused on ensuring staff capacity and programming dollars are available to fully operate in the North. They are activating twice weekly programs, adapting their models from preexisting centers in evacuated and non-evacuated cities and migrating them into buildings with bomb shelters. They continue to provide programming as other youth movements in the area are less equipped to serve children and teens with disabilities, and they have expertise in producing supports for people with accessibility and mobility issues. All activities in vulnerable communities are coordinated with the support of Home Front Command. This grant enables their full emergency operation for 3–4 months.

Machshava Tova: $145,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/21/2023 ($45,000) and 10/30/2024 ($100,000)

About Machshava Tova
Machshava Tova operates community centers for technology education and provides online educational opportunities to serve underprivileged communities that lack access to technology. The organization is focused on reducing social gaps in Israel by using technology.

Why CJP gave
Machshava Tova is responding to the current crisis in Israel by establishing technology labs at evacuee hotels that function like libraries. The labs are equipped with computers, projectors, and other tech, as well as professional staff who provide technology curriculum and programming for children and teens living at the hotels. The impact of the labs is tremendous, where children and teens experience a respite from their day-to-day life at the hotel sites. CJP’s first grant to Macshava Tova ($45,000) opened a technology lab in Jerusalem for Sderot-based evacuees. CJP’s second grant funds two labs at hotels still hosting evacuees from the North 13 months into the war ($100,000).  

ImpactIsrael (formerly Yemin Orde): $129,000
Grant approved by task force on 3/12/2024

Note: Another grant approved on 10/19/2023; in Community Specific Rehabilitation area of work, for a total of $229,000 to ImpactIsrael.

About ImpactIsrael
Needham-based ImpactIsrael (which has a longstanding relationship with CJP and many of our volunteers) is the North American philanthropic partner of Yemin Orde and Village Way Educational Initiatives (VWEI), both based just south of Haifa. Yemin Orde is home to 400+ at-risk and immigrant youth from around the world, and provides teenagers who have suffered neglect, abandonment, and extreme poverty the chance to find a home, a family, and a future. VWEI brings the groundbreaking educational methodology originally developed at Yemin Orde to 78 different communities across Israel, reaching more than 35,000 at-risk youth and their 3,600 educators.

Why CJP gave
In the immediate response to the war, CJP’s emergency grant funded ImpactIsrael’s enhanced security at Yemin Orde, including portable and renovated shelters, monitoring systems, and additional equipment and capabilities; emergency financial assistance for graduates and their families; significant, increased mental health resources for youth, graduates, and staff; and resources for VWEI communities in Southern Israel that have been devastated. In addition to this immediate response, and in accordance with the increased numbers of evacuees from the North, CJP has allocated a second grant to support ImpactIsrael’s deployment of its specialized education programs in 14 high schools in the North that have now incorporated evacuated youth from the most vulnerable communities on the Northern Front.

Nefesh B’Nefesh: $80,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/24/2023

About Nefesh B’Nefesh
Nefesh B’Nefesh (Soul to Soul) supports North Americans who make aliyah (immigrate) to Israel by helping them find jobs, warm communities, and a holistic Jewish life. Nefesh B’Nefesh has special programs to specifically help medical professionals and lone soldiers acclimate to life in Israel.

Why CJP gave
Nefesh B’Nefesh is offering mental health support, housing, and other basic needs to lone soldiers fighting and/or called for active duty in the current conflict. The organization is also providing relief to olim (immigrants in distress), support for families of lone soldiers, and is coordinating the arrival and acclimation of volunteer physicians to strengthen Israel’s health care system. There are 42 lone soldiers from Boston that we know of currently, and we will ensure they are supported with these funds.

Bring Hersh Home: $75,000*
Grant approved by task force on 5/28/2024

About Bring Hersh Home
After 250+ days of relentless activism and advocacy, the Bring Hersh Home (BHH) Campaign continues to seek the release of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and 119 other hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists. Under the leadership of Hersh’s parents Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the Bring Hersh Home Campaign effort has elevated the case of the hostages on the U.S., global, Israeli and Jewish communal scene and garnered support and solidarity from millions of people across the world.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s grant will fund a significant portion of the Bring Hersh Home Campaign’s work, including salaries for staff for an anticipated four months of operation. It will also provide for the lifeline and travel/hotel funding needs for Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, who continue to travel within Israel and around the world with the goal of keeping media focused on the hostages and their narrative alive as they fight to bring their son and others home.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Israel: $50,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/7/2023

About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Israel
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a nonprofit organization that has been operating worldwide for more than 100 years. To date, tens of thousands of children and teenagers have benefited from the one-on-one support of their “Bigs,” who have helped change their lives for the better.

Why CJP gave
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Israel is providing tablets and laptops to 68 at-risk families, each with up to four children, to support students in their remote learning. All the families are known to the welfare system, and 19 of the children are evacuees from the south who lost one or both parents. A volunteer will deliver the equipment, install it, and train the families to use the computers and tablets. The grant will have an immediate impact in helping children in need who cannot learn any other way.

