Jewish

Local Organizations

Avodah:  The Jewish Service Corps – DC program supports seventeen recent college graduates who spend a year of service living in community and working in local nonprofit organizations; many then go on to careers in nonprofits and social services.

Jewish Study Center – Washington based adult Jewish education, taught by volunteers; works in partnership with DC-JCC, Fabrangen, Sixth and I, and Adas Israel Congregation.

Jews United for Justice – JUfJ uses community organizing, education, and leadership development-- all in a Jewish framework-- to help the Washington-area Jewish community work with other communities for systemic economic and social justice in our region.

Greater Washington Interfaith Power & Light – works with local congregations of many traditions across the DC area to save energy, go green, and respond to climate change. It is the only organization working directly with local religious communities taking grassroots environmental action. It is one of a network of local Interfaith Power & Light groups, building a national religious response to the climate crisis.

Tzedek DC – provides legal services to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with low incomes especially as they deal with the often devastating consequences of abusive debt collection practices and other consumer related issues. They also research and advocate policy changes to make existing laws and practices fairer to low-income and working-class debtors.

National Organizations

Bend the Arc – brings together Jews from across the country to advocate and organize for a more just and equal society. It is the only national Jewish organization that is focused solely on promoting these values here in the U.S.

HIAS – Global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees. Founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Now assists refugees of all faiths and ethnicities.

Israel-based Organizations

B’Tselem – information center running public education campaigns on human rights issues in occupied territories.

Givat Haviva – programs to develop peace between Jews and Arabs. 

Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam/Oasis of Peace – Israel’s only intentional Arab-Jewish village is home to the first bilingual, multicultural Primary School in Israel. About thirty communities in the vicinity of WAS/NS send some of their children to the WAS-NS Primary School. This has led to greater integration in the region and created contacts between parents of Palestinian and Jewish Israelis. WAS-NS is having a positive effect on relations between Arabs and Jews in the area and has become a model for other bilingual schools in Israel. 

Israel Women’s Network – women’s rights, education and advocacy work in Israel.

Open House – long standing, community based Jewish/Arab community center in Ramle.

Lada’at – Choose Well (formerly Shilo) - Jerusalem-based center providing birth control education and services for Arabs and Jews.

US based Organizations focusing on issues in Israel

New Israel Fund - umbrella organization raising money to make grants to nonprofit organizations working for social change in Israel, focus on women’s rights, civil rights, Jewish-Arab co-existence, religious pluralism.

North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry – provides core support for Ethiopian Jews in Israel, as well as those remaining in Ethiopia.

Shalom Achshav – Americans for Peace Now, advocacy and organizing for peace in Israel.

J Street U Campus Education Fund 501 (c) (3) – funds campus chapters advocating and educating on college and university campuses for sustained American leadership in facilitating a negotiated, two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ensuring Israel’s future as the democratic homeland of the Jewish people.

General

Local - Hunger, Health, Housing, Homelessness and Employment 

Washington Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights (Employment Justice Center) – works to secure, protect, and promote workplace justice in the D.C. metropolitan area.  Combines legal services, community education, organizing, and advocacy work to achieve justice for low-wage workers. Provides pro bono representation in a broad range of civil rights and related poverty issues.

Calvary Women’s Services – overnight emergency shelter for homeless women; one of the original shelters for women in DC; now includes transitional housing as well as a range of services to help women move out of homelessness, including extensive employment training.

Capital Area Food Bank – central food reclamation facility, providing food and related supplies at low or no cost to more than 600 nonprofit agencies in metropolitan area.

My Sister’s Place – comprehensive services, including shelter, childcare, employment and training opportunities, for women and children leaving domestic violence situations.

Open Arms Housing – Provides permanent housing to vulnerable women experiencing homelessness in Washington, DC. Residents enjoy privacy and independence and receive on-site supportive services.  Open Arms currently provides housing to 16 homeless women.

Unity Health Care – central health care provider for homeless and very low-income people; maintains clinics across city, as well as care in a traveling van.

WACIF – the Washington Area Community Investment Fund - raises funds to make loans to low income tenant groups and nonprofit developers to purchase and renovate housing and nonprofit facilities, works to increase stock of affordable housing.

Local - Services to Children and Families

Carecen – based in Columbia Heights, provides legal aid, social support and citizenship assistance for Latin American immigrants and refugees.

Open City Advocates – works with children and young adults trapped in the juvenile justice system to elevate their voices and realize their full potential. Through representation, holistic mentoring, and systemic reform, we assist our clients to reintegrate into their families and community while fighting for a fair and compassionate justice system, both in DC and nationwide. Open City Advocates serves approximately 35 DC youth each year.  

DC Scores - a soccer and creative writing workshop after school and summer program for low-income children in twenty-one elementary and two middle schools across the city.

For Love of Children – sponsors comprehensive tutoring program for low-income elementary and high school students, trains local nonprofits to use its model.

Jewish Council for the Aging – comprehensive services, including adult day care, transportation, and lunch programs for elderly throughout the metropolitan area.

Jewish Social Services Agency – provides comprehensive social services, including adoption, bereavement, foster care, help for victims of domestic violence, newcomer assistance throughout metropolitan area; many services are provided on a nonsectarian basis.

Latin American Youth Center – provides social, educational and employment services to youth in Columbia Heights, serves mostly Latino but also other immigrant teenagers; now sponsors additional programs in suburban MD.

New Community for Children – empowers children though educational, cultural, and spiritual enrichment. NCFC works with parents, teachers, the community, and other social service organizations in Washington, DC to address the comprehensive educational needs of children. 

International Assistance

American Jewish World Service – raises funds to develop and support international self-help projects; has created a Jewish Volunteer Corps, a short-term program for Jews to work in developing countries, as well as a volunteer program for college students; major leader in Save Darfur Coalition.