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Jewish Abilities Atlanta

Knowing that one out of five individuals live with a disability, Jewish Abilities Atlanta (JAA) promotes an inclusive community that celebrates the uniqueness and abilities of every member across the life span. JAA lifts the voices and perspectives of people with disabilities. JAA supports Jewish Atlanta in welcoming and including people with disabilities by providing capacity-building resources to Jewish Atlanta’s synagogues, camps, schools and other Jewish organizations. 

Advocacy Work
Impact Report
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Opening January 2025! Large Scale Grant Applications
JAA Accessibility Fund
Apply! JAA Accessibility Fund

What We Do

  • Lift the voices and perspectives of people with disabilities across Jewish Atlanta. 
  • Foster collaboration and planning around disability inclusion across the Jewish ecosystem.
  • Increase the capacity of Jewish Atlanta agencies in creating a community where people with disabilities are engaged, supported, and feel a sense of belonging. 

Funding Opportunities

  • JAA Accessibility Fund: “The Jewish Abilities Atlanta (JAA) Accessibility Grant is designed to promote inclusivity and celebrate the uniqueness and abilities of every community member across the life span. This grant aims to support Jewish Atlanta in welcoming and including people with disabilities to synagogues, camps, schools, and other Jewish organizations.

    The grant is offered throughout the year with $6250 available for grant funding each quarter & with a maximum amount of $1500 per organization.

    The quarters are:

    • July – September 2024

    • October – December 2024

    • January – March 2025

    • April – June 2025

  • Large Scale Grants: Applications opening January 2025! Jewish Abilities Atlanta (JAA) offers Jewish community partners the opportunity to apply for grant funding ranging from $10,000-$20,000. This one-year JAA grant will support community partners in launching projects that create more inclusive and accessible communities for people with disabilities.

JAA Community Initiatives:

  • Community Programs that lift the voices and perspectives of people with disabilities and foster a shared community dialogue and vision of disability inclusion. 
  • Training for professionals, lay leaders, volunteers, and students to increase their awareness of people with disabilities and the barriers they face engaging in Jewish life. In 2024, JAA provided training to 1,372 community members.
  • JAA Inclusion Grants to foster community inclusion projects. In 2024, JAA awarded funding for 24 inclusion projects.
  • The Ina Enoch Training Fund, providing funding to Atlanta professionals and lay leaders seeking skill-building opportunities around disability inclusion. More information about the Ina Enoch Training Fund here.  
  • Information and Referral, helping individuals and professionals connect to important local resources. Learn more here.

Engaging Synagogues

The JAA has a long history of supporting synagogues and religious schools to be a welcoming community for all. The JAA has an 18-month long Disability Awareness and Accessibility Education Project with the goal of supporting synagogues in creating a community of inclusion for people with disabilities ensuring that their space, information, material is accessible and that members of the communities have knowledge of the social model of disability and the importance of creating inclusive communities.

The project is being kicked off with the convening of Synagogue Disability inclusion Committee Luncheon on September 21st at Temple Sinai. If you or members from your synagogue would like to get involved, please contact amurphy@jfga.org 

Educational Support:

  • Jewish classroom observations and inclusion strategy consultations.
  • A Shared Resource Library, loaning curriculum, sensory materials, and a beautiful illustrated Torah, to Jewish educational settings.
  • Skill building trainings for educators, including Bright from the Start certified trainings for early childhood professionals.

Early Child Education Initiative

In December 2024, JAA will introduce a preschool initiative to address the need for Jewish Preschools to be more inclusive of students with disabilities, creating a community that welcomes, cares for & educates ALL.

The JAA believes that, by supporting attitudinal changes and upskilling preschool staff to build their inclusion competencies, it will increase their capacity and knowledge and allow them to develop and implement strategies to ensure that the preschools are more inclusive and students with disabilities are welcomed and supported in the classroom.

This initiative will consist of 2 preschools and introduce a curriculum to build capacity of the preschool educators, strengthening the classroom culture & structure, using teacher-led strategies, parental engagement, and internal and external supports which will impact students enrolled in Jewish preschools. If you would like to more information or like to participate, please contact amurphy@jfga.org 

Events

Jewish Abilities Atlanta Training Initiative

Accessibility in Jewish Atlanta promotes equal participation in Jewish life. The Jewish Abilities Atlanta (JAA) initiative is committed to a vision of creating opportunities for building ordinary lives in a thriving Jewish Atlanta. We provide training to improve understanding and practice of accessibility and belonging. Our training program offers several benefits, including: 

Awareness and Acceptance: Training helps individuals and organizations identify barriers for people with disabilities and highlights the importance of inclusivity. 

Professional Development: It provides practical skills for creating accessible environments in physical spaces, programming, and communication. 

Policy Implementation: Training guides organizations in developing policies that promote accessibility and inclusion, ensuring legal compliance and ethical practices. 

Community Engagement: Participants learn to engage with diverse backgrounds, fostering stronger relationships and collaboration. 

Sustainable Change: Ongoing training encourages a culture of continuous improvement, making accessibility and belonging core aspects of community life. 

Interested in learning more check out the training guide here 

Why invest in time with JAA training?  Investing in training helps Jewish Atlanta build an inclusive community. JAA Training offers donor-funded courses for advocates, professionals, and disability rights leaders in in-person, hybrid, and virtual formats. Contact lflax@jfga.org to discuss your learning journey. 

Ina Enoch Training Fund

Training support is available for community professionals and lay-leaders who wish to attend a professional development opportunity which supports the inclusion of individuals with disabilities and their families.  Individuals wishing to apply for funding may do so by submitting a completed Training Fund Application. The completed application must be submitted no less than 8 weeks prior to the training date. Applications must include organization and/or individual financial participation. Applicants will be informed of the final decision within 2-4 weeks of submission.

Apply Here:

Application – Ina Enoch Training Fund

Meet JAA’s Trainer, Lindsey Flax

Lindsey Flax is the JAA Training Coordinator at Jewish Abilities Atlanta, an initiative of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. She leads training and workshops on accessibility best practices while advocating for the disabled Jewish community to live independent, ordinary lives.  

Lindsey has an extensive background in disability advocacy, holding roles at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Full Radius Dance, The Smithsonian Institution, and as a graduate trainee from Georgia State University’s Center for Leadership in Disability Georgia LEND program. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Studio Art from Beacon College, the first accredited college for students with Learning Disabilities. Lindsey serves as a leader in Atlanta’s accessibility sector, dedicated to fostering connected, creative, and accessible communities for people with disabilities to thrive. 

JAA Resources and Guides:

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