Educating for Excellence (E4E): $50,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/21/2023

About E4E
Educating for Excellence (E4E) strives to strengthen Israeli society by reducing socioeconomic disparity, promoting equality, and creating social mobility for talented youth with potential from underserved communities across Israel. Through after-school programs and a graduate network, E4E invests in the 1 million Israeli children currently living in poverty. The organization helps children and young adults between the ages of 8 and 28 channel their talents and become involved and engaged citizens in Israeli society.

Why CJP gave
Since the onset of the war, E4E officials have met with thousands of Jewish and Arab youth in marginalized locations and from at-risk families to assess their immediate needs and identify solutions. Schools lacking bomb shelters are closed and parents have either been called up for military service or are working longer hours, leaving kids alone for long periods of time. Despite being short-staffed, with more than 100 personnel called up for service (including the CEO), E4E quickly opened new Educational Excellence Program Centers to provide youth with access to social workers and mental health support, trauma counseling for staff and parents, and online programming for kids who are homebound due to constant rocket attacks.

Tzedek Centers: $50,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/19/2023

About Tzedek Centers
Established in 2016, Tzedek Centers is a national grassroots movement of local activist communities that offers leadership programs and training; community, cultural, and public events, and action groups, all in service of giving Israelis a way to promote change in their communities and cities. Inspired by the Jewish tradition of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and the Israeli Declaration of Independence, the network of eight national Tzedek Centers works to promote democracy, equality, and solidarity in Israeli society.

Why CJP gave
Tzedek Centers quickly mobilized to provide an educational framework for evacuated communities from the Gaza Envelope. Tzedek Centers is also offering support for families and victims, caring for their logistical and emotional needs, and is serving as a conduit of information about missing people.

Dualis: $25,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/21/2023

About Dualis
Dualis is a nonprofit that has existed for more than a decade in the field of employment. Over the last five years, Dualis has been focused on getting young, at-risk people from disadvantaged populations throughout Israel trained and employed in a variety of fields. Their network of employers is an asset during wartime.

Why CJP gave
Dualis requested funding for its Essential Jobs Campaign, which leverages its network of 60 affiliated companies to place young people in employment during times of war. In the first month of the war, Dualis received 600 applications and the volume remains strong. In addition to filling a wartime labor shortage with at-risk individuals, Dualis is concentrating on providing evacuees from Southern Israel with employment opportunities.

JFNA’s Emergency Loan Fund: $2,000,000
Grant approved by task force on 2/8/2024

About JFNA's Emergency Loan Fund
JFNA’s Emergency Loan Fund is a centralized fund for platforms that originate loans to support small business survival needs across Israel. The Emergency Loan Fund allocates capital to a set of established and professionally run loan platforms (most nonprofit, and some for profit but operating nonprofit models in response to the crisis). In addition to allocating capital to individual lending platform entities, the loan fund is using its collective scale to drive support from key financial institutions in the country. These include Israel's major banks, credit card companies, and insurance companies, which are institutions that can potentially provide up to 4–5x leverage for the equity of the Loan Fund. As such, the $100 million of equity — the target investment goal for this Loan Fund — could result in available loan capital on the order of $500 million.

Why CJP gave
In addition to the clear and immediate security, health, safety and social service needs in Israel, there is a tremendous secondary economic crisis that is increasingly facing the country. The impact is most obvious for businesses located in the Gaza border region invaded on October 7 and along the northern confrontation line, but the effect is felt across the country for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses, which are particularly at risk given their limited access to liquid capital and the huge disruption in the normal flow of business. It is estimated that tens of thousands of small businesses will need access to loans now and over the next two years, and JFNA’s Emergency Loan Fund is the critical connection between the philanthropic and private sectors to work together to create an economic relief platform on the scale of at least hundreds of millions of dollars that can reach a meaningful percentage of at-risk businesses.

Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI): $500,000
Grant approved by task force on 11/21/2023

About JAFI
Since 1929, the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) has been working for a secure, diverse, and thriving Jewish people. JAFI provides the global framework for aliyah to Israel, ensures global Jewish safety, strengthens Jewish identity, and connects Jews to Israel and one another.

Why CJP gave
Throughout Israel, owners of small businesses have been deeply impacted by the war. Some have had to close their businesses because all their employees have been called into military service, others have had to evacuate their production facilities, and some are mourning the loss of loved ones. There are also thousands of small businesses near the Gaza border that have either been destroyed, evacuated, or are existing under constant rocket fire.

CJP’s grant to JAFI will be split between two programs, with each receiving $250,000: Small Business Emergency Grants and SparkIL.

Small Business Emergency Grants are providing aid for businesses in Israel’s south, including emergency grants for small businesses and mentorship for small business leaders. Most small business owners generally live from paycheck to paycheck, and many are in Israel’s socioeconomic and geographic periphery. This grant will provide immediate and needed support to many business owners.

SparkIL is facilitating interest-free loans to small businesses in Israel. SparkIL has launched an emergency relief loan fund to support Israeli small businesses from all over the country that are affected by the war. Already, SparkIL is helping approximately 130 businesses. Since opening the application process for the emergency fund, SparkIL has received hundreds of requests from business owners with difficult stories. This grant will help sustain the fund to, in turn, help more businesses that are suffering from the loss of revenue due to the war.

