Commitment to inclusion

As our community celebrates Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month in February, JUF’s Encompass is significantly expanding their commitment to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities while ensuring their inclusion in the Jewish community.

Encompass–which works with agency partners to meet the needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and enhance their participation in the Jewish community–recently launched the Jewish Community Fund for Adults with Disabilities to provide funding for Jewish adults with disabilities who cannot afford residential services and other supports. To date, nearly $6 million has been raised toward the initial fundraising goal of $10 million.

Recently, Encompass announced the dedication of more than $400,000 in strategic grants towards disabilities and inclusion, nearly a 110% increase from the prior year. The grants include disability set aside funding that can be used for any age group or type of disability and the capacity building funding that is specifically directed toward providers to expand residential service offerings for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Benefitting organizations include The Ark, JCC Chicago, JCFS Chicago, Libenu, Yachad, and nine preschools that are part of JUF’s Early Childhood Collaborative to support respite services, employment supports, social and recreational programming, early therapeutic interventions, and enhanced professional training.

Recipients of the capacity-building grants include JUF partner agencies–JCFS Chicago, Keshet, and Libenu–and will help them increase the size of residential programs and support the build out of new models. New models include less than 24/7 service support and residential service support for individuals who have pronounced medical and/or behavioral needs.

“In addition to these allocations, income from the Encompass endowment is now directed toward individuals who need and cannot afford residential services, a huge milestone for our Jewish community,” explained Jodi Newmark, Director of Encompass.

“Adults with disabilities, like their neurotypical peers, want to live as independently as possible and this funding provides that opportunity,” Newmark added. “However, the benefits go beyond the individual and, in most cases, also significantly enhance the lives of family member caregivers. Now, with this fund, valued members of our community will move off the wait list and into their own homes. Encompass relies heavily on our agency partners to identify eligible adults so that the process is as dignified as possible.”

Through Libenu–an organization that provides educational and respite services for individuals with disabilities–Encompass learned about a Chicago family with multiple children facing food insecurity.

“This family has a son with an intellectual developmental disability whose needs are fairly intense, and the family has been managing all of that at home,” Newmark said. He has been a participant in Libenu’s respite program and now, thanks to recent allocations, has moved into a group home operated by Libenu.

“Their lives should be as rich as they can be,” said Gita Berk, Advisory Board Chair of Encompass. “They should participate in community activities. They should be able to go to synagogue. They should have social activities. By providing these supports, we are giving them the highest quality of lives, which not only makes a difference to them, but also to their families and enriches the community as a whole.”

To learn more about JUF’s Encompass, visit juf.org/encompass.