Jewish Family & Career Services Receives $500,000 Matching Grant from The Zalik Foundation to Address Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing
One of the most troubling side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a serious global mental health crisis. It is especially tragic to see that children and adolescents are the most vulnerable. Depression and self-harm are rising among teens and suicide has now become the second-leading cause of death among American adolescents ages 10 to 14 years old. We have seen alarming amounts of anxiety and depression among teens right here in Atlanta.
Now, a generous $500,000 matching grant from The Zalik Foundation will help address this urgent problem in Atlanta. The $500,000 matching grant, created in collaboration with Jewish Federations of North America’s national BeWell initiative, will fund a wide range of support services to Jewish teens in the community facing mental health and wellbeing challenges.
The funds, secured through the Atlanta Jewish Foundation’s Funders Collaborative, will be used by Jewish Family & Career Services to increase programs that support Jewish youth and those that care for them in the community facing mental health and wellbeing challenges. This funding will provide for the hiring of two professionals to build resiliency and support cross-community partnerships, to connect the community to services while decreasing barriers to services and increase skills and capacity to better respond to community needs.
The Zalik Foundation grant is rooted in work that the Atlanta Jewish Foundation conducted back in 2020. In partnership with Jewish Federations of North America, the Foundation helped convene a group of local funders who identified teen mental health as a community priority and then set about to address it.
“We are grateful to Helen and David Zalik for this generous donation and the Atlanta Jewish Foundation for focusing on this critical need that will help to address this alarming wave of mental health challenges by young people and those that care for them in the Atlanta region,” said Terri Bonoff, CEO of Jewish Family & Career Services. “Our teens are our future, and it is imperative that we do all we can to help those who are dealing with mental instability.”
Atlanta Jewish Foundation and Jewish community partners are actively raising funds to match the Zalik Foundation’s $500,000 investment. “The Be Well initiative is a unique, donor-driven effort that is committed to improving teen and youth mental health and wellbeing. It couldn’t come at a more relevant moment,” said Jori Mendel, Chief Foundation Officer. “I encourage Atlanta philanthropists and all who are concerned about mental health to contact me at jmendel@jewishatlanta.org to learn how you can amplify the impact of the Zalik Foundation’s grant.
Debbie Kuniansky recently spoke to the Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy Board on why she chose to endow her annual gift to Federation and how others can accomplish the same. Debbie has been a valued Atlanta Jewish community leader for many years and is currently a Member of Federation’s Board of Trustees. Unsurprisingly, she is passionate about taking care of the Atlanta Jewish community. “I appreciate what I have here in Atlanta because I didn’t always have it,” she says.
Debbie grew up in Lakeland, Florida, where there wasn’t a significant Jewish presence. “We didn’t have BBYO or a JCC; there was no Jewish elder-care home…we had one small synagogue with a part-time Rabbi,” she says. Debbie moved to Atlanta right out of college, and immediately joined a synagogue. When her children were young, she started volunteering for their preschool at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. The more time she spent in the Atlanta Jewish community, the more she wanted to help sustain it.
One way that women can give to Federation is through The Lion of Judah Endowment (LOJE). This is a charitable gift of at least $5,400 established under the woman’s name. This endowment provides ongoing support to Federation and the many organizations we support.
Endowing her Lion was very important to Debbie, but she wasn’t sure how to make it happen. “I want to be able to help take care of my community even after I’m not here,” she says. “I want to make sure my kids and their kids have this vibrant Jewish community.”
Debbie’s husband, Doug, suggested she make the endowment through a life insurance policy. Each year, they make regular payments toward the policy (which are tax deductible). Someday, the payout on that policy will be donated directly to charities that mean the most to Debbie and Doug.
“I love that our community plans for the future,” she says. “People who came before me made plans and commitments, and my family and I benefitted from them.”
When she thinks of the people who came before her, she thinks of a great Jewish legacy of leaders and community builders who inspired her. Now, Debbie feels like she’s part of that group constantly striving to make things better—not maintaining the status quo.
To learn more about making endowments, the Lion of Judah Endowment, and more, Rachel Rosner.
Being a teenager is hard. Hormones, increasing responsibilities, and long school days can make teens feel overwhelmed and cause them to disengage with their community. Federation supports many programs for young people in Atlanta (and abroad!) to get involved in Jewish life, and hopefully help them find community and a sense of purpose.