Civil Emergency Headquarters: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/19/2023

About Civil Emergency Headquarters
From horror and devastation, Civil Emergency Headquarters has emerged as the largest volunteer organization in Israel. It’s responding to needs from residents and soldiers by connecting them with volunteers and organizations that can help.

Why CJP gave
Since October 7, Civil Emergency Headquarters (an organization entirely run and led by volunteers) has evacuated hundreds of residents from the conflict area, connected thousands of families with suitable hosts, and collected and distributed thousands of boxes of basic supplies and food for IDF soldiers and displaced residents. Also, the organization has assisted the residents of Southern Israel, transported hundreds of residents to their destinations, provided support and assistance to bereaved families, and, most importantly, consolidated all initiatives under one roof.  

HaShomer HaChadash: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 3/15/2024

About HaShomer HaChadash
HaShomer HaChadash connects volunteers with opportunities to work directly on Israel’s farms, thereby supporting Israeli farmers and agriculture. The organization mobilizes 120,000+ volunteers every year to facilitate volunteerism that creates a sense of mutual responsibility for Israel’s farming sector, a core value of Israel’s society.

Why CJP gave
Since October 7, HaShomer HaChadash has been working to meet the labor shortage challenges that Israeli farmers are facing through its Food Rescue Operation project. Produce that is not harvested rots and, at scale, can have a significant impact on food security in Israel. HaShomer HaChadash has created a volunteer mobilization system to allow every farmer who needs manpower on their farms and every volunteer who can assist to get to the field to help harvest crops. This grant is especially timely in its anticipation of the spring 2024 agriculture harvest; in non-war times, labor needs are met through seasonal foreign employment and Arab employees, both of which will take years to bring back to pre-war levels. Therefore, farmers of Israel will need to rely on volunteers to meet the needs of the upcoming harvest season and CJP’s grant will support the operation of this mobilization.

ICON: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/15/2023
Fiscal Sponsor: Oshman Family Jewish Community Center

About ICON
ICON  (Israel Collaboration Network) is a nonprofit organization based in Silicon Valley and in Israel that provides essential equipment for Israeli soldiers and first responders through fundraising, procurement, and shipment efforts, and funding medical equipment for civilian and military medical facilities. The organization maintains a close partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the IDF, ensuring that every step is validated and approved.

Why CJP gave
ICON recently orchestrated the delivery of vital supplies from the United States, including thermal clothing, medical supplies, and generators. These supplies were distributed to reservists, engineers, and affected towns and kibbutzim, in coordination with Israeli authorities on the ground.

The Jerusalem Civilian Command Center: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/7/2023

About The Jerusalem Civilian Command Center
The Jerusalem Civilian Command Center (JCCC) is a vital emergency wartime coalition comprising seven organizations and NGOs. It was established on the afternoon of Oct. 7 to address Israel’s urgent civilian and military requirements. To date, the JCCC has successfully mobilized more than 4,000 dedicated volunteers who work tirelessly in shifts around the clock to fulfill time-sensitive needs on an hourly basis. Situated in the heart of downtown Jerusalem, the JCCC operates seamlessly across 20+ departments, including a 30-person multilingual call center, a well-stocked warehouse, and a dedicated transportation team.

Why CJP gave
CJP is proud to support the activization of thousands of Israelis who have, overnight, built response mechanisms for this crisis and are taking a direct role in helping those on the ground in need. The coordinated efforts of the JCCC ensure efficient and effective support, demonstrating a remarkable commitment to the well-being of the community during these challenging times.

Code for Israel: $150,000*
Grant approved by task force on 2/27/2024

About Code for Israel
Code for Israel is an Israeli NGO established in 2021 that employs five individuals; it is also comprised of a vast network of volunteers from across the Israeli technology sector. Over 1,200 volunteers ranging from product developers, software engineers, data specialists, high tech professionals, and various entrepreneurs have been engaged by Code for Israel since its founding. Code for Israel helps nonprofit and public bodies complete impactful projects that address significant social challenges in Israeli society.

Why CJP gave
In response to the crisis, Code for Israel immediately shifted its operation and activated upwards of 400 volunteer coders to help Israeli nonprofits responding to the crisis through “First Aid Projects” that allowed nonprofits to scale up their technical infrastructure to deliver their emergency or high priority services to their constituencies. This includes rapid-builds of CRMs, forms, hotline setups to support people in crisis, automated online scheduling systems for direct-to-evacuees services, app & fundraising platform builds, and other innovative volunteer matching solutions. CJP’s funding will support an additional 30 projects tackling the next phase of rehabilitation and rebuild by the Israeli NGO community.

