by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

March 12, 2009

United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ is feeling the current economic squeeze. Facing a possible shortfall of over $3 million in its 2009 campaign, the umbrella philanthropy is appealing to the community to maintain their support for a range of services, from vocational counseling to the newly jobless, to emergency assistance to struggling elderly, to a program in Israel meant to empower underprivileged high school students.

UJC MetroWest is reducing its operating budget by $1 million through staff cuts, salary furloughs, and belt-tightening. But that will not be enough to close the gap between its annual goal and the needs of the agencies and programs it funds in full or part.

“We are living in very challenging economic times that are testing the basic fabric of our nation and our citizens,” said UJC MetroWest executive vice president Max Kleinman. “Here in MetroWest, we are not immune to the economic crisis and we have begun to feel the impact of this downturn.”

Last year, the organization’s fund-raising campaign raised $23.8 million. According to Scott Krieger of Livingston, who chairs UJC MetroWest’s UJA campaign, the campaign is 15 percent behind where it was last year at this point.

“We’re concerned the campaign could drop below $20 million this year,” said Krieger, a principal in a Livingston accounting firm.

“Many people are not able to make gifts, many people want to support the community but have to do so at reduced amounts, and many people have put off giving because of the uncertainty,” Krieger explained. “We have more people at this point than in other years who just can’t commit yet.”

UJC MetroWest is also looking to preserve funding for its 20 partner agencies, which include JCC MetroWest, Jewish Vocational Service, Jewish Family Service, The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life, and Daughters of Israel.

When the severe economic downturn hit, UJC responded immediately by launching MetroWest HELPS with a $350,000 allocation to assist families in need with services through JFS, JVS, and the three day schools. These organizations can ill afford to have their funding cut now, when services are most in demand due to the economic slump.

But now, with a dip in philanthropic giving, UJC MetroWest is asking its current and potential donors to dig deeper. And to sweeten the pot, the federation has launched a matching program whereby any new gift or an increase over the prior year’s gift made between March 22 and April 30 will be matched dollar for dollar (see box).

“All who can are called upon to step up to the plate and do even more than they might under ordinary circumstances,” said Kleinman.

‘My money is running out’

Among the cost-cutting measures that have been instituted to trim administrative overhead at UJC are staff reductions, unpaid staff furloughs, a 5 percent salary reduction for executive staff, and a salary freeze.

Officials have also cut back on spending for fund-raising and educational events, eliminated the use of consultants, and reduced conference attendance and staff travel.

These cuts alone will not be enough to maintain the same level of allocations to UJC partner agencies.

“We’re all very afraid that there is going to be real pain that has to be spread around,” said Krieger. “Programs are going to have to be discontinued. Others are going to be scaled back. And the people who depend on those services will really feel it,” he said.

As a federation, UJC MetroWest raises and disburses funds for local Jewish needs and projects in Israel and other overseas communities.

At risk are nutrition services for seniors provided by JCC MetroWest, home-based services for frail Holocaust survivors, professional development and peer support programs for synagogue early childhood and religious-school teachers, and the numbers of Jewish chaplains who visit patients in local hospitals.

UJC officials are also eager to maintain support for Israel-based efforts, like the funding it provides for community workers in temporary villages set up for families displaced from their homes when Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. UJC MetroWest is also a major supporter of the Heznek program, designed to help students in the regional high school in Merchavim pass Israel’s vital matriculation exam.

Potential cuts are bad news for people like Ruth Weisman. At 89, she lives alone in her home of 40 years in Maplewood. Her husband died 10 years ago; her son is also deceased. She has a daughter-in-law and three grandchildren in the Boston area. Her closest relative is a niece in Branchburg who comes to cook and shop for her once a week.

Weisman relies on Metro Transport to take her to the JCC in West Orange, where she enjoys socializing and takes advantage of all the programs and activities, from exercising to speakers and roundtables, field trips, and the meal that is served for a fee of $3. UJC funds Metro Transport to the tune of $70,000 a year.

“The lunch they serve us is the most important thing,” she said. “I rely on the nutrition program for my main meal.”

With the economic downturn, she worries not only about the physical burden of grocery shopping, but about her own finances.

“My money is running out,” she said.

JFS currently receives just over $840,000 from the federation, or close to 25 percent of its budget. The remainder comes from direct donations, fees for services, and foundation and government funding.

Any cuts at JFS will mean a reduction in staff, according to executive director Reuben Rotman.

“The majority of our budget is staff,” he said.

Counseling services, and case management in particular, will take a hit, because they are not always covered by outside grants or support. JFS currently has 180 clients receiving counseling not funded with direct grant support who may be affected.

Such clients pay what they can afford, on a sliding scale, and federation funding has in the past provided the difference between the charges and the total payments.

Helping Helen

Rotman has already begun to make cuts, which will result in reduced hours for social workers.

Case management services at JFS are funded with support from the federation allocation. Case managers do not provide clinical therapy but, rather, help people find housing and other services when needed.

Helen Epstein is among those who use this service. A Holocaust survivor, she receives money from the International Claims Conference to pay for things like home health aides and other support that helps her to live independently.

But it is a JFS case manager who coordinates these services for Epstein and clients like her.

If the cuts do come, Rotman said, “what will happen when the aide can’t come on a given day, or shows up late, or Helen needs the aide for more hours? It may be harder for Helen to coordinate this with JFS. Everyone will be assigned larger caseloads.”

Looking for a blessing in disguise within this economic crisis, Krieger said, “It does force beneficiary agencies as well as the operations of federation to take a real hard look at how they spend and maybe do some trimming that should have and could have been done. We will all come out leaner and meaner.

“Nonetheless, it’s a painful process.”

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