By now it is clear and there is no longer any doubt:
We are in the midst of a financial crisis.

Industries in the New Jersey region have been hit hard. We read about the increased layoffs occurring in the financial services, pharmaceutical, and technology arena. Right here in our own backyard we know family, friends, and neighbors who have been directly affected by this economic upheaval. People are losing their jobs, they are having trouble keeping their homes, they are being forced to give up their health insurance, and they are feeling enormous stress, which often affects their family lives and troubles their marriages. There has been nothing like it in decades. It stretches around the world and it reaches into every community.

Demand for aid from community agencies like Jewish Vocational Service and Jewish Family Service is increasing at an alarming rate, and this is only the beginning.

At this time, more than most, it is the wealth of our tradition and our values we can rely on. Values such as tzedakah: acts of justice. Now, more than ever, we must practice tzedakah, we must see to it that those suddenly struggling to maintain their lives receive the help they need.

And now, we must practice the value of K’lal Yisrael: the community of Israel. We are all one community, one people, one family. These are trying, difficult times for us all, and that’s the point. We are all in this together. When Jews help one another, we all benefit. What we give to each other, we also receive. And when any of us receives help, all of us are better for it. We are truly one.

UJC and our network of partner agencies can deliver the help members of our community need. This has always been the job of United Jewish Appeal and our annual campaign — to provide the vital safety net for Jews in trouble, to maintain and employ a supply of unrestricted funding, available to answer Jewish needs of any kind, as they arise, wherever they occur.

However, we need additional resources to get the job done. All things being equal, UJA has always been capable of insuring that no Jew ever is without a place to turn. But things are not equal. These are extraordinary times, and the needs are extraordinary.

To begin addressing the increasing problems in our community, UJC MetroWest has approved an immediate $50,000 to launch MetroWest HELPS, a family financial crisis response in collaboration with JVS and JFS. But more is needed.

This is the reason we are launching a supplemental fundraising effort as part of our 2009 UJA Annual Campaign in support of MetroWest HELPS, to amplify what you and we have always been able to do, to help and protect our fellow Jews, and to do it on the scale that is now required.

 Your additional support is needed urgently, and it is needed now. It is needed absolutely. So many are depending on you — they are depending on what you do, this very minute.

Please make your pledge today.*
*Pledges for this emergency effort are payable by December 31, 2008.

From July to September 2008, our partner agencies saw a 30% increase overall in the monthly caseloads for career counseling, career placement, mental health counseling, and cash assistance requests, as compared to the same period in 2007.

But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Typically, services like these face the true scale of the problem only after a time delay, due to the nature of the issues they address. That tells us things are about to get much worse!

It’s our expectation that the number of requests and caseloads will increase dramatically over the next three to six months. MORE

If you lost your job or are experiencing emotional & financial trauma due to the current economic crisis...

UJC MetroWest and our Partner Agencies are here for you and your family.

Through MetroWest Helps, assistance is available if you:

• Lost your job or are underemployed and need job counseling, training, or placement
• Are about to lose your home
• Can't make ends meet
• Are experiencing enormous stress and anxiety and are having trouble coping

The Jewish Resource Line (contact: 973-929-3100) is a centralized information and referral service providing health, educational, vocational, and social services offered under Jewish auspices.

Jewish Family Service (contact: 973-765-9050) provides counseling for individuals, families, couples, and children and can be helpful in a variety of ways to families in financial distress.

Jewish Vocational Service Career Counseling & Placement Services (contact: 973-674-6330, x271) provides support services and counseling for the unemployed and underemployed.

Hebrew Free Loan (contact: 973-765-9050, x344) provides interest-free loans to Jews with no place else to turn. Loans are provided for virtually any situation in which a needy family finds itself.