Latet Youth Program: $150,000*
Grant approved by task force on 5/28/2024

About Latet Youth Program
Latet is an established food security NGO operating across Israel’s peripheral neighborhoods. Six years ago, taking the learnings from the neighborhoods and communities they support in the food supply space, they launched a volunteer peer group model to empower youth in these vulnerable communities to be active volunteers in their communities, and to grow their leadership and resiliency skills through participation in informal education programming. Latet Youth is prioritizing their operations in communities where shared society is essential and the socioeconomic gap is most present. Latet Youth's impact resonates across the country with hundreds of groups spanning diverse cultures and religions including Jewish, Druze, Arab, Bedouin, and more, united by a common purpose and values.

Why CJP gave
Since the beginning of the war, Latet’s teen volunteers have taken an active part in building the resilience of the citizens through a large scope of activities including offering educational, emotional, and social support to evacuated children and taking part in collecting and distributing thousands of basic supplies for populations in need. Latet has shared that the war has exacerbated their need to form youth groups in the North and execute many additional community projects; CJP’s grant will fund ten youth groups for a full year in the North. 

Israeli American Council (IAC): $50,000
Grant approved by task force on 10/10/2023

About IAC
The IAC works to build an engaged and united Israeli American community that strengthens the Israeli and Jewish identity of our next generation, the American Jewish community, and the bond between the people of the United States and the State of Israel.

Why CJP gave
IAC New England is mobilizing hundreds of volunteers to donate, pack, and sort supplies, such as clothing, toiletries, and medical items needed by both Israeli military members and civilians. Some of the items are being brought to Israel with passengers on El Al flights, and some items are being shipped. CJP is supporting shipping costs.

B’shvil Hamachar: $2,325,000*
Grant approved by task force on 12/12/2023 ($25,000), 2/27/2024 ($300,000), and 8/1/2024 ($2,000,000)
Fiscal Sponsors: Friends of BSHVIL Hamachar, Inc. and JFNA

About B’shvil Hamachar
After being released from the IDF, soldiers are often left to deal with the serious effects of combat events in their day-to-day lives. B’shvil helps fighters who are released from military service process their experience in combat.

Why CJP gave
The IDF estimates that 95,000 active-duty soldiers and reservists will require mental health support and therapy delivery to process the traumatic experiences of war in Gaza and the Northern Front. B’svhil runs early intervention therapy programs in a peer-to-peer setting that help combat units recover from the extreme dynamics they have experienced, prepare them to return to civilian life, help reduce the probability of onset of PTSD, and for some soldiers, ensure that they have a safe space to heal before returning to duty. Funding for B’svhil will support 25 combat units (nearly 400 reservist soldiers) who faced the most extreme scenarios of war through three-day programs and follow-up programming developed by B’shvil. In addition, CJP’s grant supports hundreds of online therapy support group sessions for spouses and family members of reservists, some of whom have been away on duty for 120 days of war and whose families need support as returning soldiers adjust back to civilian life. The grant made on August 1, 2024, will establish and expand therapy programming and build capacity for B’shvil’s 2024–2026 operational plan.

HaGal Sheli: $1,800,000*
Grants approved by task force on 12/12/2023 ($300,000) and 8/1/2024 ($1,500,000)
Fiscal Sponsors: JFNA (12/12/2023) and Friends of HaGal Sheli (8/1/2024)

About HaGal Sheli
HaGal Sheli utilizes surfing as an empowering educational tool to teach at-risk youth how to overcome life’s challenges through determination and persistence.

Why CJP gave
In the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attacks, HaGal Sheli initiated an emergency plan to help Israeli youth navigate their complex emotions and experiences using surfing. The HaGal Sheli program includes sessions led by educators, professional psychologists, and social workers. The goal is to swiftly reach as many affected teens as possible to offer aid, aiming to mitigate the development of war-related PTSD.

The August 1, 2024 grant will support 2024–2026 operations, allowing HaGal Sheli to assist 2,250 new participants (including 800 soldiers) across their 10 centers. The grant will fund the expansion of programs, equipment, and facilitators at their Hof Ashkelon and Ashkelon centers, well-timed for a communal return to the evacuated area in the South in order to serve this impacted population of displaced people.

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee – Mental Health Initiative: $1,000,000
Grant approved by task force on 6/11/2024
Note: Another grant to the JDC approved on 10/19/2023; in Emergency Social Services area of work, for a total of $1,250,000 to the JDC.

About the JDC
JDC is the leading global Jewish humanitarian organization. Through its significant presence in Israel, the JDC regularly provides services to more than a million vulnerable Israelis (such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and families at risk). At the start of the crisis, JDC activated its emergency response team, establishing a direct line of communication with key government and municipal partners to assess and respond to needs. Now, eight months into the war, JDC is fully engaged in executing five major war response projects, including the prioritization of its newly developed National Mental Health Initiative.

Why CJP Gave
The events of October 7 and ensuing war has further highlighted the Israeli mental health system’s inadequacies, such as the system’s lack of proactive detection for mental distress, lack of comprehensive data regarding citizens’ mental health, narrow range of treatment options with overemphasis on individual therapy, and a lack of quality standards for mental health interventions. Through JDC’s National Mental Health Initiative, the JDC will advance two strategic objectives: Expand the reach and improve the quality of Israel’s mental health system, and broaden and incubate the range of interventions available beyond the almost exclusive emphasis on one-on-one psychotherapy.

