Ve’ahavta serves people of all faiths and backgrounds. The vast majority of our clients are not Jewish, and for most of them, their experience at Ve’ahavta is their first known encounter with the Jewish community.

We have always leaned into the Jewish identity of the organization by emphasizing the Jewish values that underpin and inspire our work, and by being transparent about the fact that the Jewish community provides much of the funding that makes our work possible.

We recently decided to add one new question to our anonymous client survey to see if their experience with Ve’ahavta had an impact on their perceptions of the Jewish community, more broadly:

“How has your participation in a Jewish organization impacted your perception of the Jewish community?”

93% of respondents said that their perception was more positive as a result of their experience at Ve’ahavta.

Ve’ahavta has a long-standing history of breaking down social stigmas and stereotypes and changing the way people see people facing poverty and homelessness, through 1:1 contact. When volunteers on our outreach van connect directly with people on the streets, anonymity is replaced with a face, a name, a story, and a thank you. Volunteers stop seeing “the homeless” and start seeing a fellow human being who is going through a terrible time in their life.

It turns out, the 1:1 contact with our Jewish values-driven organization has the power to change the way people see Jews, too.

At a time when distortions, misinformation and outright lies are being used to foment hatred towards the Jewish people, a positive personal experience may be the most effective way to fight it. So, although combating antisemitism is not a part of our mandate, it may just be an unintended outcome of being openly and proudly Jewish and doing good in the world.

I couldn’t possibly say it better than a recent graduate of one of our pre-employment programs, Maria. (You can watch her full testimonial video here):

“I know that the Jews have suffered throughout history. They face hardship all the time, right to today. But these people are so caring, so giving, so loving, and they don’t want anybody to suffer the way that they have suffered. I have great respect for the Jewish people. They have changed my life. I pray every morning for the Jews and for Israel. I pray that one day there will be no more war, no more suffering, and no more hatred of Jews anywhere.”

As we approach the end of the year, I hope we can count on your support to continue our life-saving and life-changing work. The more you give, the more people we can help, and the more allies we can create – and that is something we can all feel good about.

Cari Kozierok,
Executive Director, Ve’ahavta