Double Infusion

There will be more money for AIDS prevention, breast cancer counseling, domestic violence programming and to work with former Soviet immigrants, the executive vice president and CEO of the Federation Employment and Guidance Service revealed this week.

The FEGS executive, Al Miller, said the new money was realized after strong investments made it possible to use the earnings to pay employee pension premiums.

“That is intelligent modern planning, thinking and implementation,” said Miller. “It means that we are looking at every way possible of providing as much money for these services that are so important to us.”

Misha Galperin, UJA-Federation’s chief operating officer, said the premium waiver saved not only FEGS but all the organization’s 130 agencies an average of 4.5 percent of their budget. In addition, he said, UJA-Federation’s board of directors Tuesday night approved a 4 percent increase in each agency’s basic grant beginning July 1, the largest such one-year increase in 13 years.

Bernie Kimberg, UJA-Federation’s executive director for planning and allocations, said the 4 percent increase is significant in light of the fact that the cost of living last year rose only about 1.5 percent.

The infusion of money was attributed to last year’s $1.7 million increase in the general campaign, which jumped to $117.8 million. The new money has enabled UJA-Federation not only to increase basic grants to agencies but to increase the basic allocations of several organizations. For instance, the Suffolk Association of Jewish Educational Services, a grassroots organization that provides a variety of Jewish educational training and programming, will receive a $100,000 increase.

“The demand for SAJES’ programs was such that it needed to increase its services and become more independent of the BJE,” explained Galperin, adding that the process has begun to make SAJES a UJA-Federation affiliated agency; it is now an allied agency.

“The last time there was a new affiliate was about eight years ago when the Metropolitan New York Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty came in,” he said. “The process, which takes about one or two years, involves reviewing the agency’s mission and operations to make sure they are in congruence with our goals, and that the appropriate management is in place with fiscal accountability. Admission must be approved by the domestic council, which is composed of the agencies in the network, as well as our own board of directors.”

The new money from the campaign will allow an increase in targeted grants to various agencies. There will be a total of $600,000 in such grants next year or more than twice the amount of the previous year.Among those receiving the additional funds will be the Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst. Galperin said it has been dealing with an increasing number of poor immigrants and has been unable to raise enough through membership dues to cover costs. As a result, Galperin said UJA-Federation will increase the organization’s basic grant by $40,000, which will enable it to operate in the black and continue to serve about 30,000 residents each year.Also receiving more money in the next fiscal year will be Hillel of New York. It will receive an additional $100,000 to help serve the 60,000 Jewish students on college campuses in the New York area. Its total grant from UJA-Federation will thus be about $1 million, Galperin noted.And to help the Jewish Community Center of the Upper West Side, which is in the process of raising funds for a building, UJA-Federation will give the organization an extra $50,000.

“They are beginning to think of starting a nursery school and this money is to help them develop it — to hire the staff and rent a site and gain accreditation,” said Galperin.

He added that a supplemental grant of about $100,000 is being provided to the New York Legal Assistance Group, which has been “terrific in working with us and our agencies, especially in the areas of immigrant citizenship and poverty.” It too, he said, has started the process to become a UJA-Federation affiliate.

In addition, Galperin said the Jewish Continuity Commission will receive another $300,000 to increase the amount of money it can allot for grants to $3.5 million.

And he said UJA-Federation will be awarding a total of $800,000 in planning initiative grants — $300,000 more than last year — for five priority areas: combating family violence, programs for emigre teenagers, to fight and prevent breast cancer, and for grants to Long Island and Westchester based on the recommendations of committees in those areas.

There will be seven grants awarded to Westchester groups, including Hillel, Jewish community centers, the Westchester Jewish Community Services and a program for interfaith couples at a local synagogue.

Ten grants will be awarded on Long Island that range from transportation grant for the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged, home care for marginal income Jewish elderly through Selfhelp Community Services, grants to Jewish community centers and a planning grant for the Suffolk Jewish Communal Planning Council to assess communal service needs on Long Island.

Among the lay leaders involved in the allocation process were the chairman of the Planning and Allocations Committee, Fred Yerman; the domestic vice president, Alan Bernikow; and the chairman of the Planning Cabinet, Stephen Reiner.