Jewish Life Program

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Amount:
$80,000
Year:
2021
Field of Interest:
Program Name:
Jewish Life Program
Grant Type:
Reimagine Grants
Grant Website
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ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION

Founded in 1908, Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services’ (Vista Del Mar) mission is to provide a trauma-responsive continuum of services to empower children, youth and families in Southern California to lead

GRANT PURPOSE

To implement a hybrid virtual and in-person delivery model of its Jewish life program, which offers a safe and nurturing environment for children with autism and other special needs to engage in Jewish learning, become a bat/bat mitzvah, celebrate Shabbat and High Holiday services, and form a caring community of families. The program aims to increase accessibility, promote intergenerational engagement, expand program offerings, and connect more individuals on the autism spectrum and their families to Judaism.

Thanks to the generous support of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Vista Del Mar’s Jewish Life Program will not only continue to provide Jewish learning programs to children with autism and other special needs and their families but expand access to them in our community and beyond. We will do that by adding remote classes for at-distance and local students, growing our Every First Friday remote celebration of Shabbat, creating a remote High Holiday Service for people at a distance, and launching The Blessing Exchange, that provides an avenue of ongoing community service for our older students and seniors living in Senior Living facilities. By partnering with The Foundation, we will create a space where participants of all abilities have a place to lead, be honored, counted, and embraced as part of the whole.

Jackie Redner
Director of Spiritual Enrichment