The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles has announced that it has awarded $3.7 million in grants to 45 local organizations, including 22 Jewish nonprofits and 23 synagogues, as they recover from the pandemic.

The number represents the largest amount and the greatest number of recipients ever awarded by the foundation in a single grants cycle. Known as Reimagine Grants, the funding is in keeping with the foundation’s comprehensive grants strategy developed in response to COVID-19.

For the second consecutive year, the institution has re-invented its annual grants programs to respond to pandemic-related needs of Los Angeles’ Jewish institutions.  These latest awards – combined with $8.3 million in pandemic-related grants already awarded – bring total COVID-19 response and relief grantmaking to approximately $12 million dispensed to nearly 100 organizations since March 2020.

The foundation developed the Reimagine Grants following consultation with nonprofit professionals and fellow funders. They include new ways to identify issues and meet evolving constituent needs, address staff mental fatigue resulting from intensified job demands, and provide professional development for managing through crises.

The grants will help nonprofits address issues and provide programs for children, youth and young adults, as well as people with disabilities. They also assist with community health and wellness; diversity, equity and inclusion; and Jewish, Israeli and Holocaust education.  The funding to 23 synagogues – including Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills and Temple Israel of Hollywood – will support initiatives ranging from staff development to mental health and wellbeing.

“Our newly created Reimagine Grants are a robust response to the pandemic and support Los Angeles-area Jewish communal institutions as they adapt and transition into a new reality,” President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin I. Schotland said. “In response to the pandemic, we swiftly executed a full pivot of foundation institutional funding initiatives to address emerging and fast-changing needs. These newest grants, together with our earlier COVID-19 Response Grants, reflect a 360-degree perspective to boost programs and initiatives doing critical work in our Jewish and general communities. Years from now we may look back and say these initiatives were among the most innovative, forward-looking grants the foundation ever made.”

Established in 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles manages charitable assets of more than $1.4 billion entrusted to it by over 1,300 families. For information, visit jewishfoundationla.org.