Building the Communities We Want to See

Dear Friends,

Here we are again— trying to make sense of the seemingly broken world around us, trying to find the words to comfort our children as we bear witness to yet another historic moment in modern history. The unlawful killing of George Floyd, the too many names of other unarmed black Americans who have also lost their lives in our country, and the tension of our nation in the midst of a global pandemic seems too much to handle. As a community and Jewish peoplehood, we know we are resilient. We unite in unbreakable strength with our black colleagues, neighbors and friends in solidarity, in purpose and in action.

This world is hurting. As an agency, we stand with the caretakers of our community. We have admiration and respect for those who use their voices to elevate the greater good. And, we remain deeply committed to Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) to honor all humans with respect, care and kindness.

This week, we announced that our Early Childhood Centers and Apachi Day Camps will reopen in late June and early July to serve the thousands of families who depend on the J. While some see this as an essential piece to beginning to heal the economy and enabling parents to return to work and children to learn and play, that is only part of the equation.

Our ability to restore programming paves our path back to the critical work we do— to grow good, kind, empathetic children in our classrooms, at our camps and in the community. With Jewish values as our compass, our work every single day builds an essential foundation to nurture the next generation of future leaders who will be kind, inclusive, curious, thoughtful and respectful of one another. While some see it as “just camp” or “just preschool,” we know it’s more. So much more. The critical work we do daily, in deep partnership with our J families, is a responsibility we are honored to shoulder; it is work that brings us tremendous joy and pride.

We each have a responsibility to build the communities we want to see. With immense gratitude for our dedicated staff, parents and JCC Chicago families who bring this work to life each and every day, we are honored to have an impact in the lives of so many.

May we go from strength to strength.
Please take care of yourself and each other.

 

Addie Goodman
President & CEO
agoodman@jccchicago.org

Marisa Mandrea
Chair, Board of Directors
mmandrea@jccchicago.org