The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (the Foundation) has awarded $3.7 million in grants to 45 local organizations to help them recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The recipients include 22 Jewish nonprofits and 23 synagogues. The new “Reimagine Grants” are the largest awarded by The Foundation in a single grants cycle. Combined with $8.3 million in pandemic-related grants previously awarded, The Foundation has dispensed approximately $12 million to nearly 100 organizations since March 2020.
The grants to the 22 nonprofits will support a wide array of programs for children, young adults and the disabled. Funds will also assist organizations with staff professional development, as well as Jewish, Israel and Holocaust education. The synagogue recipients are located from Highland Park to Santa Monica.
“Our newly created Reimagine Grants are a robust response to the pandemic and support Los Angeles-area Jewish communal institutions as they adapt and transition into a new reality. In response to the pandemic, we swiftly executed a full pivot of Foundation institutional funding initiatives to address emerging and fast-changing needs. These newest grants, together with our earlier COVID-19 Response Grants, reflect a 360-degree perspective to boost programs and initiatives doing critical work in our Jewish and general communities,” said JCFLA President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin I. Schotland.
Avram Mandell, Executive Director and Founder of Tzedek America, noted the importance of the Reimagine Grant to the organization’s Racial Justice Experience project.
“Tzedek America is now able to hire the staff and provide necessary racial justice programming to hundreds of Jewish students in Los Angeles. We will introduce them to activists and educators as we elevate the voices of the Black community and new concepts as we provide them with an understanding of the role race and racism have played in the history of Los Angeles and our country. We will be able to provide tools to open dialogue from a knowledgeable grounding and encourage them to continue the work of equality. Simply put, without this grant from The Foundation, we would not be able to offer this programming.”
In addition to Tzedek America, Reimagine Grant recipients include The Miracle Project, At the Well, Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services, Tzedek America, Hillel at UCLA, the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging, The Braid, American Jewish University and Simon Wiesenthal Center.
