Jewish Federation of Madison Community Grants

Our Jewish community is stronger when everyone in the larger Madison community we are a part of thrives. We enrich our Jewish lives through connections and partnerships with diverse members of our community. These tenants are central to our mission at the Jewish Federation of Madison. One of our resources that strives to fulfill this mission is the Jewish Federation of Madison Community Grants through the Cheryl Rosen Weston (CRW) Fund, made possible through a generous bequest by the fund's namesake posthumously.

The grants support projects that connect Jewish youth and adults with diverse members of the general Madison community to advance social justice, build community partnerships, and improve the well-being of all community members. Supporting this vital work is our commitment to creating social change and our Jewish value of Tikkun Olam - the repairing of the world.

Accepting Grant Applications
Applicants are invited to apply for an annual grant of up to $10,000. Recipient organizations must be 501c3 registered. The next cycle of grant applications will be due January 30, 2024, with decision for grant approvals to be made in March 2024.
See Grant & Application Details >

We are proud to have awarded grants of up to $10,000 to the inspiring, creative, and impactful projects below.

2023

Feed the Change was awarded a grant for UW-Madison Hillel Affiliation project to collaborate with UW Hillel. Working alongside UW Hillel staff and their social justice interns, Feed the Change is looking to become a designated social justice affiliate at Hillel. Feed the Change is a mobile soup kitchen that distributes meals, clothing, and toiletries to Madison's homeless and food-insecure populations. The grant will provide stipends for interns and staff involved with Feed the Change's leadership and rent activity and storage space from UW Hillel.

Jewish Federation of Madison was awarded $3,000 for Intercultural Holiday Exchange for Sukkot at Schuster's Farm event. Jewish Federation of Madison's PJ Library Program will partner with local organizations to hold a cultural celebration where families, regardless of religious background or affiliation, will come together to learn about the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. The project will partner with several area schools and pre-schools, including Sauk Trail Elementary School in Middleton and Nuestro Mundo Community School in Madison, to advertise the event and draw Jewish and non-Jewish families together for an afternoon of learning, food, and fun. The event will include a group bonfire, a song session, learning about how people celebrate the holiday of Sukkot, interactive stations with crafts, and a chance to decorate a sukkah and shake the lulav and etrog. This grant will help to subsidize the rental of the group site, food, admission to the farm, a song leader, and program supplies for crafts

Jewish Federation of Madison and Jewish Social Services were awarded a grant for Youth Mental Health Project. The professional and lay leadership of JSS is interested in expanding its role of service to the Jewish community, particularly in the area of counseling and mental health. The proposed action to begin to address this need will be in stages. Phase one will identify the scope of the problem through meetings with Midrasha teen students, youth group members, and then Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County participants. During this time, an anonymous, user-friendly questionnaire will be created in conjunction with MMSD mental health professionals. Phase two will include developing a schedule for group meetings and private counseling sessions.

Jewish Social Services was awarded a grant for Shalom Selem Salaam Dinners in partnership with Tables Across Borders and Temple Beth El. They will organize a series of interfaith, multicultural community dinners highlighting the cuisine and cultures of JSS refuge and asylum chefs and improve the network of collaboration between Dane County organizations and BIPOC communities. Objectives include increasing awareness regarding the Jewish community's commitment to social development, empowering diverse communities, and serving as a social enterprise incubator.

Temple Beth El received a third grant to partner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County for Addressing Systemic Racism through Summer Youth Internships. See details under 2022.

The Whose Land? Initiative of the Race and Place Coalition was awarded a grant for The Community Archive Field Program for Jewish Social Equity Engagement. The program facilitates hands-on fieldwork opportunities with BIPOC communities in Wisconsin to raise consciousness and provide direct service. The program will bring Jewish Madisonians together with members of the Oneida Nation near Green Bay and the Metcalfe Park neighborhood in Milwaukee to collaborate on processing and organizing archival materials and to engage in cultural dialogue and mutual reflection through two multi-day field expeditions.

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice was awarded a grant for Support for Interfaith Community Building Events, which include sponsoring the Faith-Based Housing Summit, Faith and Democracy Tour, Interfaith Iftar, Pride Interfaith Service, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and Interfaith Conversations.

