National Council of Jewish Women New York Section

Hunger programncjw ny's monday food pantry provides families in need with a three-day supply of groceries, including fresh produce and dairy as well as non-perishable groceries. Our community kitchen operates twice a week, on sundays and wednesdays, providing a freshly cooked, sit-down hot meal to all who need it. Our hunger program serves New York city's most marginalized populations: unemployed and low-wage workers, isolated seniors, and families struggling to make ends meet. Our food pantry utilizes a "client choice" model, allowing guests to choose their own foods from tables of produce, grains, and proteins. Our volunteers create a warm and welcoming environment. In addition to vital nutrition, our hunger program offers resources, referrals, benefits enrollment and other direct services to help clients increase economic stability and ultimately reduce the need for emergency food support. In fiscal year 2023, our hunger program served nearly 290,000 meals for 35,000 people.

Resources for womenncjw ny provides resources to support, educate, and empower Women. The pregnancy loss support program (plsp) is an innovative program that utilizes professionally trained volunteers to provide telephone counseling and in-person support groups for parents who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or newborn death. All of our volunteers have been through the program themselves, so they can speak from personal experience to grieving parents, and at the same time continue their own healing process through service to others. In fy'23, plsp served approximately 130 families. The Jewish Women's resource center (jwrc) celebrates the role of Jewish Women throughout history and today by producing conferences, film screenings, and other special events.

Council lifetime learningcouncil lifetime learning (cll) is a unique program for active seniors in New York city that combats social isolation and engages older adults in activities that feed the mind and soul. Cll offers a wide array of opportunities for older adults to learn New skills and find community. From art and exercise classes to discussion groups and expert-led lectures, cll keeps seniors growing and engaged with the wider world. In addition to providing meaningful experiences, we are committed to providing support and partnership to our seniors, providing social work services to help our participants deal with the inevitable challenges of growing older. Ultimately, cll helps seniors remain living independently at home, where they most want to be. During the pandemic, we transformed many of our classes to a virtual format, using telephone and videoconference. We are currently completing the transition back to in-person classes and activities, while also still offering some virtual programming for those who must now stay at home. During fy'23, about 150 seniors came through our doors every week to participate in our classes, discussion groups, and support groups. In addition, cll's staff social worker provided 600 consultations, providing resources, referrals, and supportive counseling.

Children's programsthe reading tutors program nurtures a love of books and reading and boosts confidence in literacy skills for low-income children in kindergarten through 5th grades. Volunteers are screened, interviewed, and trained by seasoned educators on the children's literacy committee. Both students and tutors commit to individual weekly 30-minute tutoring sessions for the entire school year, enabling a trusting relationship to develop and allowing tutors to become optimally invested in each child's progress. Each week, tutors bring a selection of age-appropriate books, chosen to appeal to each child's interests. We partner with three after-school programs run by union settlement, university settlement, and lincoln square neighborhood house. In fy'23, we worked with three partner sites and served approximately 35 children per week. Back 2 school store since 2015, ncjw ny has hosted the back 2 school store in early august. This unique event transforms Council house into a very special pop-up department store, where children from all areas of nyc come to "shop" for brand New clothes, including tops, bottoms, shoes and socks; as well as a New backpack, a winter parka, school supplies, and an age-appropriate reference book, entirely free of charge. We partner with community-based agencies to select and pre-register families with documented financial need. Our 2023 store was held over the course of three days in early august, welcoming 215 children to the store and engaging 150 community volunteers. Each child was paired with a volunteer "personal shopper," who guided them through the "store".advocacy ncjw ny pursues vigorous advocacy on strategic mission-related issues. Our overarching advocacy goal is to pursue economic and reproductive justice for Women. In the spring of 2018, ncjw ny launched the pro-truth campaign, which works to expose and fight fake Women's clinics, ensuring that all Women have access to comprehensive and accurate information about their reproductive rights and choices. In 2023 we launched the jews for repro ny campaign to reclaim the narrative around religion, faith, and abortion access. We maintain strong relationships with our state and local elected representatives, and invite experts to speak to our members about these issues and others that concern us and our community. On the National level, ncjw, inc. has a professionally staffed Washington office that advocates at the federal level and helps coordinate grassroots advocacy nationwide. The linc program (lunch, interaction, nurturing, and companionship)the helen bloom linc program provides a stimulating, supportive, and joyful atmosphere for elders suffering from memory loss and dementia, along with their caregivers. The program is based on the philosophy that stimulating activities geared to participants' interests and capacities can help stave off continued decline. Each session includes either an arts and crafts component, movement-based activity, or a pet therapy visit, followed by dancing and singing led by a professional musician. After spending an afternoon socializing, creating art, and enjoying lively music, there is a noticeable improvement in the mood, expression, and overall functioning of the participants. Caregivers also benefit from the linc program: they find support from other caregivers and increase their skills and resiliency. The program operates on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays. The program is small and intimate by design, allowing our program facilitators to offer individualized attention to each participant. We are currently serving a roster of approximately 20 clients, with approximately 5 to 7 pairs (client and caregiver) attending on any given day.