Current Community Needs

HappyBottoms provides diapers and pull-ups to Kansas City area children and works directly with Jewish Vocational Service and Jewish Family Services to help their clients. Diapers are not covered by food stamps, Medicaid or WIC. In 2023, HappyBottoms distributed 3.5 million diapers to 16,218 children. $100 would provide one baby with an 8-month supply of diapers through HappyBottoms' monthly diaper program (75 diapers each month).

HopeBuilders is a well-respected nonprofit that deploys volunteers and resources from local business to provide home repairs to low-income clients. It is currently seeking funds to help Jewish Family Service clients with a variety of services, including ramp instillations, door widenings, and larger projects like roof repairs that are outside of the scope of JFS’s Help at Home program. Projects typically cost $400-$4,000.

The Rock Steady program provides classes that have been constructed by trained leaders in Parkinson’s physical and mental exercises. The goal of the program is to help Parkinson's patients live a better quality of life. Trained instructors guide participants in physical, social, and mental exercises to lessen depression and anxiety. Program participants also come together to share coping mechanisms and avoid isolation. The skills learned in the program can help keep the disease from progressing as quickly as it might.

JFS has experienced a large increase in need for adult incontinence products from both their Food Pantry and care management clients. JFS provides one week’s worth of food to Pantry clients and aims to do the same with clients who need adult briefs. Adult incontinence products are expensive, about $53/month from Costco, and are seldom available to JFS through other sources like Harvesters. Incontinence is a huge quality of life issue for the people who suffer from it and a hardship for them and their caregivers when they don’t have what they need.

For more than 80 years, JFS has provided care and support for survivors of the Holocaust who settled in Kansas City. As the needs of our survivor community have changed, the resources available to them have also evolved. Survivors can access the JFS food pantry, transportation and home maintenance resources, mental healthcare, and connection to spiritual care. $5,000 is requested to support the program.

The FEP program is an ongoing collaboration between JFS and the Shawnee Mission School District which launched at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year. The program supports families with children in the school district who are experiencing crisis situations that impact school attendance and educational outcomes. The FEP coordinator partners closely with other community resources through Project Home, a collaboration of human service and faith-based organizations to provide access to financial, housing and other assistance. In 2024, the program served 24 families, 79% of whom were able to remain in the district.

JFS’s mental health program, which offers care and education for families and individuals of all ages, has been a leader in providing services to low-income populations since the 1940s. In 2024, it provided 3,480 counseling sessions to 238 individuals – about 70% of whom showed marked improvement in functioning during the course of their treatment. About 25% of JFS clients are members of the Jewish community. Most of these clients are uninsured or underinsured, and would otherwise struggle to access the care they need. JFS also stepped in this year to provide additional services to the Jewish community, including offering special counseling opportunities to members of the community and employees of local Jewish organizations in the wake of local and national tragedies.

Celebrating its 13th anniversary this year, the JFS Food Pantry serves over 1,000 families annually. In addition to nutritious food, personal care products, and household supplies, the JFS Food Pantry offers wrap-around social work to connect clients with other resources at JFS and trusted community partner organizations. In 2024, the pantry distributed nearly 400,000 pounds of food to over 3,200 of our friends and neighbors.

The Chesed Fund provides direct financial assistance to the most vulnerable Jews in our community, to be used to address needs like rent assistance, utility bill assistance, medical bill assistance, car repair or food. Last year, nearly $250,000 was distributed out of the Chesed Fund to care for people with these needs, allowing the community to serve 197 individuals, including 33 Holocaust survivors. Recently, The Alan and Myra Rosenberg Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation created a 1:1 match for all new or increased grants to the Chesed Fund.

In the Community Burial Program, the Jewish Federation, Jewish Family Services, Rabbinical Association, and Louis Memorial Chapel work together to help pay for the burial of members of the Jewish community who do not have sufficient resources to cover burial expenses and to prevent this burden from falling upon their families. On average, the program covers nine to ten individuals a year. Covered expenses include the casket, grave liner, transportation, and preparation of the body.

Sasone seeks funding to extend its monthly speaker series and inclusive education workshops through summer 2026, which includes topics such as mental health, behavior supports, and disability-inclusive Jewish leadership. The program addresses gaps in inclusive education and direct support services for Jewish students with disabilities in Jewish day schools and religious schools across Greater Kansas City.

Sasone works to ensure that students with disabilities have access to a Jewish education via the synagogues and Jewish agencies. Educational institutions have requested further support from Sasone for staff training, accommodation materials, and supplies to better serve students with diverse needs. Funding will allow the Sasone staff to evaluate these needs as they are submitted and make small targeted grants.

JVS is requesting funds to help provide direct subsidy, food, diapers, career counseling, and social work for its clients. The JVS Emergency Assistance Program provides one-time financial support in amounts ranging from $100-$500. Last year they aided more than 900 individuals and provided $90,000 in support.

The JVS Scholarship Program has been created to provide educational opportunities to those employees of JVS that wish to obtain continuing education, certifications, or degrees in areas of interest that will improve their career prospects. This benefit is intended to assist employees in increasing their effectiveness in their current positions, prepare employees for possible advancement, and/or enhance employees' chances for positions with greater responsibility internally or externally. JVS will review scholarship applications on a semi-annual basis. Eligibility and scoring criteria will favor underserved employees, as many employees of color or employees with countries of origin outside the United States have not had as many opportunities to access higher education.

NCJW volunteers collect and distribute age-appropriate books and donated dental kits to elementary school students in need. The students receive the bags during the month of their birthdays; it is reported that these gifts delight the students. The dental kit contains a toothbrush, floss and toothpaste. A grant of $300 would allow NCJW to give bags to additional students.

Tikkun-KC is a grassroots organization focused on neighborhood revitalization, workforce development, and housing education in Kansas City’s urban core. Funding is needed to help cover increased acquisition, material, and labor costs for the next Shalom Homes project house. The home will be renovated and made available to a local family, continuing Tikkun-KC’s mission of stabilizing neighborhoods through affordable housing.

KC Kosher Meals on Wheels prepares fully cooked, home-style kosher meals and soup in its commercial kitchen in the heart of Overland Park. Every week, KC Kosher Meals on Wheels delivers bags with meals, soups, bread, fruit and a treat - with a smile - to people in need in and around Kansas City. Many of its recipients are isolated
and have no visitors for long periods of time. $3,600 sponsors meals and visitations for one senior for 52 weeks (a full year). $1,800 sponsors meals and visitations for one senior for 26 weeks (half a year).