The Marks JCH has been the community anchor serving southwestern Brooklyn since our doors opened in 1927. A home away from home, a place where you met the love of your life; where you learned to play basketball or won your first championship; a place where your child develops and grows. It is a social service center, a recreational hub and a resettlement house. It is a center of Jewish community life, it’s a gathering point where all of the diverse faces of southwest Brooklyn are represented and often and always welcome.

More than four million individuals of all ages, religions and nationalities have relied upon our full array of community-based social service, health, educational, cultural, and recreational programs.  Since the mid 1980s, we have helped more than 50,000 émigrés from the former Soviet Union to resettle in the U.S.

Our programs at the “J” are funded by grants from the city and state of New York, by UJA-Federation of New York and by prestigious foundations such as Robin Hood, Butler, and the Carl Marks Family Foundation, as well as by gifts from generous individuals like you. With your support of the “J”, you help us to help others in our community and beyond.

We are asking you to help us this year as generously as you can.  Your gift will make a real difference in real people’s lives.  We will be glad to show you around and let you see for yourself how your contribution is being put to work.  Just give us a call.

Gifts of many different forms can be beneficial to the “J”. We thank you for your trust, we value your support and we look forward to continuing a tradition of giving. To become a Friend of the “J”, please contact Melanie Levav at 718-331-6800 ext. 117.

WHY GIVE - To be sure, a lot of things have changed since we began our work 82 years ago.  But what endures is our longstanding commitment to providing help for those who need it and a warm and caring community.   Every day countless children, teens and senior programs are blessed by the generosity of our alumni and friends. Every gift makes a difference. Your gift makes a difference. We invite you to support the needs of the community with your generous contribution.

Support The Mission and The Community: “A single parent family from the Former Soviet Union recently came to the United States and settled in Bensonhurst. With very little money from back home, two kids, and no other help, the Mother turned to us for help for her and her children. First we focused on registering the children to school in the neighborhood. We helped the mother to advocate for her children to further their education, while helping them adjust to a new language, school system and a new culture. After registering the children for school, through the government sponsored program OST we were able to register the child for After School services, since there was initially no income.  The children had a lot of difficulty with their homework initially, which mostly stemmed from their inability to understand the language. Since the Mother wasn’t able to speak or understand the language she wasn’t able to help them with most of their homework once they started school. At the Marks JCH the children were given individual attention, a bilingual teacher explained the homework to them to make sure that they would understand. Slowly the children began to pick up the language and were able to do their homework with less and less help. The mother has been very grateful to the help that we were able to provide. The mother was also able to take English lessons at our center and was helped to find some work through our Job Placement program for new immigrants. Now the children and the mother continue to use our services as they keep adjusting to their new life. The children greatly benefit from our continued educational enhancement services while the mother entrusts us with her children with ease knowing that their homework will be correct and finished while she continues to work and build up their new lives. DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY.

Support the Children: “Vladimir has been in the After School program for the past three years. His family came when he started 1st grade because he needed a lot of help with his reading and it was affecting the rest of his subjects. His single mother works two jobs in order to support him and his brother and relied on Marks JCH to provide the academic help. From the beginning he was given a lot of individual attention. A very bright boy with a very difficult history and a range of behavioral difficulties, Vladimir quickly became the most known child in the After School. He was enrolled in a mentoring program, Read-with-a-Kid program and the After School director personally checked his homework assignment daily. The biggest motivator we found for Vladimir was the computer classes. He was willing to do any amount of additional reading for extra 15 minutes in the computer lab. He has made a tremendous progress and over the past three years not only improved his grades but became a computer “specialist” who helps all the other children in the class.  If at first grade there was a fear that he will be left back a grade due to his poor reading abilities, last year he finished in the top 5th percentile in his class. We are very proud of his progress and hope that he will continue to thrive.” DONATE TO THE YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP FUND.

Support the seniors: “A 72 years old woman, who never married, came to the U.S. to reunite with her sister. They lived together in one apartment until three years ago, when her sister passed away. Her SSI benefit could not even cover her rent, not speaking of utility bills and other necessities. She was often starving since she had to exchange her food stamps for cash. We helped her apply for The Blue Card assistance. As a result, she received a rent subsidy for two months and some ongoing help with her medication expenses. We also provided her with core social services; including application assistance for Section 8 subsidized housing, document translation, and correspondence assistance with the Claims Conference and other organizations. We continue to support her through other Marks JCH programs and donations from generous individuals.” DONATE TO SUPPORT SENIOR CITIZEN PROGRAMMING.

Support Nazi Victims: In the last two years, the Robert Ivker Nazi Victims Fund has raised $100,000, which was used as cash assistance for 90 Nazi Victims living in our community. Each recipient, living on nothing more than their SSI benefits, which often don’t cover their rents, received $50 a month, just to make ends meet. The modest stipends are applied to their basic needs, i.e., utilities, pharmacy medications, rent and groceries. Having experienced concentration camps, labor camps, deportations, etc., these survivors still had the strength to emigrate from the Former Soviet Union to the U.S., seeking a better life. Many face language barriers, citizenship issues, severe poverty, failing health and social isolation. Thanks to the UJA Federation of New York, we are able to provide services and programs to not only help them monetarily, but socially, as well. We would like nothing more than to be able to help even more Nazi Victims this year. This is only possible with your help. Please take a moment to read some of the articles and find it in your hearts to DONATE TO THE ROBERT IVKER NAZI VICTIMS FUND.

Featured Articles from the New York Times Neediest Cases:

Inspired to Pick Up Where Others Left Off for Holocaust Survivors

Having Little, but Thanking America for Every Bit

A Resistance Fighter, Struggling to Pay Bills

60 Years Removed From War, but Some Hardships Remain

The Lifelines: People Who Listen to Hardships and Find Ways to Help

Support The Annual Fund Every year, there are new emerging needs. For example, in the current economic crisis, we see an increase in demand for vocational training and job placement services; more people in need of housing assistance and social services. At the same time, city and state governments are cutting back their support for these very programs. Annual Fund allows us to address the emerging needs and fill the gaps resulting from government cutbacks quickly and efficiently. DONATE TO THE ANNUAL FUND.

IMPACT OF YOUR GIFT

$5,000- Provides Cash assistance once a month to 10 Nazi Victims for 1 year

$1,000- Will enable 1 child to attend a full summer at The JCH Day Camp

$500- Gives 5 children partial scholarships to participate in all kinds of Cultural Arts lesson; singing, dance, theater, and musical instruments.

$180- Allows 1 child with Autism to participate in a 10-week recreational/social skills program

$100- Buys gifts for 1 family for the Holidays

$36- Is enough for food packages for 2 homebound seniors

With Your Support:

565 families can send their children to the Marks JCH summer camps – nearly 50% of our camp families need these scholarships.

2,390 individuals can receive the counseling, in-home support, and emergency cash assistance that they need to live safe, healthy lives and avoid nursing home or other institutional care.

Many of the people who seek us out are Nazi victims living on nothing more than their SSI benefits, which often don’t cover their rents; we provided direct financial assistance to offset their expenses.  The monthly stipend makes a real difference in their lives. We’re told that the modest stipends are applied to their basic needs, i.e., utilities, pharmacy medications, rent and groceries.

It is estimated that 35% of those settling in the Marks JCH’s catchment area are elderly.  According to the Report on Jewish Poverty, issued in 2004 by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty and UJA-Federation of New York, nearly 90% of Russian seniors in New York live at or below the poverty level.