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June 3, 2005/Iyar 25 5765, Volume 57, No. 40
Planning moves forward for newcomers, seniors
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
The Jewish Community Development Initiative (JCDI) - an effort to address critical community issues - is moving forward.
Following its establishment in fall 2003, a JCDI steering committee - comprised of a cross-section of community members representing geographic, religious and organizational interests - examined data collected in the 2002 Greater Phoenix Jewish Community Study to determine which needs of the local Jewish community are not being met.
Committee members considered the community's immediate needs and also what would help build the community's future, said Fred Zeidman, federation assistant executive director.
The committee selected five issues of concern: newcomers, youth and Jewish continuity, community participation, vulnerable Jews and seniors.
"Immediate needs clearly are the frail elderly and vulnerable populations," Zeidman said. "And if you're talking about building the future, then you're looking at newcomers and adult participation in Jewish life and engaging Jewish youth in Jewish life. So that formed a good core that addressed both the present and the future."
The JCDI, an initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, is being funded by a grant through the Kraus Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation, providing $50,000 a year for three years to implement planning recommendations, Zeidman said.
Currently the JCDI is working on two of the areas it has identified: newcomers and seniors.
Newcomers
The steering committee has conducted "community conversations," focus groups, with about 25 newcomers located through synagogues and ads in community newspapers, including Jewish News of Greater Phoenix.
Suggestions by focus group members on how to reach other newcomers included: advertise in Jewish publications in Snow Belt communities; offer newcomer kits to be given out by "pathfinders" such as rabbis, Jewish community centers, physicians and synagogue administrators; reach out to newcomers at places they're likely to connect - such as university clubs and sports bars; and create mentors to help newcomers integrate into Jewish life.
The committee has put together "an impact matrix that takes some of the ideas and looks at what the cost might be and what the outcome might be," Zeidman said, and plans to hold town-hall-type meetings with agency presidents and executives, rabbis and congregation administrators and organization leaders to review the findings.
"That will help us understand who's doing what already," he said, and will help determine what recommendations to present to the federation board in the fall.
"What's significant in all of this is that although the federation initiated the planning process, this is not a federation plan," Zeidman said, which is why JCDI is working so closely with agencies, organizations and congregations. "I'm sure there are a number of organizations in the Jewish community that do some remarkable things in outreach, so we want to meet with them" and, after discussions, formulate some recommendations, he said. "It's a very different model than what typically has been done in the community."
Seniors
A task force comprised of community professionals from organizations that provide services to Jewish seniors - such as Hospice of the Valley, Kivel Campus of Care, Jewish Family & Children's Service, the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, and representatives from synagogues and other Jewish organizations - has met three times to develop a "gap analysis" to help define needs.
"We're looking at the needs of Jewish seniors in the community and we're looking at the services that are currently provided, and we're trying to determine the gaps between the services ... and the needs," said Steve Goldstein, task force chairman.
The task force hopes to have recommendations for the JCDI steering committee by the end of the month.
Members of the senior task force also include Aaron Scholar, director of the Bureau of Jewish Education; local rabbis; and seniors who currently use available services.
"We tried to get a broad-based representation," Goldstein said. "The idea behind the task force was to try to get a wide range of people involved in seniors' issues together at the same table to really discuss the issues in depth and see if there are creative and collaborative ways to address them.
"I think we've had some good discussions among people who wouldn't necessarily be talking about these issues together."
Down the road
The JCDI hopes to bring its recommendations for newcomers and seniors to the federation board by late summer and to launch Jewish youth and continuity research this fall, followed by adult participation in the community and vulnerable populations.
"We really want to have everything wrapped up by the time the allocations cycle starts, which will be roughly March 2006," Zeidman said.
While it's not clear exactly how the recommendations that come from the JCDI will be implemented, some will have a direct effect on agency allocation, Zeidman said.
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