Jan 12, 2017

Federation Partnering With Repair the World to Expand Jewish Young Adult Volunteerism in Miami

Repair the World is coming to Miami! Federation is partnering with this nationally renowned organization to encourage peer-to-peer engagement among young Jewish adults in Miami’s Midtown/Downtown/Brickell area. After opening successful programs in Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City, Repair the World will work closely with Federation’s Jewish Volunteer Center (JVC) and the Young Leadership Division, Federation’s Under-40 Division, to expand its social impact through volunteer recruitment and programming in the Jewish and general communities. Repair the World Miami is set to launch this summer.

“Miami is an ideal place for a Repair the World community,” said Jacob Solomon, Federation President and CEO. “Our 2014 demographic study of Miami’s Jewish community revealed an emerging Jewish population with mostly young adults in the Midtown/Downtown/Brickell area. In addition, nearly half of the respondents told us they had done volunteer work the previous year.

“This is not surprising, since more than 3,000 people provided more than 12,000 volunteer hours to community organizations and their clients last year through our Jewish Volunteer Center,” said Solomon. “With the proven model of Repair the World’s Communities Program, this partnership will help advance our organizations’ missions of engaging young adults and serving others, while providing help and hope to those in need of support.”

Federation’s partnership with Repair the World is indicative of a shared confidence that Miami can be part of the movement to make service a defining part of Jewish life.

“One of our primary goals is to reach out to our diverse Jewish community and attract the participation of the widest possible range of individuals,” said Tobi Ash, JVC Chair. “We know that Miami has a large, unaffiliated population of young Jewish people, and we recognize our partnership with Repair the World as a new opportunity to successfully engage the time and energies of young adults who might not otherwise be engaged.”

Repair the World is seeking to hire a Director who will build the new Miami organization and manage local operations. Federation and Repair the World Miami also will create close, ongoing relationships with Jewish communal organizations in Miami, welcoming their participation in tikkun olam (repair the world) activities. As part of this initiative, Repair the World Miami will support up to five Fellows who will focus on engaging their peers in community-service work.