Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit is a nonsectarian human service agency that offers safety net, mental health, and older adult services, including emergency financial assistance when community resources are unavailable or insufficient. This Natan grant supports a pilot program to embed a JFS social worker in community synagogues. This social worker will bridge the gap of limited clergy (and lay leader) capacity to better support community members in need. This program will offer care coordination, resource connections, and crisis intervention for community members while also training clergy and community volunteers.

Met Council provides immediate assistance and helps to create pathways to self-sufficiency for more than 325,000 clients a year through direct social services, affordable housing, and America’s largest kosher food pantry system. Met Council’s Family Violence Services (FVS) program specializes in addressing domestic violence within the Jewish community (while serving all in need), raising awareness and providing essential services including case management, psychotherapy, and emergency food and financial assistance. Natan’s grant supports a new FVS pilot program designed to promote wellness and financial stability for survivors of family violence. This program will provide additional training to FVS social workers to better support client healing, empowerment and self-sufficiency; offer wellness and enrichment activities for clients and their children, including avocational and vocational classes as well as membership in local community centers; and generally offer more integrative support as part case management.

Organization for the Resolution of Agunot* (ORA) seeks to eliminate abuse from the Jewish divorce process. Natan’s grant supports the ORA Support Program, which provides women with critical emotional and practical support during their Jewish divorce process. ORA offers staff-facilitated support groups; peer support programs; expert-led workshops on financial literacy, emotional resilience, and the legalities of the divorce process; and community-building and advocacy initiatives.

PROPEL* is a Brooklyn-based organization that empowers women to become professionals in order to support their families. The goal of PROPEL is to make a dual-income household the norm and alleviate other forms of communal support. Natan’s grant supports the Cultural Entrepreneurship incubator, which empowers Jewish women to launch and operate culturally relevant, sustainable businesses while gaining financial independence. Designed for women from low-income backgrounds, this innovative program provides comprehensive support to turn entrepreneurial ideas into viable ventures while also challenging cultural norms about women’s roles in society and the family. Addressing this stigma and opportunity from multiple angles, PROPEL is bringing entrepreneurial programs and internship opportunities to Brooklyn Jewish high schools with high enrollment of Sephardi and Mizrahi students.

Sister to Sister* (Women’s Network for Single Parents) empowers divorced Jewish women through career development, a supportive network and community, and job placement. Responding to feedback from members, Sister to Sister is expanding its Employment Initiative to help women with a range of employment services for those who are unemployed, considering a career change, and (aspiring) business owners. Working with a range of culturally competent partner agencies, Sister to Sister will offer more coaching, training, and vocational resources so these single Jewish women can better support their families and inspire their communities.

The Ark enhances the health and well-being of low-income families and individuals across the Chicagoland Jewish community through a broad array of social services. Natan’s grant continues to support The Ark’s Child and Family Wellness Program, enabling it to expand its mental health services for children in partnership with Jewish day schools across the Chicago area, including many that have no other mental health professionals on staff. By offering support services to children, The Ark is able to engage families (many of whom may not otherwise reach out about needs) with a host of wraparound services for families, including psychotherapy, wellness programs, food security, and others.