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Youthability receives $1 million endowment gift
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Rick and Erica Horvitz
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JFSA and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland are pleased to announce receipt of a one million dollar ($1,000,000) endowment commitment from Richard Horvitz and Erica Hartman-Horvitz to support JFSA's YouthAbility Program.
This endowment is part of the Federation's Centennial Initiative, a multi-year fundraising effort to support both capital and endowment projects in Jewish Cleveland and overseas.
JFSA's YouthAbility helps youth, ages 16 to 24, with disabilities or who are at-risk, to develop job skills through community volunteer assignments, group projects and small business enterprises. Currently, over 300 individuals each year participate in the program. Because of its unique nature, public funding has been very difficult to obtain. Over the past few years the program has relied primarily on donations from private foundations and individuals.
"We are grateful to the Horvitz family for their extraordinary gift which will keep this program sustainable and ensure that youth with disabilities will continue to benefit from its amazing successes," said Robert Immerman, JFSA Board Chair.
Although the Horvitz's gift will secure the program's fixed operating costs, such as labor and overhead, there is still a need to fund the program's diverse activities. For example, YouthAbility members typically engage in annual trips that enable their members to advocate for funding for disabled youth, raise awareness and promote the success of their program with other similar groups, and provide learning opportunities to members that otherwise would not be available. Over the past several years, the group has taken trips to Chicago, Washington DC and Israel. These trips can cost anywhere from $500 to $2000 per person and are totally funded through private donations.
The Horvitz's are passionate about helping children with special needs. "We care deeply about kids with disabilities and believe that society has a moral obligation to do as much as possible to help children who, through no fault of their own, are faced with some very tough obstacles," Rick commented. "We picked YouthAbility because we have tremendous confidence in JFSA and the remarkable impact this program has made in the lives of youth and their families."
Erica agrees. "JFSA's YouthAbility is a role model program for other schools and organizations that help disabled youth maximize the potential in their lives. It is so inspirational to witness how far these kids can go with just the right support."
For more information, call Heidi at 216.378.3434
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