JDC leads the Jewish world from the front

Dear Joint supporter

For the obvious Coronavirus precautionary reasons, The Joint Australia has cancelled the visit to Australia of our esteemed speaker Will Recant, who was visiting Australia on a Speaker Tour in late April/early May this year.

We have simply folded over the Will Recant event to the end of the year and will announce shortly.

The 2020 Joint Gala events are on:

1. Wednesday 4th November in Sydney
2. Thursday 5th November in Melbourne

Our speakers will be exciting and motivating and we will share that with you shortly.

We are all receiving many messages of cancellation and postponement from a plethora of organisations. Let me take you down a different pathway:

I must express my pride in belonging to an organisation that exercises excellent leadership in communication and action. As President, I am receiving daily updates from Head Office and far-flung corners of the world, messages that are encouraging and comforting. JDC continues its mission unabated, albeit modified to accommodate new risks and challenges.

As someone who can quickly adapt to the new circumstances due to the nature of my role at JDC, I am in awe of those who must continue to work in the field, maintaining care and social services to “our clients (who) are a vulnerable population even in the best of times”.

This dedication to the mission, now and for 105 years, is why we are the world’s leading philanthropic Jewish organisation.

It is with great satisfaction that I share and will continue to share these stories with you our donors and friends, demonstrating how, in these trying times, JDC is at the forefront of care for those in need.

JDC leads the Jewish world from the front. Coronavirus is just another challenge, no worse than us continuing operations during two world wars and helping the creation of the State of Israel.

How galvanising and riveting to see the JDC not miss a beat in permeating the world with our network of essential services. These are the stories that make history.

On your behalf, I have passed on the thanks of the Australian Joint supporters, to all who provide these services.

——– Original message ——–
From: Amos Lev-Ran
Date: 3/17/20 17:43 (GMT+02:00)
Subject: JDC-FSU Update on the Coronavirus Situation – March 17

JDC-FSU is taking measures to ensure the safety and well-being of our clients and staff in the FSU. We have issued emergency protocols to our local field offices, and to the Heseds, following consultations with an expert in disaster and emergency management. We continually monitor the situation and adapting plans as the situation develops.

Our strategy is to prioritise lifesaving services, utilising staff and resources for those needs, while minimising risk to clients and staff. Our clients are a vulnerable population, even in the best of times. With the Coronavirus pandemic, they are a focused at-risk population.

Critical services are continuing, mainly homecare and material support, and we are minimising Hesed activities that require gatherings. We are taking precautions and minimising entrance to clients’ homes for non-homecare services. To compensate for less face to face contact, we are looking to increasing remote connections with clients. Call centres will continue to operate – we are examining how to enhance their activity while applying cautionary measures – and are considering rapid expansion of hotlines to additional areas.

In addition to advising Heseds to regularly consult with the updates from their local authorities, we have guided the Heseds to establish a response and preparedness taskforce to respond to Coronavirus issues; hold online briefings for employees and homecare staff and regularly share with them updates and other resources on the pandemic; create workflows and mapping of different risk scenarios; and create an organisational emergency structure. We have also provided recommendations regarding cleanliness and hygiene, and increasing cleaning frequency in the premises.

We have guided Heseds to map clients who are prioritised for life-sustaining service – primarily bedridden, homebound and lonely clients, as well as clients with severe disabilities: create groups of volunteers for emergency communication and remote assistance to the clients; and prepare a support (non-medical) hotline for clients to call.

We are looking to mobilise volunteers as much as possible, mainly remotely, taking into account risks of public transportation, and contact with clients.

JDC staff has long been prepared for remote work, and we are gradually implementing improved protocols in different areas. We are working hard and doing our best to respond in uncertain conditions, and we will adapt and develop our operations as the situation evolves. This reality is complex, and travel limitations and variances amongst countries’ responses make our work even harder.

The good news is that we will prevail.

Amos Lev-Ran
Director
External Relations Division | FSU
JDC (The Joint)  | JDC.org
office +972.2.6557319

Kind regards,

Eva Fischl OAM 
President

Philip Bos
Executive Director

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The Joint Australia
P.O. Box 3229
Tamarama, NSW 2026
Australia
Email: australia@jdc.org
Phone: 1300 683 653
www: thejointaustralia.jdc.org