The Jewish Foundation of Atlanta is launching the Young Philanthropy Fellows, which aims to teach teenagers about philanthropy through firsthand experience. The inaugural cohort will open their own Young Philanthropist Funds and learn about grantmaking. This group will inform each other about organizations and issues they care about, make size visits to local nonprofits, and engage in round-table discussions with professionals. They will engage in discussions about power and privilege and learn how to mitigate the occasional unintended consequences of charitable giving. Most importantly, they’ll learn how even young people can make a big difference. Applications for the Young Philanthropy Fellows are due September 19.
Jumpspark offer resources for connection and growth to teenagers across Atlanta. They aim to empower and educate Jews from every part of our city, and to bring them together to learn and collaborate. Their initiatives include the Strong Women Fellowship, Gap Year Israel Scholarship, the Root One Experience (a summer travel program to Israel) and Navigating Parenthood (a series of workshops for the parents of teenagers to help them better understand the struggles their kids face).
Internationally, Federation supports the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s Active Jewish Teens (AJT) initiative. This is a Jewish-identity building platform for 12-17-year-olds who live in the former Soviet Union. This program brings young Jewish people together and aims to give them a sense of community. They host a range of social, cultural, and leadership building activities, as well as holiday and Shabbat celebrations. With 63 active locations, including four in Belarus, AJT is helping young people in the Former Soviet Union connect with their Jewish identity and other young Jews across the world.
Young people are the future, and their participation in, and enthusiasm for, Jewish life is essential to the future of Jews everywhere. Federation is proud to serve them!
Atlanta Jewish Foundation is helping the Jewish Interest-Free Loan of Atlanta (JIFLA) expand its pool of guarantors for interest-free loans by sharing an Impact Investing opportunity with its donor-advised fund (DAF) holders. Impact Investing is the term financial advisors and philanthropists use to describe investments made with an intention to generate social and environmental change alongside financial return.
Atlanta Jewish Foundation currently offers its donor-advised fundholders an ESG Portfolio (Environmental, Social, and Governance), with a focus on companies and sectors that have positive environmental, social, and governance characteristics. Now, Atlanta Jewish Foundation is putting Impact Investing principles to work in a new partnership with JIFLA, the Jewish Interest-Free Loan Association of Atlanta. JIFLA upholds the biblical principle of interest-free lending primarily, but not exclusively, to other Jews.
JIFLA loans are funded entirely through community donations which continually recycle to others in need, generating many times the original value to help maintain fellow Jews in challenging times. Most JIFLA loans are small, in the $4-5K range. Because JIFLA uses a ratio of 4:1, an Atlanta Jewish Foundation donor committing $10K as a guarantor makes it possible for JIFLA to loan out $40K in small loans.
A JIFLA borrower shares her story: “I was completely at a loss, with no money and little hope, and I was close to being on the street. The biggest challenge with my JIFLA application was that I didn’t have a guarantor. An anonymous guarantor was identified, and I got the loan. The generosity and faith of that guarantor…bought me the time I needed to try to land on my feet.”
JIFLA boasts a very low default rate, so this partnership allows Foundation fundholders to become guarantors with negligible risk. It also greatly simplifies financial disclosure requirements because Atlanta Jewish Foundation acts as the DAF-holder’s reference. Guarantors can also remain anonymous. The best part is, the fundholder can keep their funds in their DAF, growing their investment, while helping those in need.
Contact Jori Mendel to learn more about using your donor-advised fund to become an interest-free loan guarantor.
Nancy Jacobson Freedman enjoyed an iconic and idyllic southern Jewish girlhood in the Atlanta of the 1950s and ’60s. As the daughter of Jewish community pillars, Harvey and Betty Ann Jacobson, Nancy participated in all organizations and social institutions that defined Jewish Atlanta — BBYO, the JCC on Peachtree Road, the early years of Camp Barney, The Temple, The Standard Club, Hadassah, National Council of Jewish Women, the Brandeis University Women’s Committee, and so much more.
Being Jewish was at the center of her life. Yet in an era when assimilation was giving way to deeper levels of Jewish observance the harsh lessons of history remained fresh for Atlanta Jews. “The Leo Frank lynching was embedded in our collective memory. We knew there were restricted clubs that did not accept Jews. I was in kindergarten when The Temple bombing happened. I will never forget how it galvanized our community. At the same time, I’ll never forget how the non-Jewish community supported us. After the bombing, churches, and schools opened their doors to us for services and Sunday school classes. These were wonderful lessons in community generosity.”
