Caring for Seniors: Welfare Center through the JDC Hesed Program
Hesed is Hebrew for compassion. For tens of thousands of destitute elderly Jews across the former Soviet Union (FSU), each day is a bitter struggle for survival and they are in need of great compassion. We help provide it. Protein sources and critical medicines are unaffordable luxuries; the choice between going to bed hungry or shivering cold is the unthinkable reality. Nominal pensions and rising inflation plunges these elderly well below the poverty line, with no family or social safety net to break their fall. Despite having survived decades of Communist repression and Nazi terror, their last years are being spent as some of the poorest Jews in the world.
The Jewish Agency Day and Overnight camps
Just like many Jewish youth around the globe, every year Jewish youngsters from St Petersburg and Northwest Russia get to experience The Jewish Agency Day and Overnight camps both during the summer and winter breaks, where they get to experience an immersive introduction to Jewish heritage, Jewish community, and Israel. Many campers return to camp over and over again, becoming highly motivated to stay connected and join the Jewish Agency’s and partner organization’s follow-up activities and youth clubs, eventually embarking on paths to become Jewish leaders poised to take responsibility for their Jewish future.