The Tribe of Nova Foundation: $500,000*
Grant approved by task force on 8/1/2024
Fiscal Sponsor: The Giving Back Fund

About the Tribe of Nova Foundation
Within 24 hours of the attack on 3800+ Nova Festival attendees, the community's founders established an emergency emotional support facility to help members overcome their unimaginable trauma. The organization has not stopped convening survivors and their families and the families of murdered victims for the Tribe of Nova’s non-clinical healing program and services.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s grant will support their three-year strategy for operations and programs at Beit Nova, a new permanent center for service, programming, and commemoration for victims and this community of survivors.

Enosh: $300,000*
Grant approved by task force on 8/1/2024

About Enosh
Enosh – The Israeli Mental Health Association is the largest mental health organization in Israel, delivering comprehensive community-based rehabilitation services to people with psychosocial disabilities and their families. Since 2017, Enosh has been a consultative organization to the United Nations Economic and Social Council regarding mental health policies and service delivery. 

Why CJP gave
CJP’s grant will help to establish an Enosh Mental Health Unit in the Kraiyot (North) to serve 200–400 children and young adults experiencing a mental health crisis. Services include short-term and long-term programs for therapy, psychiatric consultations and support, parental guidance, and group support. The geographic location of the Krayot is important as it is host to evacuated populations from the North.

ELI: $250,000*
Grant approved by task force on 8/1/2024

About ELI
The Israel Association for Child Protection (ELI) is recognized by the Government of Israel and other human service agencies as the only organization in Israel that deals specifically and exclusively with all of the various aspects of child abuse. The organization works tirelessly to increase awareness of the problem by educating the public at large, training professionals, lobbying policy decision makers, and providing vital information to potential victims and parents — all to enhance ELI’s ability to provide assistance.

Why CJP gave
CJP’s grant will allow ELI to deploy 50 training courses for 750 participating trauma therapists to train on ELI’s best practice therapies for children in crisis so therapists can be equipped to support this under-resourced population (ages 3–10) in evacuee communities.

Momentum’s Thank Israeli Soldiers Program: $200,000*
Grant approved by task force on 2/27/2024

About Momentum’s Thank Israeli Soldiers Program
Momentum is an Israeli nonprofit focused on transitional services for combat soldiers. Anticipating a massive mental health challenge for soldiers facing combat in Gaza and the Northern Front when the war began and deployment numbers rose, the IDF Manpower Division tapped Momentum to lead its intensive mental health initiative and PTSD program at scale. This early intervention model assesses individual soldiers who have taken part in the most traumatic and violent warzone situations for warning signs of PTSD and other mental health complications and carries out three-day programs for full combat units to be in safe space together and supported through their exit journey from the war.

Why CJP gave
The IDF estimates that 95,000 soldiers will be candidates for the Thank Israeli Soldiers program given their participation in the most extreme war scenarios in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks. With proven methodology and deep collaboration between leading partners supporting mental health and transitional services for combat soldiers, the Thank Israeli Soldiers program is screening soldiers for PTSD, helping them build resilience and reintegrate into society. The program aims to build a “shield of resilience” in Israeli society by protecting civilians from the damaging long-term effects of PTSD.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum – Summer of Hope Camp Program: $129,000*
Grant approved by task force on 6/11/2024
Note: Other grants to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum approved on 4/9/2024 and 9/11/2024; in Emergency Social Services area of work, for a total of $1,629,000 to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

About The Hostages and Missing Families Forum
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is the lifeline service organization delivering support to the 240 families — approximately 1,000 individuals — impacted by the October 7 Hamas kidnappings. Families gather daily at the Forum building located near Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, where they eat meals, meet with psychologists, field media requests, and spend time in community with one another. The building and the Forum’s services are serving as the heartbeat and point of connection for these families as they cope with the days, weeks, and months of pain, loss, and suffering. The Forum oversees 10 divisions of service to the families in the areas of mental health support, financial aid, and advocacy.

Why CJP gave
A second CJP grant to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum enables the participation of 30 Forum children and teenagers in the "Summer of Hope" project at Camp Kimama Halfmoon. Camp Kimama Halfmoon is a unique, two-week Israeli American summer camp in the Berkshires, and is designed for campers from the U.S., Israel, and around the world. This summer session was designed to support the immediate relief, emotional healing, and social integration of the 30 Forum participants. 

Kfar Izun: $100,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/7/2023

About Kfar Izun
Under ordinary circumstances, Kfar Izun (Rebalance Village) serves as a haven for young adults battling drug addiction, offering them the necessary support to overcome their struggles. It is an innovative and unique treatment and rehabilitation village, the first of its kind in Israel and around the world. The village provides a therapeutic community for backpackers and young people in crisis between the ages of 18-40. Additionally, it acts as a highly effective refuge for soldiers dealing with PTSD, aiding them in their healing journey.

