overseas connections committee passport

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OF CLEVELANDJewish Federation

2 Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Your Passport to the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Overseas Connections Programs

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, founded in 1903, funds and supports a wide range of social service, educational and humanitarian activities that strengthen Jewish life in Cleveland, Israel and more than 70 countries worldwide.

The Jewish tradition teaches, “All Jews are responsible for one another.” As part of a global Jewish community, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland brings to life that responsibility through programs that provide for the needs of society’s most vulnerable—wherever they may live.

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Created in 1997, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Overseas Connections Committee (OCC) aims to involve volunteers in an international agenda to build and strengthen the worldwide Jewish community. The cutting-edge projects of the OCC are developed with national and international partners to create sustainable change and improve Jewish life.

This Passport takes you on a journey of our work overseas and is a guide to greater involvement in our international programs. Information about how you can get involved can be found on page 22.


PARENTS AND CHILDREN TOGETHER (PACT)

The Challenge: Without intensive support, Ethiopian-Israeli immigrant children—who come from a culture that differs from the Israeli population as a whole—are at risk of becoming a permanent underclass.

Today’s PACT program reaches 60% of the targeted population across the country.

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The Impact: In 1998 the Jewish Federation of Cleveland partnered to create the early childhood intervention program, PACT. Operating in four cities in Israel’s southern region, this Overseas Connections project has reached more than 11,000 Ethiopian-Israelis. Together with 14 Federations, today’s PACT program reaches 60% of the targeted population across the country.

The Success: Since its inception, PACT has reduced the kindergarten repeat rate among Ethiopian-Israeli children from 48% to 2%—the national average. Recently, the PACT model was brought to the United States, and replicated in one of the poorest municipalities of Baltimore, Maryland.


HAVAT HASHOMER ANDIDF EDUCATION CORPS PROJECTS

The Challenge: A rising number of Israeli youth are considered at-risk and unqualified for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Without IDF service, their ability to succeed in Israeli society is greatly diminished.

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The Impact: Beginning in 1999 the Overseas Connections Committee has supported the IDF’s efforts to recruit disadvantaged youth and/or provide them with extra training, remedial education and ongoing assistance at the Havat HaShomer army base for young men. More recently, funding has been added for the HAGAM program for at-risk female soldiers. The MAKAM unit of the IDF Education Corps follows them upon graduation and assures continuity and assistance throughout their army service.

The Success: Each year, approximately 90% of the 1,500 Havat HaShomer recruits and 80% of the 1,800 HAGAM recruits complete the necessary training to go on to regular army service. These recruits are supported by funding and the resources of the Cleveland Jewish community.


ISRAEL HEALTH ADVANCEMENT FOR WOMEN (ISHA)

The Challenge: A portion of Israeli women from all backgrounds (religious affiliations and ethnicities) are at risk, both physically and emotionally, because they do not access health care for themselves at the same rate as Israeli men, or women in other Western countries.

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The Impact: In just ten years, 300,000 Israeli secular, religious, Arab and Haredi women have benefitted from the women’s health-related programs of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s ISHA project, a “train the trainer” approach to health care promotion for women.

The Success: As a result of this initiative, the participants themselves have become key advocates, who along with the doctors, nurses and volunteers, have created a positive change in both the attitudes towards women’s health and in the lives of the women of Israel.


CLEVELAND-BEIT SHEAN/ VALLEY OF SPRINGS PROJECTS

Cleveland has many points of contact with our sister city of Beit Shean and the Valley of Springs region.

• Partnership 2000 (P2K)• Bridge to the Future Initiative• Youth Futures Initiative• Jordan/Cross-Border Initiative

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PARTNERSHIP 2000 (P2K)

The Challenge: Peripheral communities in Israel were failing and identity with Israel was diminishing among some of Jewish Cleveland’s younger generations. P2K was developed to enhance the sense of Jewish identity within each community.

On average, more than 500 Clevelanders visit the Beit Shean region each year, and hundreds more consider the region their Israeli home-away-from-home.

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IPThe Impact: Since 1995, we have helped improve the quality of people’s lives in Beit Shean and both communities have established deep and meaningful personal connections.

• Engliyada has enabled many Cleveland volunteers to experience Israeli life, while helping residents of Beit Shean enhance their English-speaking skills.

• Ambassadors for Unity has brought together more than 400 teens—and their families—for an in-depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing each group of students.

• School Twinning programs have connected hundreds of Cleveland and Beit Shean students via written correspondence, videoconferences and 8th grade Israel trips.

• Community Builders has opened lines of communication between scores of Clevelanders who have trained their Beit Shean counterparts, enabling them to start community-advancement programs and organizations in Beit Shean.

The Success: Israeli and Cleveland youth have developed a stronger Jewish identity and connection to their peers, with relationships lasting far beyond the exchange experience. The Community Builders program continues to generate successful programs in Beit Shean, including the Shorashim theater, where Ethiopian women tell their personal stories of migration to Israel and Ezrat Nashim, a women’s support group.


BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE (BTF) INITIATIVE

The Challenge: Israel’s economic and geographic peripheries include vulnerable communities with the potential to become thriving centers where people can live, work and raise their families.

