Sparking Connection

PJ Library’s community partners thrive when engaging families in Jewish life. For 10 years, a special PJ Library grant has helped.

 

By Rachel Rapoport, Program Officer

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This story appeared in the summer 2025 issue of PROOF, a PJ Library magazine.

PJ Library is more than books. Around the world, PJ Library brings Jewish families together to connect with their local Jewish community and one another. PJ Library works with local partner organizations across the US and Canada, such as Jewish Federations and JCCs, where family-engagement professionals host gatherings and events that welcome families seeking connection into Jewish life. To support these efforts, PJ Library introduced engagement grants, empowering partners to try new initiatives in the quest to create thriving Jewish communities.

Since 2015, with the support of donors including the PJ Library Alliance, PJ Library has awarded 147 grants to more than 90 communities in the US and Canada. Ranging from $3,500 to $25,000, these grants have allowed partners to pursue innovative strategies to engage families. Do they work? Over 90% of grantees report remarkable engagement wins, and some 60% of communities renew their application for a second year. From seed funding to lasting impact, here’s a look at how PJ Library engagement grants transformed three communities.

Colorado

Five years ago, Jewish families in Colorado mainly knew PJ Library as a great book program. But local partner JEWISHcolorado recognized that PJ Library could help foster vital community connections. In 2020, funded by a PJ Library engagement grant, they hired three parent connectors.

At first, the parent connectors focused their outreach on families in Denver, but a large number of families in outlying communities and mountain towns craved engagement too. “We were so grateful for the initial seed funding and the coaching PJ Library provided,” says program manager Bethany Friedlander. “This allowed us to see the gaps in our community engagement and gave us the insight we needed to adapt.”

With additional grant funding, JEWISHcolorado hired parent connectors in local towns statewide, beyond the metro centers of Denver and Boulder. This approach brought Jewish families together for Shabbat playdates, Israel-themed hikes, and holiday celebrations in communities like Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Steamboat Springs, and Roaring Forks — areas with limited Jewish infrastructure but high demand for connection.

“Before this initiative, I could only host one PJ Library gathering a year in Fort Collins, making the long drive from my home,” Friedlander recalls. “But with a PJ Library parent connector in place, gatherings happened consistently. Real community began to form.” Now, with overflowing Hebrew schools and vibrant synagogue programs, Fort Collins has become a hub for Jewish families.

Today, JEWISHcolorado funds 18 PJ Library parent connectors across the state. “Without this grant, we wouldn’t have been able to consistently connect and engage families in these outlying communities,” Friedlander says. As Jewish families increasingly settle outside Denver, PJ Library parent connectors are creating vibrant Jewish microcommunities across Colorado’s vast landscape.

Milwaukee

The Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC has long been a trusted space for Jewish families raising children. But many PJ Library families in Milwaukee wanted to make friends closer to home, in their own neighborhoods. The challenge? Busy schedules! Enter PJ Library with an engagement grant in 2018.

Family-engagement staff used the grant to start a new relationship-building initiative: Shabbat Among Friends. As program coordinator Andrea Kitsis explains, “Shabbat Among Friends was designed to help families make connections that stick. We paired families with similar interests, gave them a $100 gift card to host, and offered tips for activities. It gave them that little push they needed to build meaningful relationships.”

In its first year, Shabbat Among Friends was a hit. Many groups met regularly, forming deep bonds. “Thank you, PJ Library, for ‘assigning’ me two of my best, dearest friends. It’s been such a blessing,” shares participant Caroline Kravit. During the COVID-19 pandemic, program organizers handed out s’more kits and hosted virtual events, keeping families connected when they needed it most.

These days, with additional funding from Sue and Rick Strait, Shabbat Among Friends remains a cornerstone of PJ Library programming in Milwaukee. The takeaway is clear: Families yearn for connection, and PJ Library can provide the spark.

Chicago

For years, PJ Library in Chicago has helped connect children to Jewish life from babyhood through the tween years. But there was a missing link in the journey: Jewish camp.

In 2019, PJ Library grant funding gave family-engagement professionals the opportunity to try a new way to broaden access to Midwest Jewish overnight camps: PJ Library Family Camp. Hosted in partnership with regional overnight camps and the Jewish United Fund (JUF), this immersive weekend family-camp experience was designed to introduce PJ Library families to the joys of Jewish camping — and to each other.

“That first fall family camp was magical, and the connections extended beyond the weekend,” says Julie Brodsky, associate vice president of family engagement at JUF. “Our parent connectors hosted reunion Shabbats and parents’ nights out, creating lasting bonds. Families return year after year. Now many of those little ones from our first family camps are heading off to summer camp on their own.”

While grant funding planted the seed, PJ Library Family Camp has grown well beyond the initial grant. Family camps are now held twice a year, alternating between JCC Camp Chi and URJ OSRUI Camp. Through communal Shabbat celebrations and exciting camp activities, these weekends serve as a welcoming, low-barrier introduction to the Jewish opportunities that await as PJ Library kids grow up.

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