Why CJP gave
Following the Oct. 7 attacks, Kfar Izun swiftly mobilized to extend mental health assistance to the more than 2,000 survivors of the music festival that was the primary target of the Hamas attack. Many of the survivors of the festival were under the influence of drugs, which compounds the trauma; Izun has expertise to address this need and provide specific treatment. The organization is also anticipating and preparing for the hundreds—if not thousands—of PTSD cases that may arise post-war. Kfar Izun stands out for its exceptional quality of care, its team of dedicated professionals, and the strong support it receives from Israeli philanthropists. Kfar Izun is committed to providing top-notch mental health support, ensuring that those in need receive the help they deserve during this challenging time.

ERAN: $50,000*
Grant approved by task force on 10/24/2023
Fiscal Sponsor: US Friends of Eran

About ERAN
ERAN provides lifesaving emotional first aid services, offering initial response and emotional support on the phone and online, while maintaining strict confidentiality and anonymity. For five decades, ERAN volunteers have been reaching out to people in stressful situations, discreetly and confidentially. The range of referrals to ERAN is broad and includes situations such as dealing with trauma, depression, economic distress, teen challenges, loneliness, violence, abuse, eating disorders, self-image and sexual identity, difficulty in raising children, distress of Holocaust survivors, anxiety, and more.

Why CJP gave
Entire communities were eliminated in only a few hours. Almost every family in Israel has lost a family member or friend. The gruesome images of the extreme violence are bringing up trauma from the Holocaust, in addition to losing Israel’s basic sense of security. In this time of war, families of terror victims, family members of abducted citizens, children, the elderly, and professional service providers (such as police and soldiers) need access now to increased mental health support, which ERAN can offer.

Hamaniot (Sunflowers): $50,000*
Grant approved by task force on 2/8/2024
Fiscal Sponsor: From The Depths @ The Giving Back Fund

About Sunflowers
Sunflowers is an Israeli organization that provides psychological support for orphans (children and adolescents who have lost one or both of their parents). Alongside professionals in psychology and social care, Sunflowers developed a first-of-its-kind treatment model focused on minimizing risk factors among young orphans while helping them process the trauma of losing one or both parents. Nowadays, they are aiding 750 families per week in 30 activity centers across 22 local authorities in Israel.

Why CJP gave
On October 7, 22 children lost both parents, 232 lost at least one, and that number has grown daily to 500+ children since the war began. These young Israelis experienced exposure to disturbing events, loss of additional family members, and the inability to say a proper goodbye. The organization’s emergency program ensures orphans are integrating into existing activity centers where trauma specialists can advise on these complex cases. Sunflowers is establishing five new centers in the South and CJP’s grant will fund the next-scheduled center in Ofakim, where 40 children will be supported by a dedicated social worker and a visiting trauma specialist for the next two years.

Sahar: $50,000*
Grant approved by task force on 9/11/2024
Fiscal Sponsor: The Good People Fund

About Sahar
Sahar is an established suicide prevention organization experiencing an increased demand for their support following the events of October 7 and the ensuing war. Sahar is a digital-forward organization that partners with Israeli social media websites, utilizing AI tools to monitor social posts for crisis messages. People in crisis are then escalated to volunteers who mitigate the crisis point and connect the person to in-community resources. This reputable, life-saving organization and relies on highly trained volunteers in its methodology paired by state-of-the-art digital tools to pursue its mission.

Why CJP gave
Since October 7, Sahar has shifted its work from 11 hours per day of monitoring to a 24-hour service. Therefore, the organization is in need of additional trained volunteers to carry out its work. CJP’s grant funds a three-month program to absorb and train 35 new Arabic and Hebrew-speaking volunteers who will execute Sahar’s lifesaving, suicide-prevention methodology.

The Boston-Haifa Connection Office - $1,325,000*
Grants approved by task force on 10/15/2023 ($250,000), 10/24/2023 ($75,000), 3/12/2024 ($500,000), and 10/2/2024 ($500,000)

About The Boston-Haifa Connection
For more than 30 years, Greater Boston’s Jewish community has worked in partnership with its sister city of Haifa. The Boston-Haifa Connection is based on a simple idea: The best way to bring our communities and our people closer is through building relationships and addressing challenges together. Working side-by-side, the communities support at-risk families in Haifa, foster Jewish identity in both communities, connect youth in Boston and Haifa, and empower change-makers in the communities.

Why CJP gave
As escalation in the Northern Front continues in the aftermath of October 7, Haifa has become the premier gateway city for supporting both its own citizens who are victims of the war and evacuees from the North. In tandem with government resources, other philanthropic bodies, and a group of lay leader volunteers with connections on the ground, the Boston-Haifa Connection office will prioritize funding of Haifa-based projects and support of nonprofits who are providing the most vulnerable Haifa citizens and evacuees with lifeline services, employment services, services with goals of promoting shared society during this difficult war-time dynamic, and by providing grants to medical rehabilitation institutions that are servicing soldiers and reservists wounded by the war. Increasingly, funding is supporting emergency preparedness projects in partnership with the Haifa Municipality as escalation in the North region continues. The Boston-Haifa Connection office will work closely with CJP’s Israel Emergency Fund Task Force members to grant under the funding principles stated above and regularly report back on projects funded, as well as impact made.

