2013 ANNUAL REPORT JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO avid Ben Gurion said that to be a realist, Our youth strengthened their Jewish identities one must believe in miracles. This is as true through Jewish Community Center (JCC) summer Dtoday as ever. At a time when our community camps and early childhood education programs and the Jewish people face very real threats and and—at a time when many communal funders challenges, we also are experiencing miraculous nationwide cut allocations to Jewish Day School groundswells of energy, determination and Education—we are proud to say that JUF/ innovation that are transforming that reality on the Federation grew resources for Chicago’s Jewish ground in Chicago, in Israel and around the world. Day Schools. In addition, this year JVS Chicago launched Career Moves, a comprehensive career This transformation is being driven by a new development center that integrates its job search, generation, which brings to bear a spirit of placement and career counseling services, helping philanthropy, generosity and volunteerism that thousands of unemployed community members is re-energizing our community. Partnering with regain their self-suffi ciency. the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and our vital network of agencies, in 2013 these donors and volunteers “...we are proud to say that JUF/ came together to heighten the quality of Jewish life and Jewish lives. Federation grew resources for To connect community members in Chicago’s Jewish Day Schools.” need with the right services, Jewish Child & Family Services (JCFS) launched Access, a single point of contact for therapeutic assistance, from early We also are extraordinarily pleased with the work pediatric intervention for preschoolers with learning done over the past year by the Boards of JCFS and JVS in producing a signifi cant strategic alliance between the two organizations. Supported by JUF/Federation, effective July 1, 2013, the alliance allows the agencies to provide enhanced comprehensive services to those in need. Following the trend of other JCFS and JVS organizations around the country, the agencies are joining together to better leverage resources and provide more integrated services. While the two agencies will remain separate 501 (c) 3 organizations, JCFS will be providing management and support services to JVS. Together the agencies touch 34,000 individuals a year and we look forward to the expanded service this alliance will engender. A Port in the Economic Storm In the fi ve years since the economic downturn, disabilities and respite care for children with JUF/Federation has helped to keep our community special needs to counseling for individuals in crisis whole, accelerating the delivery of crucial human and grief support for bereaved families. Through services to the most vulnerable people in our CJE SeniorLife, our community elders benefi ted midst. Since the start of the recession, through from an ever-evolving constellation of services to JUF and our agencies: enrich their lives and maximize their dignity and independence, including unique new programming ■ 16,177 households have received more than to optimize care for Parkinson’s disease. $13.7 million in emergency cash for food, housing, healthcare and other critical expenses. [ 2 ] ■ an average of 12,770 people per year have ■ $33.2 million received free or subsidized healthcare. through the Jewish United Fund of ■ 6,360 people have secured jobs. Metropolitan Chicago devoted ■ 5,908 children have received $7.1 million to national and in scholarships for Jewish camps and early overseas needs childhood programs. benefi ting 2 million Jews in Israel ■ 33% more students have received tuition and 70 countries assistance at 14 Chicagoland Jewish day across the globe; schools. and The JUF Annual Campaign—the lifeblood of ■ $55.8 million Chicago’s Jewish community—raised $79.4 million allocated to in 2012, more than $578,000 ahead of the previous charitable ventures year. JUF raised $6.1 million in new J-HELP worldwide in supplemental funds from major donors to ensure partnership with the continuity of essential services for people in our Donor Advised economic turmoil, bringing J-HELP contributions Funds, which to an aggregate $25.7 since 2009. include Family Philanthropic The Annual Campaign is the largest piece of a Funds and Support Foundations. multi-pronged fundraising effort that last year yielded $206,884,407. In addition to the Annual Campaign, JUF/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Responding to Crises in the U.S. Chicago raises funds through bequests, foundation and Israel and government grants, The Centennial Campaign, corporate partnerships, donations to emergency Chicago’s Jewish community responded with relief efforts, and other sources. great generosity to the natural disasters that devastated parts of the U.S. over the last year, raising $514,077 from 1,337 contributors for the Jewish Federation “The Annual Campaign is the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund to help communities along the east coast largest piece of a multi-pronged decimated by massive