Today, these lessons learned and the commitments made by her family live on. Nancy Freedman has blazed her own philanthropic path, serving on numerous agency boards around Atlanta, truly “walking the walk” of her family’s values. She is winding down an education fund launched years ago by her uncle, Joe Jacobs. And she and her husband Wayne steward the family’s donor-advised fund (DAF) at Atlanta Jewish Foundation. “It means everything to us that this fund continues to support the things Mom and Dad believed in. Cindy Weik has handled our DAF for years and she makes the grant process so easy. The professional staff does a fantastic job and gives good guidance.”
“My mother was the first woman president of Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. She was tough, a driving force. You couldn’t say ‘no’ to Betty Ann Jacobson! My father was quieter, but also a tremendous role model who was active in Federation, chaired many committees and was devoted to the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology. He and my mother were partners in all of these community activities. It’s no wonder that after college I became a Federation campaign volunteer.” Nancy also served on the UJA Young Leadership Cabinet, won the Abe Schwartz Young Leadership award, and worked as a campaign professional at Federation under David Sarnat up until her children were born.
All three of Freedman’s children went to The Epstein School which became another arena for the family’s engagement and learning.” I wanted my kids to be more knowledgeable than I was. I’m proud that they know how to run a service and speak Hebrew. When they were young, we were active at the Zaban Night Shelter and the Shearith Israel Shelter. Wayne and I have tried to impart to our kids that we are blessed, and that it is our obligation to make sure that others who don’t have what we have are helped. I try hard to be proactive with my kids about getting involved in community service and giving back not just your time, but your money as well.”
“Atlanta Jewish Foundation is a perfect way to accomplish these goals. We love that our financial advisor can manage our donor-advised fund.I trust them! When you invest at the Foundation, you are supporting the whole community. That’s what Mom and Dad were all about!”
By Michelle Simon
Atlanta Jewish Foundation Operations Committee
After our middle son Kyle was born, we quickly discovered that he had differing abilities. They were not always visible to others, but it was clear to us that Kyle had unique challenges. We were fortunate to intervene early and provide him with the supportive services he needed along the way. Today at age 24, Kyle has just landed a new job where he is highly valued by his co-workers. Though he lives at home, he is quite independent, and is the heart of our family.
I became a community advocate for people with disabilities not simply for Kyle, but because so many others in our community didn’t have access to these resources. It was tragic to me that they could not access the social skills support, occupational and speech therapy, and inclusion opportunities Kyle had. There are roughly 28,000 families in our Jewish community with disability needs. I try to be a cheerleader for all of them.
Today, I’m thrilled to report that things are changing for the better in Atlanta. The Jewish community is making inclusion a priority. This year, the Jewish Abilities Alliance (JAA) is one of the Targeted Philanthropy options for Federation’s 2022 Community Campaign, enabling you to direct your gift to disability needs. As a member of the Atlanta Jewish Foundation Operations Committee and Advisory Committee, I’ve urged many friends and community members to join me in using donor-advised funds and legacy gift planning as tools. It’s an effective way to ensure that your philanthropic vision for inclusion will impact generations to come.
The Jewish Abilities Alliance has completed a community-wide disabilities needs assessment. I believe it will be a game-changer. Funded by Federation and several passionate donors, the JAA survey is the basis of a strategic plan to implement the most promising recommendations. Armed with research-based data, we have a blueprint for action. Knowing where there are gaps, we are ready to identify potential partnerships and collaborations and invest in filling as many as we can.
JAA is working alongside community partners to prioritize and implement recommendations from the community study, some of which include: Inclusion of people with disabilities in committees and decision-making processes; An inclusion certification process for Jewish communal organizations; Support for an inclusive trip to Israel; Expanded inclusion training for camps, and for all Jewish educators and synagogue professionals. Ultimately, JAA collaborates with all our community service agencies to create a seamless path of support for families and individuals across the lifespan.
Now, with additional funds we can do more of everything – the possibilities are endless and necessary! Having served on Federation’s Innovation Advisory Committee, I helped bring Innovation’s micro-grant practices to JAA. This year JAA awarded more than $19,000 in mini-grants to support local inclusion projects. These grants have funded things like an automatic door at a synagogue, sensory equipment for classrooms, and accessible shuttle services at community events.
Atlanta Jewish Foundation’s fundholders granted out close to $40 million to support our community last year, some of which supported disabilities.
