Greater New Orleans Jewish community COVID-19 Response Initiative

The Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans, and the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana have partnered with a number of area synagogues to create a Jewish community response helpline program for problems related to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
 
Our collective goal is to provide connection during a time of distance, as well as practical assistance (food, supplies, and prescription pick up for those who need it). These efforts are not intended to duplicate emergency or crisis services. In the case of an emergency, please call 911 (for a medical emergency) or 211 (for a mental health emergency).
 

Here are the details:
 
What: Jewish Community Response Volunteer Initiative
 
Who’s eligible: Members of a Jewish household who currently reside in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Charles, Washington, Tangipahoa, St. Helena, Livingston, and St. Bernard parishes
 
How: Call or email the helpline (at one of the options listed below) and carefully follow the directions provided. You should receive a response within 48 hours, except during Shabbat and Jewish holidays. A volunteer will be in touch to coordinate addressing your need, whether it’s picking up a grocery order or just having someone with whom to talk.
 
Helpline options:

• 504-780-5672

• covidresponse@jewishnola.com

All questions should be directed through the helpline.

Interested in volunteering with our COVID-19 response program?

New Orleans Jewish Communal Response to COVID-19

The Federation continues to be open for business, but obviously the top issue for us all right now is our response to COVID-19. Our communications outreach and professional efforts have been refocused on how to support and lead our community during this extraordinary time. Below you will find a listing of upcoming Federation events that we have now postponed. Additionally, while most Federation business meetings have not been cancelled, all eligible meetings will be held by phone or through Zoom. Staff will reach out to you if you are scheduled to participate in these meetings.

We’ll be communicating frequently with you to disseminate community announcements and important information. We’re updating our community resource page daily, so if your Jewish organization or synagogue want to share updates with our wider distribution list, please send them directly to the Federation’s Marketing and Communications Director, Cait Gladow, at cait@jewishnola.com.

We are committed to keeping everyone connected during this time of social distancing. If your Jewish communal organization or synagogue does not have access to a web meeting platform like Zoom, please reach out to Cait. Until the CDC guidelines for isolation are lifted, the Federation is happy to help facilitate your interactive activities.

As you know, we have created a task force to coordinate localized Jewish efforts, with community leaders, medical professionals, and New Orleans City Council Member Joe Giarrusso. We welcome your input as to how we can best serve you as we collectively navigate this crisis – none of what the Federation does happens in a vacuum.

Finally, we’re working hard with our community partners to create a volunteer program that will allow us to respond to individualized Jewish member concerns in the weeks ahead. We will have more information for you on this program in the coming days.

Stay safe, and as always, please let us know how your Jewish Federation can best serve you and your family.

We have also created a resource page to help our community organizations, synagogues and schools share announcements and news related to COVID-19.