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JRC Community Partnerships

Judea Reform is a long-standing member or partner of the following organizations working locally for equity and social justice. We encourage members to get to know our partners and for our b’nai mitzvah students to consider these organizations when seeking Mitzvah project partners.

Triangle Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition

The Triangle Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition is a North Carolina organized group of faith communities united about working for Reproductive Justice and healthcare for all people. The mission of the Triangle Interfaith Reproductive Justice Coalition is to foster understanding, compassion, and advocacy for reproductive justice principles within a diverse and inclusive community. We believe that individuals should have the autonomy to make informed decisions about their reproductive health and family planning, while respecting the values and religious perspectives of everyone. Through education, dialogue, activism, and struggle, we strive to create a society where principles of reproductive justice are upheld and individuals are empowered to lead healthy, fulfilling lives in accordance with their own faith traditions and personal values.

Durham CAN (Congregations Associations and Neighborhoods)

Durham CAN is a local non-profit organization that organizes communities in Durham across religious, racial, and class lines for the public good. Durham CAN works to strengthen congregations and community institutions and build relationships among people and institutions across Durham County. While not a religious organization, CAN's agenda reflects faith-informed and democratic values, though CAN does not endorse any candidate or party for elected office. CAN members have access to learn more by participating in community organizing training events and meetings.

Through our work with Durham CAN, we practice tikkun olam by engaging in social actions reflective of our Jewish values, including housing inequity, wage & economic injustice, voting rights, and systemic racism. This work also fully embraces the call issued to us as members of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s Brit Olam–a covenant striving to create a world in which all people experience wholeness, justice, and compassion.

We invite our congregants to join our delegation and take part in direct action with the greater Durham community. Details & schedules can be found here.

 

Durham Congregations in Action (DCIA)

DCIA is an assembly of spiritual communities and non-profit organizations who coalesce to share community, resources and information through presentations on affordable housing and homelessness, hunger relief, criminal justice and racial disparities, fair employment, at-risk youth mentoring and career preparation, mental illness, education, domestic violence, and a variety of other topics related to poverty, racism and violence. At each, a problem or a program addressing it is related to opportunities for congregations to respond with action. Our initiatives include: the CROP Hunger Walk, End Hunger Durham, HomeShare Durham, and Beloved Community. Judea Reform Congregations’ Emeritus Rabbi John Friedman, was a founding leader in DCIA.

DCIA maintains a Resolution Against Hate.

Church World Service (CWS) of Durham

CWS welcomes refugees and immigrants from around the world into lives of freedom, hope, and opportunity in the Triangle. CWS works with community partners to educate the wider community, advocate for immigrant and refugee causes, and equip new refugees and immigrants for long-term success. Judea Reform Congregation has partnered with CWS providing back-to-school backpacks for refugee children, furnishing apartments for new arrivals, fundraising, and many congregants volunteer in a variety of rewarding ways. 

Families Moving Forward

Families Moving Forward offers a temporary home to families with children in the crisis of homelessness.  Working together, we create a path to stability and self-sufficiency through personalized services and ongoing community support.  Judea partners with two other congregations for one week each quarter providing dinners and childcare so parents can attend classes.

Habitat for Humanity of Durham

Habitat for Humanity of Durham builds new homes, rehabs existing homes and repairs older, owner-occupied homes that have fallen into a state of critical disrepair.  We work in partnership with homeowners-in-progress, volunteers and the community at large to achieve our mission of strengthening the community by providing low-income families with safe, decent and affordable housing. Judea’s Habitat team builds on the third Thursday of each month, and occasionally builds on Sundays with Habitat of Orange County.
 

Inter-Faith Council (IFC)

IFC is the principal agency in Orange County for mobilizing our community to address homelessness, hunger, and economic disparity. A non-denominational social service organization, IFC offers emergency shelter for homeless men, women and children. The Community Kitchen serves hot meals to the public three times a day, every day. Project Homestart supports 33 homeless families with transitional housing and case management services.

Meals on Wheels Durham

Meal On Wheels Durham has been serving Durham County residents since 1975; their mission is to enhance the quality of life for seniors, people with disabilities, and other eligible community members who are unable to provide proper nutrition for themselves by delivering meals, offering personal interactions, and providing other complementary services. 

Since 1980, congregants and friends of Judea Reform Congregation have gathered to prepare and deliver a special Christmas meal for Meals on Wheels of Durham, and often found that we received substantially more than we gave in this act of direct service. Due to the pandemic in our 40th year we pivoted to fundraising for the Annual Meals on Wheels Christmas Dinner and raised over $11,000 to support a local black-owned restaurant safely prepare, cook and package the meals.

Project Linus  

Project Linus is a national organization whose mission is to provide homemade blankets to children in need. Our local Project Linus chapter donates blankets to the intensive care units at Duke and UNC Hospitals and to the Ronald McDonald House, for sick children of all ages from infants to teens.JRC’s team of knitters, crocheters and sewers meet once a month on Social Action Sundays (currently we are meeting on Zoom).

Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD)

Urban Ministries of Durham connects with the community to help end homelessness and fight poverty by offering food, shelter and a future to our neighbors in need. Urban Ministries of Durham is the only public shelter for single adults in Durham (and the back-up shelter for families) who will assist anyone in need, regardless of race, ethnicity, religious belief or non-belief, sexual orientation, gender or gender identification, or disability. JRC leads the local Jewish community in providing dinner for around 200 people at UMD the fourth Sunday of every month.

 

In addition, we are actively engaged with the following organizations:

Durham CROP Walk,  Durham Community Land Trust, Durham PRIDE, El Refugio at Stewart, The Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, Iglesia Emanuel food pantry, HIAS, Jewish for Good, La Semilla, NAACP NC/Forward Together, Religious Coalition for Nonviolent Durham, and The RAC (Religious Action Center of the Union for Reform Judaism).

If you are interested in finding out more about some of our partners in Tikkun Olam and the many fulfilling social justice opportunities in our community, please email socialaction@judeareform.org.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784