Established in 2003 by Rabbi Benay Lappe, SVARA’s mission is to teach Talmud through a radical lens to develop compassionate, critical thinking, and courageous humans who work to create a more just, peaceful, and healthy world. Through short- and long-term Talmud learning programs, SVARA teaches Talmud using the queer experience, so that people who have traditionally experienced Judaism as an outsider strengthen their connection to Judaism and gain the necessary text skills and expertise to enrich and define the evolving Jewish tradition. Each year through its programs primarily in Chicago, Philadelphia and the Bay Area, it reaches 2,000 individuals.
To launch the first queer-focused Talmud learning program in Los Angeles for the queer community and allies. SVARA’s immersive learning experiences will strengthen and empower the next generation of Jewish leaders and scholars.
Founded in 2016, Trybal Gatherings contributes to a foundation for a strong Jewish future by reimagining immersive experiences for Jewish young adults hosted at summer camps and beyond. Trybal Gatherings serves as a bridge for Birthright Israel alumni, camp alumni, and Jewish millennials searching for connection to engage in Jewish community as adults. Trybal Gatherings’ core program, Jewish Camp for Adults, is an overnight, weekend experience that provides a socially Jewish environment for young adults to have fun, connect with new people, and plug into a dynamic Jewish community during a purposeful Shabbat retreat. Its programming touches approximately 685 young people nationally each year.
To provide immersive overnight Jewish camp experiences in Los Angeles for Jews in their 20s and 30s, reaching disconnected young adults and building a pipeline to ongoing Jewish communal involvement.
Established in 1951, USC Hillel provides USC’s Jewish undergraduate and graduate students with a safe and secure place to engage in Jewish life. It aims to enrich the lives of its students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world. USC Hillel has six central programs: Jewish Ritual and Spirituality, Israel Advocacy and Engagement, Tzedek (Justice), Social Engagement, Leadership Development, and Health and Wellness. It serves approximately 1,800 students through its programs each year.
To support one of the first Hillels in the country to launch a health and wellness program that will provide Jewish college students with mental health services, wellness workshops, and individualized counseling and support. The program will decrease mental health crises among Jewish students and increase the number of unaffiliated Jewish students who come to Hillel as a result.
Established in 1958, the mission of Community Legal Aid SoCal is to help fight injustice by providing compassionate, high-quality legal aid and advocating for stronger communities. Its legal staff includes more than 100 attorneys and paralegals who provide a broad range of free civil legal aid to nearly 50,000 residents of Los Angeles and Orange Counties every year. Nearly all of its clients are low-income residents, victims of crime (including domestic violence), and/or senior citizens.
To provide supportive services, protective orders, and civil and religious divorce assistance to Jewish survivors of abuse, helping survivors and their families leave abusive situations.
Established in 2011, JGSI is the only national Jewish organization solely focused on graduate students and alumni. Its mission is to support Jewish life on graduate school campuses and engage Jewish graduate students, alumni, and young professionals with their heritage and the broader Jewish community. A national organization with its base of operations in Los Angeles, JGSI reaches 3,600 students per semester at more than 55 active campuses nationwide.
To empower female Jewish graduate students and young professionals by building an innovative leadership program, exclusively by women and for women, that includes mentorship, leadership training, education, and community service.
Established in 2013, RespectAbility works to fight stigmas and advance opportunities for people with disabilities. It provides professional advising, trainings, toolkits, webinars, and media campaigns to educate the community on the capabilities and strengths of people with disabilities. More specifically, it collaborates closely with the entertainment industry, policymakers, nonprofits, employers, and faith-based communities to ensure that all sectors are inclusive and knowledgeable about this issue.
To mentor and empower college-educated Jewish individuals with disabilities to serve in leadership positions at Jewish organizations, and train Jewish organizations on inclusive organizational practices, ensuring that all Jews’ voices are represented and heard in the Los Angeles Jewish nonprofit community.
Established in 2016, with formal program operations launched in 2018, SPLA supports people who are living in their vehicles on their journey out of homelessness by providing them with a safe place to park at night, and connecting them with supportive services. Nine months into its first year of operation, SPLA is operating five “Safe Parking Lots” in LA County, open from 7 PM – 7 AM, including one at IKAR. These lots serve 60 vehicles and 75 people each night. The population served includes people who are underemployed or recently unemployed, 80% of whom are actively seeking employment or are working part-time, and 98% of whom are seeking permanent housing.
To engage synagogues and their members in providing safe parking options and supportive services for individuals living in their vehicles, deepening the importance of social justice work within the Jewish community while combating homelessness in Los Angeles.
Founded in 1972, 1736 Family Crisis Center (1736 FCC) provides emergency rehabilitative services to extremely vulnerable individuals, youth, families, and veterans facing life-threatening circumstances. 1736 FCC helps children, women, men, and families through crisis circumstances, including domestic violence, human trafficking, homelessness, abuse, neglect, substance use, poverty, and post-traumatic stress disorder. It works to improve their prospects for long-term housing, safety, survival, financial stability, and success. The agency addresses the needs of at-risk individuals through the following programs: 1) Human Trafficking; 2) Rapid Re-Housing for Abuse Survivors; 3) Legal Services; 4) Employment; and 5) Community Service Centers that offer mental health therapy, case management, legal and other services. 1736 FCC provides trauma-informed services to more than 6,000 individuals annually.
