< Our Impact
ARTS & CULTURE
During a site visit organized by JCF, fund holders Roxy and Mick were able to learn about transcenDANCE, which enables dance and performance, and holistic wraparound services, for young people from marginalized communities. The donors engaged with dancers, staff and board members during that site visit, saw the in-progress construction of transcenDANCE’s new building in Lemon Grove and ultimately, contributed to support a capital campaign to help the completion of the project.
EDUCATION
Our work with The Monarch School is an example of identifying specific donors with a variety of passions – in this case, homelessness, youth, and education – and connecting them with opportunities that resonate to support impactful organizations. Monarch is a public school that primarily serves unhoused students and their families. Over the years, JCF has taken several donors on site visits to Monarch. In addition, JCF selected Monarch in its “giv4 homelessness in san diego” program, a uniquely curated philanthropy program that funds some of San Diego’s most impactful homelessness nonprofits and simultaneously educates donors about – and involves them in – solutions to homelessness. In total, JCF fund holders have provided more than $800,000 of support to Monarch over the years.
SOCIAL SERVICES
The 2005 Jewish Community Strategic Plan identified the implementation of a community senior transportation program as the #1 community priority need. To launch the program, JCF put together a consortium of donors who provided a $1.25 million challenge grant which was matched by a second group of donors. Since inception, On the Go has met or exceeded its goals for client participation and use. Our donors have provided decades of support for this program through Jewish Family Service, San Diego offering free rides to qualified seniors.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
JCF hosted a site visit at the new Sharp Prebys Innovation and Education Center to learn about lifesaving ER resuscitation technology, neonatal best practices, and state-of-the-art medical training at the Brown Simulation Center. Donors received exclusive access to world experts in their medical fields and had hands-on experience with cutting edge technology. Building and expanding our knowledge and needs of our medical system and services.
CHILDREN
JCF helped two fundholders make a transformative gift to Home Start, a child abuse prevention and maternal support nonprofit. Our donors first became aware of the scope of Home Start’s work through our “giv4 homelessness in san diego” initiative of which Home Start was a selected grantee. They expressed interest in helping Home Start more deeply, so we facilitated a series of meetings and discussions about a capital contribution. The (anonymous) fundholders ultimately made the lead gift to purchase a new building for Home Start that houses and supports victims of domestic violence and their children. That lead gift catalyzed another $500,000 in support from other funders to secure the building and ensure the safety of those women and their children.
ISRAEL
We have always held a variety of educational opportunities to inspire giving around Israel. After October 7, 2023, these efforts only increased. We held an exclusive, private briefing with Former Mossad Intelligence Directorate Chief Zohar Palti soon after the terrorist atrocities to help our audience understand what had led to these cruelties and what Israel’s plan would be moving forward. In partnership with Impact Cubed, we highlighted (in Zoom sessions) the incredible grassroots efforts occurring all over Israel to help the country recover and how funders could support those efforts. We provided donors, and continue to update, with listings of vetted nonprofits in a variety of areas that they could help with grants. All told, JCF fund holders made more than $10M in grants to Israel in the months following October 7.
Every year, a group of Jewish high schoolers in San Diego come together for the entire academic year as the Jewish Teen Foundation. They learn about philanthropy, select their issue areas for the year, send out Requests for Proposals, interview nonprofits, engage in their own fundraising, and ultimately, make grants to nonprofits. This year, following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, the teens selected Israel as one of their causes. Together, they raised and granted out more than $35,000 to four organizations, including United Hatzalah, a nonprofit emergency medical services organization which staffs 7,000 volunteer EMTs, paramedics and doctors.