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice was awarded a grant for Jewish and African American Teens Podcast. The goal is to foster understanding and build relationships among a cohort of African American and Jewish teens through working together to create and produce a series of podcasts highlighting Jewish and African American history and culture, and the shared history of working together to combat hate. Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice will work in partnership with 100 Black Men and Temple Beth El on this project.

2022

Habitat for Humanity of Dane County was awarded a second grant to support another Habitat Frame Up with the Jewish Federation of Madison. See details under 2021.

Jason Terry Foundation was awarded a first grant for its Annual Skills and Drills basketball program to promote mental health among teens.

Temple Beth El partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County and was awarded a second grant to support another year of Addressing Systemic Racism through Summer Internships project. See details under 2021.

2021

Adelante Madison was awarded a grant to launch a Young Leaders Initiative that will provide a "civics in action" educational program open to all local teens, stressing the importance of youth engagement and community education. Students are given the skills to pursue the information needed to make informed decisions and training in encouraging their peers and community members to engage in the same critical thinking.

EDOT Midwest was awarded a grant to bring its Mentoring Program to Greater Madison, in which Jews of Color (JOC) teens will be paid mentors to younger JOC children and their families. The program will increase engagement and a sense of belonging for mentors, mentees, and families, and build Jewish diversity awareness in the wider community.

Habitat for Humanity of Dane County was awarded a grant to sponsor a Habitat Frame Up event in the fall of 2021, open to volunteers from throughout the Jewish community. Having built over 300 homes for local families over 30 years, this is a unique volunteer opportunity to build the frame of an entire Habitat home over one day.

Literacy Network and Jewish Social Services (JSS) have partnered and were awarded a grant for Connecting Madison through Adult Education to advance social justice and reduce poverty by improving literacy skills, something one in seven adults in Dane County struggles with. The project will provide supported volunteer training opportunities to members of the Jewish community to help adults with low incomes improve their reading, writing, and English skills.

Temple Beth El has partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, and was awarded a grant to create Addressing Systemic Racism through Summer Internships with Jewish community member employment sites. The project will develop paid employment internships for low-income youth of color in Dane County during the summer of 2021 and engage in authentic and respectful relationship-building to enhance opportunities for youth through exposure to different employment settings and levels of professionals.

Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice was awarded a grant for two programs addressing Interfaith Organizing and Racial Justice. Racial Equity Training for WI Clergy and Faith Leaders is a new program that will offer training to interfaith clergy groups focusing on having shared experiences and understanding of what it means to be anti-racist and work for equity. The Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign will expand its outreach to engage the interfaith community in the democratic process to educate and empower people to vote.

2020

Beth Israel Center was awarded a grant for Confronting Racism: BIC-Nehemiah Strategic Learning Partnership to support the facilitation of joint activities between Beth Israel Center and the Nehemiah Community Development Center, the Justified Anger project, and the Fountain of Life Church to promote social justice, religious tolerance, and the advancement of the well-being for all community members; in particular, addressing the relationship between Jews and Black communities in the Greater Madison. Nehemiah staff will guide a group of 20 to 35 Beth Israel Center members toward understanding how racism is embedded in our country's systems, structures, and institutions - who will then undertake to challenge and change some part of our society's systemic racism.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County was awarded a grant for Community Meal Service Project to facilitate shared service-learning experiences for middle and high school-aged youth, building connections between Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County and Jewish Federation of Madison members with programming that creates spaces for youth to collaborate, share diverse perspectives, and promote the well-being of their community through addressing community food security issues. The project will engage 25 youth from each organization to survey food preferences, plan the menu, develop the marketing, and prepare and serve a monthly community meal in the Dunn's Marsh neighborhood - building connectivity and paving the way for future collaboration.

Hillel Foundation University of Wisconsin - Madison and 100 Black Men of Madison was awarded a grant for Building Bridges through Tutoring and Life Coaching to provide support to Project 3000, a major initiative of 100 Black Men of Madison, by securing and training 10-15 college student tutors/life coaches to disadvantaged, and often at-risk, youth to support families (parents, grandparents, caregivers) adversely impacted because of the shift to virtual schooling and suffering the equity gap exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic, quarantine, and economic decline. This project wishes to not only help those students and families who are adversely impacted by COVID-19 but also to create and foster individual relationships and partnerships between coaches.