I take a strategic approach to philanthropy and tikkun olam (repairing the world.) I’m not just about Kyle. I’m about the whole community. This is my calling in life, to focus on disability needs and inclusion, and to discover people’s talents and priorities. We have incredible people here who want Atlanta to be the most welcoming and inclusive community. Together, I know we can do it.
What will your philanthropic legacy be? Will it improve the world? Will it support the community institutions you care about? Will it sustain your family? Will it express the values you want to be remembered for?
Atlanta Jewish Foundation believes that your legacy can do all those things, and we are honored to help you shape it.
Through a new LIFE & LEGACY® campaign, called Each One Reach One, Atlanta Jewish Foundation is partnering with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation to potentially double the number of donors in our community-wide legacy giving initiative. The new effort encourages committed legacy donors to share their stories and motivations for leaving a legacy.
Have you shared your stories with your kids and grandkids? We’re big believers in the power of storytelling to inspire philanthropy, so we’re pleased to share these stories from fundholders Stephanie Abes and Avery Kastin, attesting to the power of legacy giving to secure the Jewish future. Read them and contact Rachel Rosner to initiate a conversation about a LIFE & LEGACY gift.
LIFE & LEGACY donor Stephanie Abes said, “It was the right time in my life to help spark and steer conversations with my peers about leaving a legacy gift to our community. As I’ve progressed in my commitments as a Jewish woman, I can see that all I’ve worked for over the years leads to this. There are so many motivations to support LIFE & LEGACY. When I see the outstanding education my grandchildren enjoyed in our Jewish day schools, and as I watch my grown children step up and serve on the boards of our backbone agencies, I want all these organizations to be strong and sustainable going forward. It’s up to me and my family to ensure that these Jewish institutions continue for future generations.”
Stephanie shared a story she heard about a woman with modest assets. “The woman wanted to support her synagogue’s future but didn’t think she had the means. She realized that her small condo was a possible resource, so she checked in with her kids to ask if, upon her death, making that asset a legacy gift was OK with them. Her children let her know that they’d be fine if she did it.”
“Stories like that give me the tools to open up conversations with friends about making a legacy gift. I tell them, ‘I’m not your financial planner, but through Atlanta Jewish Foundation, you can get the advice you need.’ They can help you look at your assets and determine what makes sense for you.”
Avery Kastin told us, “Legacy giving resonates with me, it’s a genius idea. The moment I heard about the LIFE & LEGACY opportunity and about the Jewish Future Pledge, I began to understand the potential impact on our community. I wanted to make Federation the recipient of my gifts because it’s where I’ve focused so much of my time over the years — first as chair of Federation’s Young Adult division, as a Federation board member, and as chair of the Business & Professionals’ division of Campaign and the new Journeys Allocation Committee.”
To encourage donors, organizations, and our community to participate, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation is offering $300,000 in national incentives. To learn more, visit atlantajewishfoundation.org or contact LIFE & LEGACY Coordinator Rachel Rosner.
Have you ever made a donation or tribute gift in honor of a friend or a loved one — perhaps to celebrate a milestone birthday, a professional accomplishment, or to commemorate someone who passed away? Philanthropic gifts like this are incredibly satisfying, both for the donor and for the honoree.
Howard Newman recently called us to talk about creating a named gift in honor of his late wife Sylvia whose passion was Jewish education. Sylvia Newman taught in the religious school at Temple Kol Emeth for many years. Howard wanted to establish a memorial to her in the Atlanta Jewish community. We were eager to help.
Right away we thought about the Jewish Education Collaborative (JEC), an initiative of Federation that’s working to transform the quality of instruction at all Atlanta’s supplemental religious schools. It seemed like a perfect fit. Rabbi Elana Perry, who directs JEC, met with Howard Newman and together they crafted the Sylvia Newman Memorial Teachers of the Year Award, to honor excellence in teaching at supplemental religious schools. The award will go to a veteran religious school teacher, and to a new religious school teacher every year.
Both awards include a monetary component. Atlanta Jewish Foundation helped Howard create a restricted fund at the Foundation specifying exactly how the dollars would be granted out. The fund will grow annually and should provide this financial gift to recipients for many, many years. This year’s winners of the Sylvia Newman award were Josh Needle, a seventh-grade teacher at Congregation Gesher L’Torah, and Kimberly Reingold, a third and fifth-grade teacher at Congregation Or Hadash. See their video tributes here.
