The new JCCs
Thinking
outside of the building
By Elise Kigner Advocate Staff
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Scenes from the JCCs: A senior stays fits with Zumba class at the
Leventhal-Sidman JCC in Newton. Cantor Gastón Bogomolni, music director
at the JCC's Kaleidoscope Arts and Science summer camp, leads a
sing-along. Below: Students at Bernice B. Godine Early Learning Center,
Newton.
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The
20-year-old Striar Jewish Community Center was sold to the Old Colony YMCA
last March, but the head of the JCCs of Greater Boston doesn't count this
as a loss.
CEO
Mark Sokoll called the Stoughton facility "representative of the way
that we used to serve communities…the build it and they will come
approach."
More
than 60 percent of the Striar JCC's 2,700 members now belong to the YMCA,
Sokoll said, but shedding the building and its gym hasn't translated into a
cut in JCC programming.
From
an office at Temple Sinai in Sharon, the South Area JCC coordinates
programs at temples, senior centers and even the Y. Most of the students
enrolled in the Striar preschool now attend preschool at the Gilson JCC
Early Learning Center at Temple Sinai. In September, a sixth JCC preschool
opened up at Sha'aray Shalom in Hingham. The JCC has added programming for
seniors at the Orchard Cove retirement community in Canton; and at the Old
Colony Y, the JCC runs weekly swim classes for children with special needs.
On
Dec. 5, the JCC's annual fund-raising gala, Lights & Spice, honors Jeffrey
Savit, who as chair of the governing board led the organization through the
sale of the Striar JCC. Savit, who quit his job as an attorney seven years
ago to become a social worker, now serves as chair of the JCC's Community
Leadership Council.
Savit
said he shares Sokoll's vision of partnering with other Jewish institutions
in the community, which often means using their space. Sokoll said the JCC
has no plans for new campuses like the Leventhal-Sidman in Newton, which
has a gym and two pools.
"We
do not foresee building any large-scale JCC facilities in the future,"
he said. "Our model is more focused on how we reach out to Jews where
they live."
The
JCC's move toward decentralization comes at a time when Jewish institutions
in general are seeking new ways to attract members.
Sokoll
said the JCC is "on the front lines" of the effort to getting
families to connect with their Jewish identities.
"The
JCC can and is playing a leadership role in that because they have the
ability to reach out to so many different kinds of families," he said,
counting same-sex couples and mixed faith families as examples of the
diverse and changing Jewish family.
Its
programming includes holiday celebrations. For Rosh Hashanah, the JCC
offered singing, crafts and snacks at the Newton JCC, the Danforth Museum
in Framingham and the Easton Middle School.
Alan
Mann, the first executive director of the Leventhal-Sidman JCC, recalled
when the campus was opened in the early '80s to serve Jews in a centralized
location.
Now
executive vice president of the umbrella JCC Association, Mann noted that
the trend toward decentralizing can also be seen in Chicago and Florida.
"Jews
move all over the place and need services where they are," said Mann,
whose association is based in New York.
More
than 10,000 people belong to the JCCs of Greater Boston, which has offices
in Framingham, Sharon and Newton, Sokoll said. The renewal rate is 80- 90
percent.
But
membership is only one part of the picture, making up about a quarter of
the JCC's revenue. Half of its income comes from camps held during school
vacations and early learning center tuition - areas where Sokoll said the
JCC may expand programming.
Enrollment
at JCC camps hit highs the last two summers. Meanwhile, requests for
financial aid are also up, with a quarter of the families seeking help last
summer.
Lights
& Spice, with a fundraising goal of half a million dollars, will call attention
to the needs of campers with testimonials from parents. The organization
hopes to award between $800,000 and $900,000 in scholarships for the fiscal
year that began in July for all JCC services, including camps, preschools
and meals for seniors.
The
JCCs of Greater Boston is a community partner agency of the Combined Jewish
Philanthropies.
The
JCC of the North Shore in Marblehead is taking a different approach than
that of its counterpart to the south. Its focus is on upgrading the
facilities and programs at its building. The JCC, facing competition from a
new YMCA, lost 20 percent of its members between 2008 and 2009. Membership
is rebounding and is now at 4,500, said Tony Daniels, who has been the
acting executive director of the JCC of the North Shore since July.
To
attract members, Daniels said, his JCC is adding amenities like a lounge
and staff, including six personal trainers and two nutritionists. It is
also renting out the space to public and private schools.
"We needed to concentrate on
what we do well here in the building," he said. "The JCC of the
North Shore is the hub, or we want it to be the hub, of the Jewish
community."
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