New Grant in Support of our Holocaust Survivors

March 23, 2023

The Jewish Federation of Ocean County and Jewish Family & Children’s Service are excited to announce a new grant to support our treasured aging Holocaust Survivors.

For more than 20 years JFCS/JFOC has been dedicated to support Holocaust Survivors to remain at home in safety and dignity with funding from The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, aka Claims Conference.

The Jewish Family & Children’s Service program provides a critical lifeline to more than 50 survivors in Ocean County. Services include homecare, dental procedures, glasses, hearing aids, prescriptions, and more. Survivors range in age from 80 years old to over 100. Many Survivors struggle to have their needs met and require some extra assistance to get by. Knowing that there is never enough funding from one source to cover all the requests, JFOC/JFCS is always looking for additional funding to serve this population.

Seed the Dream Foundation has recognized the importance of reaching and helping Holocaust Survivors regardless of where they live. In 2019, Seed the Dream Foundation partnered with KAVOD, a non-profit organization focused on ensuring dignity for Holocaust Survivors, to establish The KAVOD SHEF (Survivors of the Holocaust Emergency Fund) Initiative as a secondary resource for emergency unmet needs of Holocaust Survivors.

In confirming the grant with our community, Amy Israel Pregulman, Executive Director and Co-Founder of KAVOD, commented, “Our Survivors are getting older and are experiencing significantly greater financial stresses. We only have a few years left with these courageous individuals and we feel it is our responsibility to take care of them and offer them peace in these late years. They have been through enough and as a human community, we are responsible.”

KAVOD SHEF partners with 39 communities across the United States, to match 1:1 with local dollars raised to exponentially increase vital emergency services directly reaching Holocaust Survivors and to help raise awareness of the critical needs of Holocaust Survivors. The Joseph Gringlas KAVOD SHEF National Fund, made up of 20 plus National Funders led by Seed the Dream Foundation, provides the national matching dollars for local partnerships.

We are pleased to announce that effective this year, we are now a partner agency with KAVOD SHEF and have received a matching grant to provide unmet emergency services, currently not available through other resources, for eligible Holocaust Survivors.

Laurie Salka, Holocaust Survivor Services Coordinator of JFCS/JFOC, shared, “We are so pleased to enter into this partnership with KAVOD SHEF. There is nothing more rewarding than to inform Holocaust Survivors that their request for financial assistance can be fulfilled. Having the opportunity to say yes to more requests is a blessing.”

Annabelle Lindenbaum, JFOC President, shared: “This grant and new partnership is a double mitzvah. It allows us to expand our comprehensive services to this precious part of our community and access funds from outside our Ocean county community.” Keith Krivitsky, managing Director of JFOC, added that “We are extremely pleased that KAVOD has recognized the important work that our JFCS provides every day for our Survivors. Further, we emphasize that every donation from our community designated for Survivor emergency funds will be matched dollar for dollar by KAVOD SHEF and 100% will used for direct Survivor support.”

To find out more about services for eligible Holocaust Survivors from Ocean County, please contact Laurie Salka at laurie@ocjf.org or 732-363-8010, Monday-Thursday.

To find more information about all of the JFCS/JFOC’s services, and to make a donation for local Holocaust Survivors, please visit www.jewishoceancounty.org/donate/donate.  Please choose Holocaust Survivors fund.