Named gifts come in all sizes. As universities, museums, and symphony halls know, securing large named-philanthropic gifts can have a powerful impact for years to come. At Atlanta Jewish Foundation, we have the expertise to help donors develop a wide range of named gifts.
We were involved in shaping a $5.6 million legacy gift from the Frances Bunzl Family Trust — the largest endowed gift in the history of Jewish Atlanta. This named gift is structured to support both Jewish Family & Career Services and Federation for years to come. It reflects the lifetime values of Frances Bunzl, a Holocaust survivor, whose family found safety, community, and success in Atlanta. Her gift creates a legacy of gratitude to the organizations that keep Jewish Atlanta strong and responsive to human needs.
We’re here to help you establish funds that can be earmarked to do good in the community. Call Jori Mendel at 404-951-6900 to start a conversation on how values can live on through named gifts and funds that honor your loved ones.
Jonathan Arogeti always heard his parents and grandparents say that giving back to the community was a central family value. “They told us, you have three options with money — spend it, save it, or give it away. And they believed by far that giving it away, if you are able, was the very highest value. During this time in my life, I’m doing all I can to encourage my peers to get involved in philanthropic giving. It’s our generation’s time to build on and sustain this incredible Atlanta community.”
Arogeti vividly remembers how his family’s support for Hillels of Georgia brought the commitment home. “We all attended the dedication ceremony of the new Hillel building at Emory,” Jonathan says. “It was just a few years after my grandfather’s death, and there was so much meaning to see my grandmother’s pleasure at the depth and impact of this gift. I was in college, and it felt so relevant to my stage of life.”
Now, when he can direct his philanthropic giving, Jonathan works closely with Staci Eichelbaum, Atlanta Jewish Foundation’s Director of Philanthropic Advising. He serves as a mentor to Atlanta young adults who have grown up blessed with family resources. With Eichelbaum, Arogeti has led two cohorts of a four-month NextGen Legacy group that helps NextGen donors clarify their own philanthropic interests — and equally important, teaches them to initiate discussions about where they would like to see family resources allocated and how they can participate.
Arogeti explains, “When you are coming of age in a family with the capacity to be generous, we want you to think about what your philanthropic interests look like from a structural and decision-making standpoint. In the group, we ask, ‘Does your family let you speak up and participate in philanthropic decisions? If not, how can you get more involved?’ “
He adds, “When the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund was gearing up last year, we encouraged our Legacy participants to ask their parents if they were participating. Some had never asked about these decisions before.”
Arogeti also empowers the NextGen Legacy groups to be very specific about their personal priorities. “For example, tell your family, ‘I’m interested in environmental projects that lower carbon footprint. How can you support me in that?’” Jonathan is a founding member of the Repair the World Advisory Council and makes his own gift, but he also asks his family to make a gift to amplify the commitment. “They do it because I asked them,” he says. “It’s tremendously empowering!”
“We’re a fortunate group, but we agree that talking about money is always hard — even with your parents. The idea is to get these conversations started. The first thing I ask each new group is, ‘How many of you told your families that we asked you to participate in NextGen Legacy?’ I’m frequently surprised by how many have not! Having peers on the same journey as you takes away some of the hesitancy and helps you learn what is possible.”
To learn more about NextGen Legacy, and upcoming cohorts, contact Staci Eichelbaum, Director of Philanthropic Advising, Atlanta Jewish Foundation.
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Discover Israel’s many treasures on a transformative journey with a focus on historical exploration, exhilarating adventures in nature, and cultural connections.
Travel from the far north in the Galilee to the deep south at the Red Sea as we visit ancient Jerusalem, modern Tel Aviv, the lush Golan Heights, the vast Negev Desert, the unsinkable Dead Sea, and the stark mountaintop fortress of Masada. Along the way, you’ll take part in an authentic archaeological dig, sample the world’s very best falafel, spend a night sleeping under the desert stars, and experience the innovative energy of Tel Aviv first-hand.
More than a tour, this is an opportunity to understand Israel’s dynamic society first-hand while finding your own connection to this storied land. Explore what it means to be Jewish from an Israeli point of view, understand the complex politics of the Middle East with real-world insights, and practice Jewish values through hands-on volunteering and Shabbat experiences.
Some of our Israel Journey trips will have the opportunity to attend The Maccabiah Games. Often referred to as “the Jewish Olympics,” this is the world’s largest Jewish athletic competition that takes place every four years in Israel.
