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 supports 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 those with no other mental health professionals on staff.

Footsteps, past Natan grantee, supports and affirms individuals and families who have left, or are contemplating leaving, insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities through a slew of wrap-around services. Natan’s grant, which expands on the results of the Housing Task Force pilot we funded last year, is for the new Housing Navigator initiative. This program helps those leaving the ultra-Orthodox community find and maintain housing that suits their needs and financial capacity. Participants can also access a Housing Fund that offers one-time crisis payments and multi-month rental assistance for a fixed period of time.

The Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford Comprehensive Community Supports (CCS) program, which was piloted last year with Natan support, provides a full scope of services for low-to-moderate income clients to address the root causes of the challenges they face. This unique model combines individual case management and wraparound services with a skilled volunteer corps who provide one-on-one services.

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 will support the pilot of a Hoarding Task Force that will provide wraparound services for clients that assess the safety and integrity of homes, provides financial assistance if intervention is needed, and addresses mental health challenges associated with hoarding disorders. This grant will help train over 40 staff to better serve clients with hoarding disorders.

Jewish Family Service of San Diego*, which served over 892,000 meals in 2022 through its various food security programs, is expanding its services to San Diego area university students. Operating out of area Hillels, a JFSSD social worker will provide wraparound case management services to Jewish students experiencing economic hardships, emotional challenges, and other issues. In addition to 1-on-1 support, this social worker will also provide weekly wellness workshops on alternating Hillel of San Diego campuses.

Jewish Free Loan Chicago launched in October 2022 with Natan’s support, helps individuals achieve economic stability and empowerment, reduces poverty, and decreases financial stress through zero-interest loans. JFLC distributes loans averaging $1,000–$6,000 for emergency needs (rent, utilities, food), personal needs (cars, home expenses, computers) and healthcare needs (medical, mental, dental), among other critical needs. JFLC is unique to the community, and has a unique model of including loan recipients as part of the decision making process.

Met Council provides immediate assistance and helps to create pathways to self-sufficiency for more than 315,000 clients a year through direct social services, affordable housing, and America’s largest kosher food pantry system. Natan’s grant supports its recently-launched, cutting-edge Digital Pantry, an online ordering platform that brings dignity and efficiency to emergency food distribution. The rollout of the Digital Pantry includes support services and iterating accessibility for diverse populations using this app as well as modeling how this can be scaled and replicated across the country.

Metro Food Rescue works in close collaboration with food resource partners (farms, grocers, vendors, etc.) to repurpose fresh foods that would otherwise be headed for the landfill and quickly delivers that food to pantries and kitchens that feed thousands of Southeast Michigan families in need. MFR rescues and redistributes approximately 100,000 pounds of fresh foods each week that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to a network of more than 55 area partners that quickly get those items to families in need. In particular, Metro Food Rescue partners with many kosher pantries and organizations in the region and also leads educational programs in local synagogues and Jewish day schools.