Givat Haviva: $315,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/21/2023

About Givat Haviva
Established in 1949, Givat Haviva is a social change organization that emphasizes the importance of a Jewish and Arab shared society. Givat Haviva works to promote a prosperous, democratic society for all citizens of Israel, one that strives for peace with its neighbors and the solidarity of all peoples. The organization does this work through focusing on education, equality/empowerment, regional partnerships, arts, language and culture, and public engagement.

Why CJP gave
Without hesitation and budget, Givat Haviva took in 260 evacuees from Ashkelon, a community in Southern Israel that is impacted by constant rocket attacks. Givat Haviva is providing housing and overall support for evacuees on its physical campus, which is located between Haifa and Tel Aviv. CJP may consider additional grant requests from Givat Haviva for work preventing escalation between Arabs and Jews. Givat Haviva is reputable and well-established in Israel, and both CJP and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston have a longstanding relationship with the organization.

Israel Association of Community Centers: $300,000*
Grants approved by task force on 12/5/2023 ($150,000) and 8/1/2024 ($150,000)

About Israel Association Of Community Centers
The Israel Association of Community Centers (IACC) is Israel’s leading social organization. It aims to build and develop a nationwide network of sustainable local communities that contribute to a strong and resilient society, where everyone feels valued. IACC operates a nationwide network of 800 community centers that serve millions of residents in more than 150 local authorities from all sectors and populations of Israeli society.

Why CJP gave
The funding to IACC will help support women and children in the 14 Druze villages in Northern Israel. Many Druze community members have been called for reserve duty in the IDF and other security forces since the war began, leaving behind single-parent families facing challenging circumstances. In this difficult period, many mothers are tasked with addressing their own fears, anxieties, and uncertainties, as well as those of their children. Through the community centers it operates in some of the Druze village, the IACC will provide emotional and social support through temporary learning centers with computers and educational materials for children whose formal education has been disrupted due to the war; workshops for women on coping with stressful situations and parenting during the crisis; and enrichment activities and care programs for children and youth. The August 1, 2024, grant, following the attack on July 27, 2024, will continue our support of these communities. There will be a particular focus on immediate funding for Arabic-speaking therapists that will facilitate group workshops in the four communities (Buq’ata, Ein Quinyye, Mas’ada, and Majdal Shams) where the 12 children who were killed belonged and a series of respite days where community members can come together over the next 2–3 weeks, with age-appropriate programming facilitated by Arab-speaking educators.

Ofakim LeAtid: $150,000*
Grant approved by task force on 8/14/2024

About Ofakim LeAtid
Founded in 2009 by a group of motivated young Druze from Israel’s North, Ofakim LeAtid aims to drive social change, reduce disparities within the Druze community and with other sectors, while emphasizing the preservation of Druze and universal values. Ofakim LeAtid is mapping crisis needs of Druze communities in the north, which are under-resourced especially in physical security infrastructure. 

Why CJP gave
The deadly rocket attack on Majdal Shams in Israel’s North killed 12 children from communities and villages with very little existing protective infrastructures, like bomb shelters and safe rooms, to protect against physical threats from incoming rocket attacks. CJP’s funding will support the rapid deployment of bomb shelters to Druze communities and, along with other partners, provide for bomb shelters in 45 prioritized Druze neighborhoods of the Golan. 

Co-Impact: $130,000*
Grant approved by task force on 12/5/2023

About Co-Impact
Co-Impact is a non-profit organization that believes that quality employment and shared workplaces are the change agents that will transform Israel into a more democratic, inclusive, and just society for all. Co-Impact empowers the largest companies in Israel to become diverse and inclusive workplaces and build strong multi-sector partnerships to increase the number of Arab employees working in the private sector in Israel.

Why CJP gave
With the funding, Co-Impact is working to further several of its initiatives, including: 1) Generating strong and clear voices for diversity and inclusion and shared workplaces through the national and business leadership; 2) Building and strengthening organizational resilience within companies by embedding Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DE&I) practices in this time of unprecedented crisis, supporting shared workplaces, and empowering employers and managers. 3) Strengthening interpersonal and professional connections in the face of crisis through its Jewish-Arab Mentoring Program; 4) Highlighting the benefits of DE&I practices and encouraging companies to access Co-Impact's tools and guidance on issues of shared workplaces through a public relations campaign; and 5) Strengthening the workplace engagement of Arab citizens of Israel through Mashbak – Co-Impact’s Community of Arab Young Professionals.

Itach Ma’aki: $100,000*
Grant approved by task force on 11/21/2023

About Itach Ma’aki
Itach Ma’aki—Women Lawyers for Social Justice—was established in 2001 to give voice to women subject to social, geographic, national, ethnic, and economic discrimination in Israeli society. To achieve its goal, Itach Ma’aki provides free legal aid and representation for women in various areas of the law at each of its branches in Tel Aviv, Beer Sheva, and Haifa.

