Six small local nonprofit organizations just received a grant from the Rabbi Robert P. Jacobs Jewish Fund for Human Needs (JFHN). A total of $18,000 was awarded.  

JFHN awarded an emergency grant of $500 to EnergyCare in response to the prolonged heat alert in St. Louis this month. EnergyCare provides room air conditioners and utility bill assistance to low-income households. 

The other five grants were awarded during JFHN’s semi-annual allocation cycle. The recipients are:

• All Among Us, which provides transitional housing in Ferguson for single women, received $4,000.

 • Home Sweet Home, which was also awarded $4,000, provides furniture and household supplies for low-income people in new housing because of circumstances including domestic violence, previous homelessness, substance abuse or release from prison.

 • The Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Program serves recent immigrants and refugees with in-home tutoring of English and practical living skills. JFHN awarded a grant of $3,000. 

 • Near Southside Employment Coalition, which received a grant of $3,000, provides job training, referrals and placement to low-income adults and also places teens in summer jobs. 

• RukaNade, which received $3,000. It is an all-volunteer organization that drives throughout the St. Louis region in search of people living on the street, and provides them with food, clothing, and hygiene supplies. 

The JFHN allocation committee also honored All Among Us with the Bert Rosen Award, which includes an additional $500. The late Bert Rosen was a founder and early chair of the fund. The award in his name goes to agencies that reflect his values of compassion, generosity, and kindness for others regardless of faith, race or position in life.

JFHN is a joint project of the Jewish Community Relations Council and the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association. The fund establishes a Jewish presence in the work of nonprofit agencies that provide direct services to people in need.