We at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation are excited to present the fourth cohort of PJ Library Implementing Partner Engagement Grant recipients, which have been awarded $188,500 in grants, ranging from $8,000-$25,000, to expand and deepen engagement opportunities for families raising Jewish children across North America.
The 13 selected initiatives emphasize building social connections over time among families raising Jewish children as well as connecting families to local opportunities to engage in Jewish life, programming, or learning.
Part of a five-year strategy to extend Jewish engagement in North America, these grants are funded through the PJ Library Alliance. Our partners in the Alliance are the Azrieli Foundation; Carl and Joann Bianco; the Crown Family; William Davidson Foundation; William and Audrey Farber Philanthropic Fund; Genesis Philanthropy Group; Diane and Guilford Glazer/Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles; Jim Joseph Foundation; the Marcus Foundation, Inc.; Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation; Mike and Sofia Segal Family Foundation; Susser Family Trust; Walter, Arnee, Sarah, and Aaron Winshall; Zucker Family Foundation; and two anonymous partners.
This year’s selected initiatives, listed below, are divided into four categories; each category will serve as a community of practice, offering ongoing peer support and collective learning. We look forward to working with these partners and seeing all their innovative initiatives come to life.
Ongoing Neighborhood Programming
Baltimore PJ VolunTeam Initiative, Center for Jewish Education, Inc., Baltimore, MD
In collaboration with Jewish Volunteer Connection (JVC), the Baltimore PJ VolunTeam Initiative will connect small groups of less-engaged families to each other and the community through ongoing service and learning programs. A team of parents will be trained and supported by JVC to lead the “VolunTeams” and guide participation in monthly service opportunities as well as Shabbat dinners and other social events throughout the year.
Parent Place, Jewish Federation of the Bluegrass, Lexington, KY
With the support of the existing PJ Parent Committee, the Parent Place initiative will reach out to less-engaged families to participate in meaningful Jewish-themed events. Four main initiatives will be designed with parent input: neighborhood home-based / parent-hosted Shabbat dinners; bi-monthly parenting workshops; bi-monthly family programming; and quarterly group volunteering activities to benefit other community organizations.
PJ Play, Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County, Inc., Greater Orange County, NY
A monthly neighborhood-based parent and tot learn-and-play group for families with children ages 18 months to 5 years, PJ Play will take place in 3 distinct geographic areas of a huge county. Through interactive, multi-sensory programs led by a trained song leader, families gather each month to bring a PJ Library book to life. Friendships among families are brought to the next level through the Shabbat-at-Home program, monthly hands-on Shabbat workshops, and home-hosted Shabbat experiences.
Home-Based Shabbat Programming
Shabbat Shalom Y’all, Jewish Community Partners, Memphis, TN
Small groups comprised of both active and less-engaged families will come together three times during the year for home-hosted Shabbat dinners. A parent committee will be formed to support parents in leadership roles as connectors and dinner hosts. Community-wide Shabbat programs and workshops throughout the year will allow participants to create artifacts and gather tools to celebrate and enhance Shabbat in their homes.
Shabbat Among Friends, Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC, Milwaukee, WI
Shabbat Among Friends is a series of home-based Shabbat programs for families raising Jewish children, enabling better-connected families to become leaders in welcoming and creating friendships with newer or less-connected families. Additionally, three large programs for all 40 participating families are planned, with the specific Shabbat focus to be determined by the interests of the families.
Holiday Chavurah, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Holiday Chavurah aims to help Jewish families build deeper relationships with other families, increase confidence in observing Judaism in their own homes, and encourage them to open their homes to help others connect to the Jewish community. Host families will learn about four holidays throughout the year, create material and ritual objects for each holiday, and share their experiences with other families by hosting a holiday get-together.
Shabbat & Community: Building Relationships in Tallahassee, Tallahassee Jewish Federation, Tallahassee, FL
Five Jewish families will host two to four families for Shabbat dinners at least three times during the year in their homes. The year will include a kick-off community Shabbat dinner, workshops for families to learn and share about Shabbat, and an end-of-year celebration to highlight the relationships formed and recognize the hosts and participating families.
Community Connectors
PJ Baby Connectors, Jewish Federation of Broward County, Broward, FL
Three PJ Baby Connectors will find, meet, and connect families with children ages 0-3 to each other and to local Jewish resources. Three different geographical areas of the county will be served. Connectors will plan opportunities and experiences for families to meet and foster friendships and relationships through coffee dates, meet-ups, small group activities, and neighborhood programs.
PJ Baby Connectors, Jewish Federation of St. Louis, St. Louis, MO
Two PJ Baby Connectors will create and lead weekly home-based and public space gatherings for families with children 0-2 years in neighborhoods outside the main Jewish corridor. The weekly neighborhood programming will be augmented with Welcome Baby events and parent-only social and educational opportunities.
Toronto Neighbourhood Connectors, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Four Neighbourhood Connectors will be responsible for actively engaging their peers in identifying and creating the kinds of opportunities that they want to see, whether it’s parenting classes, Shabbat afternoon picnics in the park, ice skating Havdalahs, or holiday celebrations for a small group of families in someone’s home. The Connectors will be trained to build relationships with a range of families, connect families to one another, develop programming that is responsive to needs and interests of the families, and refer families to a wide range of Jewish community opportunities that might be of interest.
Neighborhood Captains
Family Engagement Connectors, Charleston Jewish Federation, Charleston, SC
Five Family Engagement Connectors will bring monthly and holiday PJ Library programming and social opportunities to targeted, underserved areas in which they live. Designed to be collaborative and flexible to fit the needs of families, this initiative trains and empowers the connectors to build relationships with parents and run hyper-local programming based on the families’ interests.
PJ Baby Connect, Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
Four Neighborhood Captains (NCs) will identify and engage families with babies 0-2 years old through coffee dates and age-appropriate, neighborhood-based programming, helping to build connections with other neighborhood Jewish families. Community-wide programming will augment the neighborhoods efforts: five Bring Your Own Baby (BYOB) classes and two Bagels and Babies Brunches, designed to welcome new babies and newcomers to the community.
Kesher SRQ*, Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, Sarasota, FL
Two Community Connectors (CCs) will conduct coffee dates with PJ Library families who have attended less than two events during the past year, learning about their engagement habits, interests, demographics and needs. Micro networks will be formed and create ongoing opportunities for those families to get together. CCs will coordinate at least one meet-up per month throughout the year for each micro network, and twice during the year there will be programs for all micro networks.
*SRQ is an abbreviation for the Sarasota/Bradenton FL area
August 15, 2018