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.
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.
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.
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.
Founded in 2015, Act.IL is a joint venture of the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) of Herzliya and the Israeli-American Council (IAC). It works to create an online community that will promote a positive public opinion towards the state of Israel. Through social media platforms, it works to counter the growing trend of the boycott movement and the delegitimization of the state of Israel.
The Los Angeles Media Room mobilizes, trains, empowers, and engages hundreds of teens and young adults in the LA Jewish community to effectively advocate for Israel across social media platforms.
Founded in 1981, The Aleph Institute provides social services to Jewish families in crisis; addresses the pressing religious, education, humanitarian, and advocacy needs of Jewish individuals in institutional environments; and implements solutions to significant issues related to the criminal justice system.
Project Tikvah provides intervention, support services, and alternative sentencing opportunities to hundreds of Jewish youth and young adults ages 16-32 who are at risk of being incarcerated, so that they achieve effective rehabilitation for drug abuse and health care for mental health conditions.
Founded in 1906, AJC seeks to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel, and advance democratic values in the United States and around the world.
AJC Los Angeles' interfaith and intergroup work advances understanding of other faiths and ethnicities in America and around the world. Through coalition building, education, and outreach initiatives, it fosters and maintains close relationships and partnerships with Latino communities of Southern California.
Founded in 1947, American Jewish University serves as a resource for individuals at every stage of life through its academic programs to prepare undergraduate, graduate, and rabbinical students for leadership roles in the Jewish community; continuing education opportunities for adults; cultural programs; and camping experiences for youth.
The Institute for Jewish Creativity integrates Jewish artists into the larger Jewish communal context, provides attractive cultural programming appealing to Jews of all ages, works to strengthen Jewish identities, and encourages artistic contributions that help to create an authentic, thriving Jewish culture.
Founded in 1987, Beit T'Shuvah is a faith-based recovery and rehabilitation program with the mission to restore lost souls and return them to themselves, their families, and their communities.
The Elaine Breslow Institute for Jewish Clergy and Educators provides tools to help hundreds of clergy and Jewish educators identify and support those who are suffering or are on the verge of suffering from addiction.
Founded in 1987, Beit T'Shuvah is a faith-based recovery and rehabilitation program with the mission to restore lost souls and return them to themselves, their families, and their communities.
Creative Matters enables interns in the recovery program to participate in a year-long vocational training program, which places them in upwardly mobile careers in areas such as graphic and web design, online advertising, and social media marketing.
Established in 1974, Bet Tzedek provides free legal assistance to thousands of needy residents throughout Los Angeles. Its approach combines direct legal representation with outreach, education, and legislative advocacy. Its services include elder law, housing, employment rights, government benefits, bankruptcy, community outreach and Holocaust survivor services.
For the Sake of our Elders: A Campaign to Fight Elder Abuse in the Jewish Community addresses the prevalence of elder abuse in the LA community by focusing on empowering older adults within the Jewish community to identify and speak out on the issue, and by training Jewish clergy and educators on legal responsibilities and tactics for ending elder abuse.
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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 -
SVARA Los AngelesJewish Identity -
Trybal Gatherings LANext Gen Engagement -
The Bradley Sonnenberg Wellness InitiativeNext Gen Engagement -
30 Years AfterThe Iranian-Jewish Community at a CrossroadsNext Gen Engagement -
Academy for Jewish ReligionInterreligious Studies ProgramsReligious Life -
Act.ILThe Los Angeles Media RoomIsrael Advocacy -
Aleph InstituteProject TikvahVulnerable Populations -
American Jewish CommitteeInterfaith WorkReligious Life -
American Jewish UniversityInstitute for Jewish CreativityArts & Culture -
Beit T'ShuvahElaine Breslow Institute for Jewish Clergy and EducatorsVulnerable Populations -
Beit T'ShuvahCreative MattersVulnerable Populations -
Bet TzedekFor the Sake of our Elders: A Campaign to Fight Elder AbuseSeniors