The Human Trafficking Program connects survivors of sex trafficking to services through its 24-hour hotline and helps those survivors achieve long-term safety, housing and self-sufficiency through outreach, safe shelter, and wraparound supportive services.
Founded in 1972, 1736 Family Crisis Center provides emergency, critical care, and rehabilitative services for extremely vulnerable, often injured children, families and individuals who are facing or fleeing life-threatening circumstances. It promotes long-term safety and self-sufficiency through a continuum of residential and outpatient services tailored to address individual needs.
The Domestic Violence Program provides training and support for therapists who will treat survivors and to support a Domestic Assault Response Team (DART) advocate who will help victims of domestic violence leave the batterer.
Founded in 2007, 1in6 helps men who have had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences in childhood live healthier, happier lives. It helps to move these men from isolation and private anguish into active recovery by providing accurate and compassionate information, inspiration, and support. 1in6 offers a website for men to safely and anonymously educate themselves, training resources for service providers, and community awareness and engagement programming.
The Service Provider Training program provides training and technical assistance to service providers in the Los Angeles area, enhancing the quality and accessibility of services for male survivors.
Founded in 2007 by a group of Iranian Jewish young professionals 30 years after the Islamic Revolution, 30 Years After works to educate the Iranian American Jewish community on important political issues and promote participation and leadership in American political, civic, and Jewish life.
The Iranian-Jewish Community at Crossroads program increases Iranian-American Jews' participation in American civic and political affairs and inspires a commitment to Israel, social justice, and political action through educational events, student mentoring, and voter registration drives.
30 Years After is one of the only organizations focused on creating an engaged pipeline of young Iranian-American Jewish leaders in Los Angeles, through its targeted events, programming and leadership fellowships. 30 Years After has continued to build and engage the community, moving its fellowship online and hosting Zoom social gatherings and webinars.
To mitigate the economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and to help them achieve long-term organizational sustainability.
Founded in 2003, A Better LA (ABLA) aims to transform LA’s troubled communities into safe places and to provide other inner-cities with a research-based model for transformation. ABLA blends two approaches; hiring outreach workers to provide direct services, while also funding and providing guidance to these outreach workers' grassroots organizations.
The West Athens-Westmont Demonstration Project trains community outreach workers, provides supportive services, and engages stakeholders in a local taskforce.
A New Way of Life Reentry Project provides women exiting prison (primarily women of color) with a safe, welcoming and structured place to stay, education and employment opportunities, case management, and legal services as they re-enter the community.
Founded in 1991, A Window Between Worlds (AWBW) is dedicated to using art as a healing tool to empower and transform individuals and communities impacted by violence and trauma. Its art programs allow individuals to express and release feelings, process traumatic experiences, enable post-traumatic growth, and increase resiliency. In addition to its process work, AWBW provides comprehensive leadership training to shelter staff and volunteers and participates in community engagement to raise awareness.
Adult Windows provides therapeutic art intervention workshops for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and to provide training and support for new program leaders.
Founded in 2001, the Academy for Jewish Religion is a transdenominational, pluralistic institution dedicated to the training of rabbis, cantors, chaplains, and other Jewish communal leaders who are uniquely qualified to meet the needs of the 21st century American Jewish community.
The Interreligious Studies Programs prepares the next generation of Jewish clergy to promote trust, dialogue, and collaboration across religious boundaries.
-
SVARA Los AngelesJewish Identity
-
Trybal Gatherings LANext Gen Engagement
-
The Bradley Sonnenberg Wellness InitiativeNext Gen Engagement
-
Safe and Healthy Jewish Families ProjectVulnerable Populations
-
Jewish Executive Women’s LeadershipNext Gen Engagement
-
Project Moses: LA Jewish Leaders with Disabilities ProgramSpecial Needs
-
Jewish Community Safe LotsVulnerable Populations
-
1736 Family Crisis CenterHuman Trafficking ProgramHuman Trafficking
-
1736 Family Crisis CenterDomestic Violence ProgramDomestic & Sexual Violence Prevention and Support
-
1in6Service Provider TrainingDomestic & Sexual Violence Prevention and Support
-
30 Years AfterThe Iranian-Jewish Community at a CrossroadsNext Gen Engagement
-
30 Years AfterNext Gen Engagement
-
A Better LAWest Athens-Westmont Demonstration ProjectGang Prevention & Intervention
-
A New Way of Life Reentry ProjectGeneral Operating SupportVulnerable Populations
-
A Window Between WorldsAdult WindowsDomestic & Sexual Violence Prevention and Support
-
Academy for Jewish ReligionInterreligious Studies ProgramsReligious Life