Jewish Federation of Orange County

Serving community members in needholocaust survivor program: 184 survivors were served in 2023 with individual case management; compensation for home care and housekeeping services; assistance with restitution applications; emergency financial aid; and cafe europa, a series of social events; all through jfedoc's partnership with Jewish family service of san diego, supported by jfedoc donors. Adults with disabilities: in 2023, 40 adults with disabilities were served through the jeremiah society, a monthly social and educational program; and through Jewish programming coordinated for residents of mandel house and horwitz family house, group homes established by jfedoc in 2014 and 2017. The group homes were transferred to the irvine community land trust in 2021 and jfedoc continues to provide Jewish enrichment to the residents of the homes through jeremiah society and in-home Jewish holiday celebrations.lifelines assistance: 455 Orange County households were served in 2023 with solution-focused case management, financial assistance for qualified clients, and resource referral services to aid clients in navigating the often complex network of government and nonprofit social service resources available to them.

Grantmakingisrael emergency campaign: launched in the immediate aftermath of the october 7, 2023 attacks on israel, jfedoc's israel emergency campaign engaged over 1,000 donors who contributed some $1.04 million for humanitarian relief. By year-end, over $530,000 had been distributed to nonprofit partners in israel providing trauma and medical care, housing, and other critical services.teen engagement & wellness initiative: 490 Orange County Jewish teens benefited from jfedoc's grants under this initiative to six innovative programs offered by jfedoc's community partners. The initiative also provided a series of programs to build a community of practice among all Jewish youth-serving professionals in Orange county.passport to Jewish life: 93 Jewish students in grades 3-12 were assisted by jfedoc passport grants to support their participation in Jewish summer camp, maccabi games, israel-poland experiential education trips, summer yeshivas, and other immersive Jewish summer programs.weissman arts: 500+ community members participated in celebrate israel @ 75, a community arts and culture festival in may celebrating israeli independence day, sponsored by a grant from jfedoc's weissman arts fund.rose project: grants from the rose project supported hillel Orange County, chabad at university of California, irvine, and chabad at chapman university and California state university, fullerton. Approximately 1,440 students at the university campuses and local community colleges benefited from regular programming provided by these Jewish campus organizations.

Philanthropy and leadership developmentin 2023, 2,450 jfedoc's donors benefited from programs, events, volunteer opportunities, and leadership development as well as ongoing communications on local and global Jewish issues and achievements. The majority of jfedoc's donors benefiting from these services were members of its solomon society and women's philanthropy. Women's philanthropy: 10 new members were elected to the 43-member women's philanthropy (wp) council. Wp also launched the circle in 2023 as a forum for career-focused Jewish women to build professional networks, learn about jfedoc, and develop leadership connections. Solomon society: a new 17-member leadership council was established in 2023 to enhance the impact of solomon society through outreach, social, and volunteer programs. The group launched 15 events throughout the year to engage like-minded men in service, leadership, and philanthropy.

Community relations and engagementsolidarity with israel: over 1,600 community members participated in a community gathering for israel three days after the october 7, 2023 attack. Spearheaded by jfedoc, the assembly featured presenters from 16 Orange County Jewish institutions, the consul general of israel, and elected officials from County, state, and federal government. In december 2023, jfedoc's annual meeting speakers included an israeli family whose loved ones were killed or kidnapped on october 7, 2023.rose project: 3,698 students and educators in Orange County middle and high schools learned about Jewish life and culture through peer presentations by 54 Jewish teen ambassadors in the 2023 cohort of the rose project's student to student initiative. Pj library: in 2023, 1,773 children received free Jewish books (for ages 0 to 12) each month. In total, 20,244 books were distributed. Meaningful and exciting activities were also provided for families with their children as well as parent-only programs.