BALTIMORE, July 29, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States, announced today that it will donate $700,000 to support many of its active grantees that have provided crucial social services to those affected by rocket attacks on cities in Israel. After consulting with nonprofits in Israel as well as partner organizations, the Weinberg Foundation will reimburse emergency-related costs including daily relocation of vulnerable populations as well as funding for counseling and other support services to older adults, people with disabilities, and youth-at-risk.
Through the international and national organized Jewish community, the Weinberg Foundation will provide the following grants:
1. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) - To provide individuals with mental illness with e-tablets that will allow them to connect virtually with a nationwide "Safety Network". Grant amount: $50,000
2. JDC-TEVET – To provide one day respite from the threat or occurrence of rocket fire for approximately 200 people who provide TEVET employment services throughout southern Israel. Grant amount: $20,000
3. JDC-TEVET – To provide workshops for small business owners who have lost income due to the threat or occurrence of rocket attacks. Grant amount: $15,000
4. The Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore – To support services for individuals and families in Baltimore's sister city of Ashkelon. Grant amount: $50,000
5. The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) - To support the JAFI Victims of Terror Fund. Grant amount: $50,000
Several additional grants will be administered through active grantee organizations of the Weinberg Foundation, including:
6. AKIM – To relocate youth and adults with severe intellectual disabilities to safer locations. Grant amount: $40,000
7. ALUT – To provide home visits to families of children with autism who are regressing because their normal routine is disrupted by rocket attacks. Grant amount: $25,000
8. Amit – To relocate thousands of children from southern Israel to school buildings in the north for indoor camp. Grant amount: $50,000
9. Ashdod Foundation – To provide mobile protected shelters in neighborhoods where there is no shelter, and where apartments don't have a protected room, as well as respite for children and families. Grant amount: $50,000
10. Association for Children at Risk – To support an educational campaign for parents of children with autism and epilepsy on how to help these children cope with rocket attacks. Grant amount: $30,000
11. Beit HaGalgalim - To complete construction of a basement emergency shelter serving people with physical disabilities. Grant amount: $50,000
12. Fair Chance for Children - To provide supportive services including entertainment for children in group homes who have been unable to return home for the summer due to family hardship caused by the threat or occurrence of rocket attacks. Grant amount: $30,000
13. Gvanim in Ashkelon – To provide respite for this organization's staff and clients who are being treated for mental illness. Grant amount: $15,000
14. Hineni Association – To support emergency operations of this organization that provides shelters, in-home support, and informational services for Ethiopian-immigrant families. Grant amount: $10,000
15. MiDor-LeDor Association – To support emergency operations of this organization that staffs nine shelters and makes house calls for low-income older-adults and disabled individuals. Grant amount: $15,000
16. Milbat – To purchase hundreds of "convenience kits" - which this organization developed - that provide a portable hygiene solution for individuals with disabilities and older adults who must remain in shelters for long periods of time. Grant amount: $40,000
17. Natal – To support the hiring of hundreds of additional therapists who provide psychological treatment after rocket attacks throughout southern Israel. Grant amount: $50,000
18. Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council – To support a respite workshop for 200 staff members who treat children with emotional trauma. Grant amount: $40,000
19. STRIVE Beer Sheva – To provide modest, one-time, emergency stipends for families who receive workforce development services at STRIVE and who have lost income as they have been forced to stay at home with their children. Grant amount: $10,000
20. Tor BaMidbar Association – To support emergency operations of this organization that makes house calls to the homes of older adults and children with special needs and provides counseling to Bedouin communities who have suffered casualties as a result of rocket attacks. Grant amount: $10,000
21. Yerucham Foundation – To provide portable cement shelters placed next to apartments and other buildings without underground shelters. Grant amount: $50,000
In just the past three years, the Foundation - as part of its regular grantmaking process - has approved nearly $40 million in funding for direct service providers in Israel. The Weinberg Foundation has a history of supporting Israel in times of crisis as well, most recently with $500,000 in emergency grants to nonprofits in Israel during and immediately after the 2012 missile attacks from Gaza, as well as a $5 million grant to provide humanitarian and social services in the North of Israel during the 2006 conflict with Lebanon.
Weinberg Foundation President and CEO Rachel Garbow Monroe commented, "The Weinberg Foundation has always given emergency grants to current Weinberg grantees that are working directly with the populations the Foundation focuses on and who have the greatest difficulty getting to shelter in time: the elderly and the disabled." Monroe added, "We prefer to make emergency grants to current grantees because we have deep knowledge of their programs and want to stand by those organizations that are moving vulnerable populations to other parts of the country, or offering brief psychological interventions, or providing respite for overworked staff. The Weinberg Foundation is proud to continue its tradition of emergency response worldwide and especially in support of the Jewish community in Israel."
All Weinberg Foundation funding to Israel will reimburse relief efforts. No money will be used for military or political purposes of any kind.
About The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the United States, provides approximately $100 million in annual grants to nonprofits that provide direct services to low-income and vulnerable individuals and families, primarily in the U.S. and Israel. Grants are focused on meeting basic needs and enhancing an individual's ability to meet those needs with emphasis on older adults, the Jewish community, and our hometown communities of Maryland, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and Hawaii. The trustees, some of whom also serve as executive officers of the Foundation, are Donn Weinberg, Barry I. Schloss, Robert T. Kelly, Jr., Alvin Awaya, and Chair Ellen M. Heller. Rachel Garbow Monroe serves as the Weinberg Foundation's President and CEO. For more information please go to www.hjweinbergfoundation.org .
Media Contact: Craig Demchak 443-738-1159