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The Impact: Bridge to the Future (BTF), an Israeli organization that strives to spark communities to make positive systemic change, is currently working with the Beit Shean community. With support from the Overseas Connections Committee, BTF has motivated hundreds of residents to work cooperatively with their local governments to transform their community and to create positive change for themselves.

The Success: New activities in Beit Shean fostered through BTF include:• Parents now run night patrols making their neighborhoods

safer.• A new women’s support center and neighborhood senior

center have opened.• Local neighborhood committees, affecting thousands of

residents, have been revitalized and are now self-managing.• Local council departments are

now cooperating effectively providing better informal education programs.

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YOUTH FUTURES INITIATIVE

The Challenge: Hundreds of at-risk youth living in the Beit Shean region cannot envision a future for themselves. They do not graduate high school and continue to decline within Israeli society.

The Impact: The Youth Futures program, supported through P2K, provides skilled professional mentors to approximately 200 children (ages 8 to 13) each year. The mentors supply weekly, intensive, individualized intervention to help the students and their families succeed.

The Success: Based on a national study, the Youth Futures program significantly impacted participants’ potential to complete high school, and 97% of students enrolled in the program perceived their mentors as positive role models.

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JORDAN/CROSS-BORDER INITIATIVE

The Challenge: Culture and politics present many obstacles to the peaceful good-neighborliness between Israelis and Jordanians. Concurrently, controlling mice in farm fields in the region has been a problem on both sides of the border.

The Impact: Israeli agricultural specialists began using barn owls as an effective and environmentally-safe solution to control vermin and preserve valuable crops. Meanwhile, across the Jordan, the Jordanian farmers had an intrinsic and culturally-

based aversion to owls. With the encouragement of the Jewish Federation’s Overseas Connections Committee lay leadership, the Israelis shared their valuable and economical solution with their Jordanian neighbors.

The Success: The Barn Owl program has not only helped control vermin in the region but has been adopted by US AID, which now has more than 100 Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian farmers participating. Farmers have stopped using chemicals and other pesticides, and today use only the bio-friendly barn owl.

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CONNECTING CLEVELAND’S YOUNG ADULTS TO ISRAEL

The Challenge: How does a community simultaneously strengthen Jewish identity and connection to Israel among its Jewish young adults?

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The Impact: Through short, mid and long-term programs, young adults gain varied and meaningful experiences in Israel. An on-site coordinator is dedicated to assisting them with choosing the right program from 10-day Birthright trips and 7-week summer internships to longer term Masa Israel Journey gap year, college study abroad and post-college programs.

The Success: According to recent studies, young adults who take part in immersive programs demonstrate a greater commitment to their Jewish identity, to Israel and to becoming leaders within the community. A recent Masa alumni survey showed:• 97% would visit Israel again• 86% now attend local Jewish/Israeli events• 82% advocate for Israel• 80% volunteer with Jewish organizations


ST. PETERSBURG PARTNERSHIP

The Challenge: After generations of Communist rule, Jews in the former Soviet Union were at risk of losing their heritage and cultural identity and were without strong community support services.

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The Impact: Through the joint efforts of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, the Jewish Federation of West Palm Beach, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), approximately 40,000 of the 100,000 Jews in St. Petersburg, Russia have been re-engaged in Jewish life.

The Success: A revitalized Jewish community now grows and thrives. • 700 children of Jewish heritage participate each year in summer

camps fostering Jewish identity, while hundreds of young adults participate in Birthright and Masa.

• 2,000 children and young adults in eight peripheral cities take part in programs enhancing their Jewish identity throughout the year.

• 20,000 elderly residents in the region receive homecare, social support and other life-essential services including food packages and meals in communal dining rooms.

• 800 Jewish children and at-risk families are provided with support services such as home healthcare and free or subsidized medications.


Now that you’ve taken our journey, get ready to embark on your own! Contact us for more information about these exciting opportunities and our vital work overseas. Call us at 216.593.2900 or e-mail [email protected].

HOW CAN I HELP OR GET INVOLVED?

•Make a donation to the Jewish Federation of Cleveland by visiting www.jewishcleveland.org.

• Become involved! Join a committee or contact us to learn more. • Planning a trip to Israel or Russia? Visit one of our projects to see

the impact for yourself.• Be a host for our visiting partners from abroad. Invite them for a

Shabbat meal or a weekend visit.• Encourage your children (ages 15-30) to participate on meaningful

Israel programs such as Ambassadors for Unity, Birthright, gap year, study abroad or post-college programs.

www.jewishcleveland.org

Michael Siegal, Board ChairStephen H. Hoffman, President

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NOTES


OF CLEVELANDJewish Federation

Overseas Connections Committee

Jewish Federation of ClevelandMandel Building

25701 Science Park DriveCleveland, OH 44122

[email protected]

www.jewishcleveland.org

June 2012 · 5963

overseas connections committee passport

Documents

jewish life

jewish tradition

worldwide jewish community

global jewish community

israeli population

todays pact program

idf service

overseas connections