Jean Mandell of Lake Hopatcong and Carol Marcus of Bloomingdale, co-chairs of The Jewish Women’s Foundation of New Jersey, announced this month that JWF has awarded its fourth round of grants for fiscal year 2010.

“It is indeed inspiring that, after a careful selection process from a large number of grant requests, we have chosen to award five grants that will go far to improve the lives and futures of girls and women,” said Marcus. “One grant is to help locate family members for girls aging out of the foster care system, another provides abused women with free legal services.”

“Due to the economic crisis” Mandell added, “we are supporting an important program to help women develop job readiness skills to enter or re-enter the workplace. Another grant helps recovering female addicts and their families to secure permanent housing. Finally, we have recognized the growing issue of human trafficking and have awarded a grant to an organization that rescues the female victims of this ever growing problem.”

All of these programs will benefit – directly or indirectly – the lives of hundreds of women and girls. The five grants total $35,000 and were awarded as follows:

For Girls:

• To Essex County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), to deploy 25 specialized search and connect CASA Advocates. These advocates will work on behalf of 35 legal orphans foster girls, whose parental rights have been terminated and who have no adoptive homes. The Advocates will conduct enhanced internet searches looking for durable family connections where hitherto there have been none established. The hope is that these discovered family connections will ease the harrowing prospect of post DYFS life for these girls as they enter adulthood alone, create durable relationships for them, and improve their sell esteem.
  $10,000

For Women:

• To Partners for Women and Justice, Inc., to provide free quality legal assistance. This existing program renders services by trained pro bono lawyers to low income and abused women seeking protection, financial and other relief from the DV abusers in Final Restraining Order hearings in Essex and Union counties.
  $5,000
  
  
• To National Council of Jewish Women Essex County Section, to provide Job Readiness Skills and Job Search Strategies for women entering or re-entering the workplace.
  $5,000

For Women and Girls:

• To Integrity, Inc., to fund an intensive housing case management program for female clients with substance abuse issues, creating an individualized housing plan, placing clients and their families into stable housing, and empowering women to remain on the path of recovery.
  $10,000
  
  
• To Polaris Project, to support the New Jersey Trafficking Intervention Program to provide services and advocacy for women and girls victimized by human trafficking, empowering these victims to reclaim their lives by assisting in the rescue and recovery process. They offer and provide referrals for essential services for this violated group of girls and women. Grant funding will support an increase in assessments, referrals for services, and provide case management.
  $5,000

Founded in 2006, the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New Jersey (JWF) is a collaborative philanthropy whose members are dedicated to empowering women and girls through education, advocacy, and strategic grant making. Member dues create an endowment, the income from which is available for grants. Grants are awarded to 501(c) organizations or organizations with a 501(c) 3 fiscal agent. The Foundation views all grant applications through a gender lens, with the goal of stimulating community organizations to recognize and address the special needs of women and girls.

JWF is an advisory council of The Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest NJ.

For more information about the Jewish Women’s Foundation of NJ or its granting process, please contact Jocelyn Gilman, Director, at (973) 929-3091, , or the co-chairs:

Carol Marcus, (973) 838-4601
Amy Schechner, (incoming chair), (973) 379-1253

United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ raises funds through its United Jewish Appeal campaign, provides resources and coordinates programs and services for the Jewish community in Essex, Morris, and Sussex counties, as well as part of Union county. As the key Jewish philanthropic organization, the federation and its 18 local beneficiary agencies strive to fulfill the communal and social service needs of the MetroWest community. It also works to maintain the integrity and dignity of Jewish life through its national and international fundraising efforts.