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The cablegram sent by Jacob Schiff to Ambassador Morgenthau.
1914
From the moment JDC was born in 1914 — when our founding cablegram secured help for starving Jews in Ottoman-era Palestine — we’ve been there for all Israelis. Today, we’re continuing to improve the lives of Israel’s poor and elderly, at-risk youth, people with disabilities, and Haredi and Arab communities through innovative initiatives that are moving the needle on the nation’s most complex social challenges.
What makes JDC’s work here unique is our ability to create an impact on both the human and system levels — to transform individual lives, one by one, while also changing structures and services to scale results nationally.
And it’s not just what we do — it’s who we are and who we’ve been for nearly 109 years.
Israel’s rapidly growing older-adult population means an increased demand for social services. That’s why JDC is cultivating financial resilience, physical health, and a sense of belonging among low- and middle-income older adults. Through care and rehabilitation facilities, employment centers for those working later in life, and education and programming for maintaining healthy lifestyles, we’re helping to ensure Israelis can live with dignity in their golden years.
Meet Simi, a participant in our Elderly Digital Literacy initiative — which gives seniors free tablets and trains them on how to use them. The device allows Simi, who is homebound, to connect with family and the outside world using video calling, Facebook, and WhatsApp, as well as exercise, listen to music, and browse the internet. She’s just one example of how JDC programs for older adults help to build an “inclusive community” that facilitates optimal aging.
The cablegram sent by Jacob Schiff to Ambassador Morgenthau.
1914
JDC’s orphanage in Jerusalem.
1926
Women training to work as bus drivers. As men enlisted to join British forces to defend Palestine during World War II, women were trained to take over the civilian jobs they had left.
Tel Aviv, 1942
An Iraqi woman, a recent immigrant, receives a smallpox vaccination at Camp Shaar Haaliyah B.
1952
Cerebral Palsy program at the Assaf Harofe Government Hospital. Starting in the 1960s, JDC helped to establish a countrywide network of Child Development Centers to diagnose and evaluate physically and developmentally disabled children.
Tzrifin, Israel, 1964
JDC and Israeli officials stand in front of the site of the newly named Brookdale Housing Project for the Aged. Standing left to right: : Harold Trobe, Ralph Goldman, JDC President, Donald N. Robinson, Jerusalem Mayor, Teddy Kollek, Dr. Israel Katz, Director of the Brookdale Institute.
July 20, 1977
Exercise class for the residents of the ESHEL Home for the Aged. In 1969, JDC and the government of Israel established ESHEL—the Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged—to extend a network of coordinated services to underserved elderly by pooling resources locally, regionally, and nationally.
Afula, 1980s
Poor and elderly men and women outside the Nathan Straus Soup Kitchen, where 900 meals a day were given.
Jerusalem, 1921
JDC-supported program for Israeli Arabs. JDC works with the government of Israel to build a network of one-stop employment centers throughout the country to integrate Israeli Arabs, Bedouins, and Druze into the workforce.
Lakiya, Israel, 2011
Photograph: Holly Stein
JDC-supported educational programs for Bedouin children at the Abu Queider Kindergarten cluster.
Neve Midbar Regional Council, Israel, 2019.
Photograph: Tamir Elterman
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JDC
P.O. Box 4124
New York, NY 10163 USA
+1 (212) 687-6200
[email protected]