fl ooding and $105,463 from 575 contributors for fundraising effort that last year the Jewish Federation Oklahoma Tornado Relief Fund, which aided yielded $206,884,407.” survivors of the deadly twisters that destroyed swaths of Oklahoma. Federation absorbed all administrative costs for both of these relief funds, ensuring that All told, this incredible generosity from Chicago’s 100 percent of all collected donations went directly Jewish community enabled the board to allocate to aid fi rst responders and people in need on more than $145 million during the fi scal year ended the ground. June 30, 2013. This includes: This year, more than 1,500 community members of ■ $28.4 million through the Jewish Federation all ages volunteered their time through JUF’s TOV of Metropolitan Chicago to fund essential Volunteer Network, providing hands-on assistance human services benefi ting 300,000 Chicagoans at both Jewish and secular community institutions. of all faiths at every stage of life, as well as TOV’s fi nest hour came in the wake of Hurricane $28.6 million to fund key Jewish education, Sandy. Five missions of Chicago volunteers continuity, oversight and national programs; traveled to New York throughout the winter and spring to help those affected by the storm. [ 3 ] These missions, sponsored by JUF’s TOV under rocket fi re from Gaza. Supported with our Volunteer Network in partnership with NECHAMA: JUF dollars, they provided respite trips that took Jewish Response to Disaster, sent volunteers to 33,000 Israeli children out of rocket range, along The Jewish Center Brighton Beach, an historic with long distance learning for homebound children landmark that is one of the oldest synagogues in while schools were closed, and activities for youth New York. In the winter, missions that included in bomb shelters. They helped deliver emergency Chicago area Hillel students worked to gut the supplies and food to the disabled and elderly; building, removing toxic debris and mold down portable toilets for people with severe disabilities to the building frame to prep the center for to use in safe rooms and shelters; emergency reconstruction. In the spring, JUF sent three more psychological support for the most vulnerable new relief missions from its Young Leadership Division, immigrants; and a wide range of additional relief Chicago area Hillels and the general community. initiatives, from trauma hotlines and trauma team training to group therapy workshops for children These young volunteers echo the spirit of Israel’s and parents and psychological support for founders, young idealists who expressed their fi rst responders. passion for Jewish Peoplehood through the soil, the land and the sweat of their brows. Today, a This volunteerism complemented a range of new generation of Israeli pioneers is demonstrating assistance to Israelis in need through the JUF- its devotion to the Jewish People and the Jewish supported Victims of Terror Fund, which provided State by bringing their own determination, spirit trauma counseling, emergency grants, and medical of innovation and entrepreneurship to Israel’s equipment to citizens and shrapnel-proof vests geographic and socio-economic periphery. and helmets for emergency fi rst-responders. With support from JUF/Federation, hundreds of young Israeli adults are tutoring and mentoring thousands of disadvantaged Israeli youth to ensure brighter futures for their families. They are launching microenterprises and start-up initiatives to extend commerce and opportunity to underserved communities, and bringing social activism to bear on challenges ranging from the development of renewable energy sources to the integration of Ethiopian-Israelis into mainstream Israeli society. These young people were among the many Israelis who sprang into action during Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza last November 2012. Volunteers Teen and College Leadership came together to Initiatives work with JUF’s partners on the Never before has the Jewish United Fund/Jewish ground in Israel— Federation of Metropolitan Chicago engaged so the Jewish Agency many teens, young adults and young families in for Israel, the Jewish life and community. American Jewish Joint Distribution In 2013, hundreds of local teens and college Committee and students made a difference in the lives of poor World ORT—to reach Jews, seniors and people with disabilities through out to Israelis living JUF-sponsored volunteer service projects. Nearly [ 4 ] ■ TOV MTV, monthly community service projects for teens; and ■ JUF/Federation’s inaugural Chicago Jewish Teen Leadership Committee, which brought together outstanding high school students from across the Chicago area for a year of leadership development and community engagement. This culminated in their planning the fi rst-ever teen engagement fair, during which they educated their 200 local high peers about the vast array of opportunities for school students are them in local Jewish life. engaged in rigorous JUF/Federation In Fall 2013, JUF/Federation will launch the leadership initiatives Midwest region’s inaugural cohort of the Diller for young people.