Federation plays activist roll identifying, meeting needs

By DEBORAH MOON

article created on:

For nearly 90 years, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland has striven to ensure the needs of the local Jewish community are met for young and old, rich and poor, secular and observant.

In addition to serving as the umbrella fundraiser for the community’s social service and cultural agencies, the federation has helped launch new programs and institutions while also helping existing groups respond to financial crises.

In the past decade, Community Initiative Grants and Innovation Impact Grants have funded a host of new programs such as Mother’s Circle, Portland Jewish Youth Initiative, TASK, Jewish Theatre Collaborative and numerous others.
Creating new organizations

In 1989, the federation played a vital role in the creation of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, which now manages some $40 million dollars of community assets.

Harold Pollin, the first president of OJCF, said the federation was instrumental in supporting the creation of the community-wide repository for endowment funds. He said the federation not only put its own $3 million endowment into the new foundation, it also persuaded the community’s Jewish agencies and synagogues that OJCF could benefit the community as a whole.

Last year the federation’s commitment to provide funding for a Greater Portland Hillel for its first three years, enabled that organization to begin reaching out to college students on metro area campuses.

Said PDX Hillel Managing Director Rachel Hall: “The funding from the federation was/is critical. Beyond the immediate need to put the dollars to work, it sent a message to Hillel and the rest of the community. Local federations in many ways represent what the organized Jewish community holds as a priority. By supporting PDX Hillel, the federation sent the message that college students are an important priority and shaping their Jewish journeys is a community endeavor.”
Funding new needs

One community program that federation dollars helped launch and continue to fund annually is the Teen Israel Experience program.

“In the late 1990s the Oregon Board of Rabbis approached the federation with a proposal to offer a significant scholarship for a visit to Israel to any Jewish student engaged in post bat/bar mitzvah study who was willing to commit to a certain high level of study and participation in the Jewish community through high school graduation,” said Rabbi Ariel Stone, who was an organizer of that program.

The most recent program made possible through a federation grant is the Portland Jewish Youth Initiative. After receiving a federation Innovation grant, PJYI this fall began forming a council of 12-15 teens representing synagogues and youth movements from across the greater Portland area to collaborate on social action projects.
Federation has provided two innovation impact grants to Mothers Circle Portland to reach out to non-Jewish women raising Jewish children.

“The first one was in spring 2008 and allowed us to get the program off the ground,” said Caron Blau Rothstein, the program coordinator. It gave Rothstein the resources to “provide the women and their families with the support … (and) a warm welcome to the Portland Jewish community as well as practical tools to engage in this community or any Jewish community for that matter.”

Combined with other funding, the federation’s renewal of the grant this year, has enabled the program to not only recruit and serve a second group of women, it has also enabled the program to explore how to serve other segments of the Jewish community touched by intermarriage.

“We are building a key component of what I hope will one day be an overall strategy and programming of outreach and engagement to involve those in our midst who need support in accessing and getting involved in our community,” said Rothstein.

Rothstein said the renewal of the grant was additionally a vote of confidence reflecting the federation and its leadership’s appreciation for the effectiveness of the program “both on participants and their families as well as on the community.”

Other grant recipients also commented on the importance of that feeling of support.

In 1996 when federation granted $17,000 to TASK (the disability awareness program of Jewish Family and Child Service) for start up expenses, Eve Stern, a member of the TASK steering committee said, “It’s an indication our work is really needed … and there is a place for TASK in our community.”

Janice Frey-Angel, who was JFCS executive director at that time, said: “The community recognized this is a real need and prioritized that need by funding it. That felt really good.”

Since then TASK has received five other grants to create or expand services to community members with disabilities and their families.

“The TASK program (Treasuring, Accepting and Supporting Kehillah (community)) has been able to meet the increasing needs of the community in great part to the generous grants we have received from the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland,” said Corrine Spiegel, TASK inclusion specialist. “We have been able to expand our services and indeed create new programs as concern and demand have increased.”
Creative process

In addition to receiving funds necessary to launch a new effort, many programs have cited the grant application process itself as a vital step in growth.

When the loosely organized South Metro Jewish Community applied for a grant in 1994, SMJC President John Moss said the application process helped SMJC formalize the vision that helped it evolve into a full service congregation now known as Beit Haverim/SMJC.

“The grant process triggered our vision,” said Moss. “I see the power of these grants and the long-term multiplier effect they create. The grant request became our road map for everything that followed. … It forces dreams into reality.”

Moss said that support also inspired him to become active in the broader Jewish community, where he ultimately became executive director of OJCF.

Sacha Reich, whose Jewish Theatre Collaborative received a federation grant this year, concurred with the importance of the process.

“The process of preparing the proposal for the innovation impact grant required JGTC to articulate a clear strategic plan for building a sustainable infrastructure for the work JATC had been doing and wanted to do in the future,” said Reich. “Receiving the grant has meant that I could dedicate daylight hours to realizing that strategic plan: to build the technical infrastructure, write the grants, develop the board, while simultaneously inspiring us tot expand programming. We are piloting two new projects this year—a city wide Jewish Book Month celebration and a main stage production of Kinderstransport.”
Rescuing needed programs

When financial crisis threatened the Mittleman Jewish Community Center and its B’nai B’rith Camp five years ago, the federation stepped in with money to help stabilize the two vital organizations while the center reorganized.

At that time all funds for the camp were part of the center’s budget, which meant the center’s economic crisis threatened that summer’s camp program.

“I consider it an honor that we had an opportunity to extend significant assistance to both institutions,” said JFGP Executive Vice President Charles Schiffman.

Schiffman said the federation considered it necessary to help save the center because, “The MJCC is a significant meeting place for Jews of all backgrounds and all denominations. The strength of the center supports the strength of our community as a community.”

Jerry Sadis was the federation’s liaison to the MJCC when the crisis was being evaluated and then became a member of the reorganized MJCC board to oversee its reorganization.

“The federation and the Schnitzer and Zidell families stepped up and engaged a crisis management specialist who did a quick review,” said Sadis. “We needed $1 million to stave off bankruptcy and losing the building. Those three gave us breathing room as we worked feverishly to decide if it was possible for the center to operate and break even.”

“The second courageous thing federation did was to provide a multiyear commitment for the mortgage and operations so we could focus on turning the operation around,” he said.

Milt Carl, who was the president of BB Camp Men’s Association for nearly 35 years, said he was grateful federation also came up with the $300,000 needed to run the residence camp that summer. The camp’s ownership was recently transferred from the MJCC to the Men’s Camp Association.

Before the crisis, the JFGP allocation to the center was $380,000 for operations. Now the federation’s support is divided between operations ($200,000) and mortgage payments ($220,000), which is a 10-year commitment. The federation recently started matching a Schnitzer family annual donation of $200,000 to pay down the principal on the mortgage.

When the current recession overwhelmed the resources of Jewish Family and Child Service, the federation launched a second emergency needs campaign, with half of the funds going to JFCS and half to United Way to help the general community.