Jewish Council on Urban Affairs

Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) is a not-for-profit organization based in Chicago, Ill., that works with diverse neighborhoods and community groups to battle discrimination, anti-Semitism, poverty and other forms of oppression . Jane Ramsey has been the organization’s executive director since 1980 .

Mission

“The mission of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is to combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with Chicago’s diverse communities. Guided by prophetic Jewish principles, JCUA pursues social and economic justice for Chicago’s most vulnerable neighborhoods by promoting a vision of empowering communities from within. Since 1964, JCUA has assisted groups in low-income and minority communities, built coalitions with diverse groups, advocated on issues of poverty and racism and mobilized a Jewish constituency to create a more just city” .

About

According to Slingshot, a Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation, “For 45 years, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA) has been perceived by many as the social consciousness of the Chicago-area Jewish community”. According to Sojourners magazine, JCUA is the preeminent model for today’s Jewish social justice organizations . As a Chicago-based organization, JCUA pioneered the American Jewish community’s participation in social justice work. Since 1964, JCUA has been working with neighborhoods targeted by social and economic depression and collaborates actively with immigrant communities to promote human rights and social justice. Working with other community-based organizations, JCUA focuses on issues that affect urban communities, such as “poverty, education, employment, housing, transportation and crime”. JCUA mobilizes the Chicago-area Jewish community in an effort to build partnerships and to advocate on behalf of disenfranchised Chicago residents.

History

Early Activity

JCUA was founded in 1964 by Rabbi Robert Marx, who at the time was the Midwest Director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism) and a committed civil rights activist.

JCUA’s origins can be traced to the civil rights movement of the 1960s when Rabbi Robert Marx marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Open Housing March in Marquette Park. JCUA was established as a Jewish voice promoting human rights and social justice for Chicago’s neighborhoods. In its early years, JCUA worked with the Contract Buyers League to fight unfair real estate practices in Westside homes that were causing excessive fines and evictions of black homeowners.

The first staff member of JCUA was Lewis Kreinberg, a young graduate student of the University of Wisconsin. Kreinberg’s first assignment was to work with the Northwest Community Organization (NCO) to counter slum landlords who were exploiting tenants.

1970s

JCUA continued its extensive work on affordable housing. The organization supported non-profit community based developers, advocated for improved tenant living conditions, assisted in organizing tenant unions, and aided in the formation and staffing of the Public Welfare Coalition. JCUA focused on intergroup collaboration, working with Chicago’s diverse racial, ethnic, and religious communities. The organization engaged in dialogue with the African American community, and together created a service cooperative to focus on the needs of small local business. JCUA joined a coalition with African American and Latino communities to address job discrimination in Chicago-area corporations and to protest the Nazi march in Marquette Park. Working with local organizations in West Town, JCUA rallied in opposition to the post office, which at the time was practicing employment discrimination against Latino. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism) and JCUA created a summer youth program called the Youth Mitzvah Corps, empowering young people to volunteer in the inner city..

Activities

JCUA works on several campaigns and projects concurrently. Some of the organization’s current activities are outlined below:

JCUA organizes Jewish-Muslim dialogue programs, such as “Iftar in the Sukkah” or “Iftar in the Synagogue”, events that bring local Jews and Muslims together to break the fast of Ramadan and to celebrate a coinciding Jewish holiday. In 2007, when the end of Ramadan overlapped with Sukkot, a Jewish festival marking the traditional time of harvest, about 150 Muslims and Jews congregated in Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in Chicago, to socialize, eat, and experience each others’ rituals. The “Iftar” programs have continued yearly.

From JCUA’s inception until today, the organization has focused on preserving affordable housing opportunities for low-income Chicagoans. In reaction to citywide gentrification, JCUA is working with community groups to ensure affordable housing for displaced residents. JCUA provides seed money to real estate developers to encourage development of affordable housing. July 11, 2007. JCUA works with the Coalition for the Protection of Public Housing on the “Housing is a Human Right” campaign. The campaign opposes the unjust treatment of Chicago public housing residents by challenging forced evictions.

JCUA runs a teen urban-immersion program called Or Tzedek (Hebrew for “Light of Justice”). The week-long program gives high school students the opportunity to engage with urban issues such as affordable housing, health-care, immigration, poverty, and homelessness. Participants learn about these social justice issues through a Jewish lens while meeting and volunteering with community leaders and experts.

In the aftermath of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in May of 2008 of the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant, JCUA has helped organize an alliance of community groups and concerned individuals in Postville, Iowa. The group aims to reach a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the new owners of the Agriprocessors plant. Since the 2008 raid, JCUA has raised money and supported the affected Postville community. The goals of the Postville Community Benefits Alliance are to ensure that the meatpacking plant is a responsible corporation and that it treats its workers fairly while providing a safe working environment.

JCUA has been at the forefront of the battle for comprehensive immigration reform. JCUA seeks to be a “strong Jewish presence” as it works with other faith communities, supporting the passage of federal legislation that treats immigrants fairly. JCUA, Jewish Community Action (St. Paul, Minn.) and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society co-convened “We Were Strangers, Too: the Jewish Campaign for Immigration Reform.” The campaign aims to pass “comprehensive immigration reform which should include family reunification, a path to citizenship, enforcement that reflects our values while bolstering national security, legal channels for future immigrants and resources that empower immigrants to integrate into our society”.

Recognition

• JCUA was included in the 2009-2010 edition of Slingshot, an annual guide that highlights innovative Jewish non-profit organizations. JCUA was the only Chicago-based organization to be selected in Slingshot’s most recent publication

• The “Forward 50” is an annual list published by The Forward that highlights 50 of the most influential leaders in the American Jewish community. In 2009, The Forward included JCUA’s executive director, Jane Ramsey. “In almost every social and economic justice issue that came up in Chicago — homelessness, unemployment, community reinvestment, racism, anti-Semitism — Ramsey was there, providing Jewish leadership”.

External links

• [1]