Highlights of a year unlike another

If this year was unprecedented, so was Jewish Chicago’s generosity.

Fueled by the community’s generous support of the JUF Annual Campaign, the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Chicago rose to meet the intense challenges of a year unlike any other.

Together, we delivered wide-ranging COVID relief throughout the community, rushed support to the people of Israel in a time of crisis, battled a frightening surge in antisemitism – and still forged innovative ways to engage the next generations in Jewish life, community, and identity.

The strength of the JUF Annual Campaign makes everything we do possible. We are grateful to each and every individual donor and corporate partner. Their commitment is the cornerstone of JUF/Federation’s multi-faceted resource development efforts. The Annual Campaign is complemented by grants from foundations, the government, and United Way, plus distributions from Donor Advised Funds and Supporting Foundations. Generous bequests and endowment gifts further strengthen the foundation on which future generations will build.

All told, our community’s incredible collective generosity fueled allocations and expenses of $277,392,148 during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.

Highlights include: $32,999,258 through the Jewish Federation of Chicago to fund local human services and $24,586204 to fund Jewish education, continuity, identity-building, outreach and advocacy programs; $30, 469,747 through the Jewish United Fund devoted to help millions of Jews in Israel and 70 countries worldwide; $13,536,244 of COVID relief grants, and $119,503,722 allocated to charitable ventures worldwide in partnership with our 1,000+ Donor Advised Funds and Supporting Foundations.

With these funds, JUF provided humanitarian aid to 500,000 Chicagoans of all faiths and millions of Jews across the globe at an enormously challenging time.

We fought for Israel. And against antisemitism.

We created exciting Jewish experiences for children, teens and young families, strengthening their Jewish identity.

We provided young adults with multiple points of entry and opportunities for personal growth when they needed it most.

Together, we ensured that our community was cared for and emerged from the pandemic healthy and strong.

Jewish life in Chicago is thriving – and we can look ahead to the future with excitement and optimism.

Pam Friend Szokol Lonnie Nasatir
Chair President

2021 HIGHLIGHTS

During an intense and difficult year that tested our Jewish community’s commitment, creativity and resilience, Jewish Chicago rose to meet every challenge.

When COVID-19 transformed life as we knew it, creating human needs greater in scope than we had seen in our lifetime, JUF swiftly became a lifeline for tens of thousands of people.

When children were hungry, JUF fed them.

When families needed emergency cash for rent, JUF delivered extra funds.

When health care workers and caregivers required PPE to care for the sick and elderly, JUF supplied it.

When months of isolation and worry took a toll on people’s emotional health, JUF put more resources into mental health services.

When Jewish schools, camps and human service agencies needed safety upgrades to re-open, JUF funded those upgrades.

And when many vital Jewish institutions faced frightening revenue shortfalls, JUF sent them emergency operating support to keep the lights on.

All told, during the fiscal year and in the surrounding months, JUF delivered an additional $21.6 million, above and beyond annual support for emergency COVID-relief grants across the community in five critical areas:

• $6.7 million in emergency financial assistance to help 37,000 people pay for housing, food and other essentials;
• $2.6 million in increased support via food pantries and meal programs to help feed 45,000 people
• $4.4 million in health and safety upgrades allowing schools, camps and agencies to re-open and operate safely
• $2.2 million to expand mental health programs and other intensive social services;
• $5.7 million in technical assistance and emergency operating funds to help all types of Jewish institutions to fill the gap between revenue shortfalls and increased expenses.

This support-provided above and beyond JUF’s annual allocations-stabilized our community at a time of dire need and served as investment in our community’s future.

All the while, JUF and our family of partner agencies still met daily human needs and engaged people Jewishly.

The pandemic created special challenges in caring for seniors, and CJE SeniorLife sustained their clients’ physical and mental health, beginning with scrupulously safeguarding those living in its residential facilities. CJE also found creative ways to keep seniors emotionally and socially engaged, from streaming Shabbat services and virtual field trips to developing activity kits for homebound clients and checking in daily with Holocaust survivors.

JCFS Chicago expanded its emergency financial assistance and mental health services, incorporating telehealth options, and grew its programming for people with disabilities, adding virtual experiences to help participants maintain a sense of community and connection during the pandemic and beyond.

JCC Chicago kicked off Camp Chi’s Centennial celebration, capping a year in which they worked tirelessly to safely offer in-person Jewish summer camps and early childhood education.

Our community’s Jewish day schools similarly adapted seamlessly to every scenario as it unfolded, ensuring students received whatever support they needed to thrive academically, socially and emotionally – whether in remote, in-person or hybrid settings.

JUF Young Families offered many programs online and then in-person, including virtual jBaby support groups for new parents and PJ Library events and activity kits to celebrate holidays and Jewish values. JUF Teens took its service learning and leadership programming online and even brought teens together for pop-up virtual giving circles to provide COVID relief.

To engage more members of the next generations in meaningful Jewish experiences, JUF doubled our Base program from two Chicago locations to four. Serving as pluralistic hubs for Jewish life, each Base is anchored by rabbis-in-residence and their families, who open their doors to provide a welcoming space for young people to experience Judaism together. Chicago is now home to Silverstein Base in Lincoln Park and the new Base in Logan Square, which serve college students, plus Base West Loop and the new Doppelt Base in Andersonville, which serve young adults.

Even as we made these exciting investments in the Jewish future, JUF remained poised to mobilize in moments of crisis – which we were compelled to do again in May, when Hamas launched intensive rocket attacks against Israel.

As Israel endured thousands of terrorist missiles, JUF swiftly advanced $1 million to address humanitarian needs on the ground, including intensive assistance for traumatized children and families, people with disabilities, Holocaust survivors and new immigrants. We also sent an additional $125,000 in emergency grants for bombing victims and other urgent needs.

In the wake of the conflict with Hamas, a wave of anti-Jewish hate swept the globe, demonstrating that in today’s world, the boundaries between anti-Zionism and antisemitism have been erased. In the months since, as incidents of anti-Jewish hate continued to escalate, JUF doubled down on our efforts to galvanize our community – and to expose and fight antisemitism in all its forms.

JUF utilized our social media presence to fight antisemitism and promote Jewish pride-and helped to identify and shut down hate speech and discrimination against Jews in Facebook groups. JUF leaders took to the airwaves, speaking out against antisemitism on major media outlets across the metropolitan area and successfully calling out incidents of biased local coverage.

We engaged with elected officials in Congress and in the Illinois General Assembly, urging them to stand up for Israel and to stand against anti-Jewish hate, and hosted live broadcasts from Israel to ensure that interfaith civic and religious leaders were kept informed of the nuanced realities on the ground. We coordinated opposition to proposed anti-Israel statements in several religious and academic arenas and counseled Jewish employees at large, iconic businesses to help them deal with difficult conversations in the workplace. We equipped college, high school and middle school students with resources to advocate for Israel – and for themselves as American Jews-and hosted educational sessions to help synagogues, civic organizations, and community members to do the same.

Finally, JUF launched a high visibility, surround strategy antisemitism public awareness campaign. Targeted to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, the multi-channel #stopantisemitism campaign delivered positive, actionable messaging across the city – from expressway billboards and digital signboards to full-page ads, TV commercial spots and social media channels – urging people to come together and eliminate hate.

We look to the year ahead with a spirit of optimism and pride in our community’s resilience.

We are – truly – together for good.