Why CJP gave
In response to the current crisis, Itach Ma’aki is purchasing goods and delivering food baskets (with an emphasis on needs for babies, such as diapers and formula) to families in unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev. Additionally, the organization is providing emotional and therapeutic support for these communities through both individual and group therapy sessions. CJP’s funds will provide therapy for three months for 500 women and their families, and provide two food baskets each for 400 families.

Tishreen: $40,000*
Grant approved by task force on 12/5/2023

About Tishreen
Tishreen is a nonprofit and non-partisan civil society organization that aims to achieve social change in the Triangle Region of Israel, which is home to about 300,000 Arab citizens of Israel. The organization, which is based in Tayibe (north of Tel Aviv and east of Netanya) was founded in 2008 by activists of diverse backgrounds.

Why CJP gave
Tishreen is establishing an Emergency Support Center for young Arabs to promote open dialogue, ease tensions, and help foster a stable political climate with coexistence between Jews and Arabs. This organization addresses a critical challenge in Israel today: the struggle of young Arab Israelis with the current war through a lack of physical security and profound identity confusion. With the funding, Tishreen will mobilize a volunteer team in the community and schools to create educational activities, which will serve 250 young Arab men and women for three months as they process and cope with their emotions.

The Dvora Institute: $100,000*
Grant approved by task force on 2/8/2024

About The Dvora Institute
The Dvora Institute is an independent think tank focused on the protection of women’s and children’s rights in Israel. Founded by Dr. Cochav Elakaym Levy, the institute is designed to solve complex problems and offer long-term transformative action plans to address gender issues. It takes an active role in shaping public policy on gender issues, in times of peace and in times of crisis, working as an accountability partner of governmental bodies in Israel and beyond.

Why CJP gave
In response to the devastating, life-ending attacks on Israeli women by Hamas on October 7, the Dvora Institute established a unique response mission of international experts to address crimes committed on that day against women and children. CJP’s grant funds costs related to documenting these atrocities, producing testimonials, and advocacy efforts to represent these stories in public forums and in front of international bodies like the United Nations and The Hague. In addition, the funding provides the Dvora Institute with additional capacity to advocate for gender-mainstreaming policies in Israel that further empower Israeli women at this difficult time.

Joining with federations across the country and Canada to leverage our collective philanthropy and maximize impact, CJP has contributed $13.25 million from the Israel Emergency Fund to JFNA’s Emergency Fund, which has released $205.22 million* as of October 11, 2024

See the full list of grants here, updated when JFNA makes a grant recommendation.

JFNA grants approved by task force on 10/10/2023 ($1,000,000), 10/15/2023 ($2,250,000), 10/19/2023 ($2,000,000), 10/24/2023 ($2,000,000), 11/7/2023 ($2,000,000), 11/21/2023 ($2,000,000), and 12/5/2023 ($2,000,000).

*In total, JFNA has released more than $673 million in support of Israel and her people. JFNA’s emergency fund has released $205.22 million, while another $468.46 million has been designated by local federations across North America.

$1,800,000 has been granted from the Israel Emergency Fund to the following organizations, as designated gifts from donors.

Donors contributing $1M+ have the option to designate a portion of their gift to organizations fitting the categories of giving set by the Task Force. Please see our Fund Approach for more detail.

• $1,000,000*: Project Falcon - Working with national authorities, local authorities, and eventually nonprofits to identify critical needs.
  Fiscal Sponsor: Jewish Agency for Israel – North American Council
• $200,000: Homeward (Habaita) - Accelerating and leveraging improvements to Israel’s education system as a tool to facilitate the return of displaced people to their home communities.
  
• $125,000: International Fellowship for Christians and Jews - Providing food, psychological aid, and other forms of assistance.
• $100,000*: Israel’s Collective Action for Resilience (ICAR) - ICAR believes that investing in trauma healing is crucial to protect the health, productivity and security of Israel. They fund research programs and interventions across the care continuum.
• $100,000*: The Western Revival of the Negev - Funding the Western Negev Cluster’s plan for the revival of the region in the aftermath of the October 7th attack and ensuing war.
• $75,000*: Leket - Leket Israel, the National Food Bank, is the leading food rescue organization in Israel. Unique among all other organizations that serve the poor in Israel and food banks worldwide, Leket Israel’s sole focus is rescuing healthy, surplus food and delivering it to those in need through partner nonprofit organizations.
• $50,000: Brothers for Life - Gives critical and immediate help to other injured Israeli combat veterans.
• $50,000: The Fourth Quarter - A grassroots organization formed in response to October 7, focused on forming societal solutions through growing a coalition of members of all backgrounds who are focused on the rebuilding and strengthening of the country.
• $50,000: IsraAid - Partnering with local and civil society organizations to coordinate humanitarian efforts, provide psychosocial support, and deliver urgent aid to evacuated communities.
• $50,000*: Lev Echad - a civil aid organization focused on assisting in times of crisis in Israel and across the world.
  Fiscal Sponsors: American Friends of Leket Israel, Inc. and the New Israel Fund