By , Special to JTNews
The Women’s Endowment Foundation celebrated a “decade of giving” last month when it announced three grants at its 2001 annual meeting.
The grants — $8,200 for teen outreach by Project Dvorah of Jewish Family Service; $8,200 to the National Council of Jewish Women’s Shalom Bayit program; and $775 to the Community Women’s Health Fair coming to Council House — all follow the path of giving established by the women who formed the Women’s Endowment Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle about 10 years ago.
WEF grants over the decade have focused on domestic violence, services to children and families, health education, women’s learning and art and literature focused on women. The foundation was created for the purpose of funding programs and services that are of importance to Jewish women, primarily in the state of Washington, and secondarily around the world.
Earnings from he foundation were responsible for helping Jewish Family Service get Project Dvorah started as a program of domestic violence outreach, response and advocacy. The coordinator of Project Dvorah, Michele Lifton, gave a progress report on the program at the May 16 meeting. As of April 2001, more than 100 individuals had been helped by the program with 1,000 hours of programming and services, but Lifton said community needs still exceed the resources. She added that progress also has been made in helping people accept that domestic violence is a problem in the Jewish community.
Also on the agenda on May 16, Bethamie Horowitz, Ph.D., a national expert on Jewish continuity, shared the latest findings from her research work on “Connections and Journeys.” She talked about the ways people’s attitudes about their Jewish identity continue to change. “We’ve uncovered a wide range of ways people are Jewish today,” Horowitz said. “I certainly don’t see the lights going out. That idea that America is not a good place to be Jewish needs to be challenged.”
For more information about the Women’s Endowment Foundation, contact Gail Gordon at the Jewish Federation, 206-441-8479, ext. 225.