Article published by the Jewish Press
The Jewish Federation of Omaha is pleased to announce it was recently awarded a grant of $14,000 from United Way of the Midlands to fund Mental Health Care and Counseling through an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, Jewish Family Service. The Jewish Federation will also be the recipient of $16,099 from Campaign designations.
The demographics directly impacted by this grant are those families in poverty whom JFS serves. Jewish Family Service is able to provide counseling services to individuals (they need not be Jewish clients) who require a Sliding Fee rate, either because they do not have insurance or because they income qualify. Jewish Family Service accommodated 165 clients who attended 1,316 therapy sessions, from July 1, 2017 June 30, 2018. Members of the Omaha community received help when access to comparable services were unavailable elsewhere. When Jewish Family Service has the resources available to provide these services, they are fulfilling one of the most important tenets of the Jewish faith: Tikkun Olam, to help repair the world.
Alan Potash, CEO of the Jewish Federation Omaha, expressed his gratitude to United Way of the Midlands and their donors, saying this: “Jewish Family Service strives, each and every day, to provide the highest level of service to improve the quality of life for every individual in our community. We are thankful to United Way for their generous support and we thank all who contribute to the United Way of the Midlands.”
The Jewish Federation of Omaha has, for many years, held an internal campaign to benefit United Way of the Midlands where we educate and promote the importance of the work UWM does in the Omaha community. United Way of the Midlands is making a big impact with Omaha children through their focus on school attendance, grade level reading proficiency, fighting summer slide and mentoring programs. These and the ‘circle of support’ concept investing in basic needs, education and financial stability programs – especially resonated with our employees resulting in more JFO staff committing to the United Way campaign. Nearly $6,000 was raised within a week.
United Way of the Midlands helps the most vulnerable in our community by uniting efforts toward common goals on a local level, leveraging the volunteer resources and know how of the entire community. When we work together, thousands of lives can be changed for the better, all across the Omaha -Council Bluffs metro. UWM connects people and organizations with secure way to donate their financial support and their time, and connect them to a strong network of health and human service programs that help our neighbors build better life for themselves. Together with United Way, we can make our community even stronger. www.UnitedWayMidlands.org.
The Jewish Federation of Omaha works each day to fulfill its mission to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. We strive to achieve our
goals through the basic core values of Judaism: collective responsibility, community, education, health and well-being, integrity; leadership and stewardship.