Dear friends,
This year has been extremely rough on our queer Jewish community. Our support and wellness team has experienced twice as many inbound calls, emails, and texts from Jewish LGBTQ+ individuals in crisis compared to years previous. We learned that the whiplash of trying to keep economically afloat, the anxiety related to anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and the ongoing mourning of our LGBTQ+ community lost to suicide had created a perfect storm for mental health crisis in our community.
We need your help! As we approach the end-of-year, we need your assistance to intervene with life-saving crisis and suicide prevention resources. JQ’s ability to support LGBTQ+ Jews in crisis is a calling that JQ’s clinical team will not turn away from. JQ offers support and crisis intervention based on the prophetic tradition of Jewish values of life. In Deuteronomy 30:19, G-d proclaims, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have put before you, life and death, blessing and curse. Now choose life so that you and your children may live.” JQ works to encourage the Jewish LGBTQ+ community to cement the door closed on suicide and support the loved ones in mourning. We run vital programs and services that give our community opportunities to connect, learn, and thrive.
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We have answered over 1,200 hours of JQ Helpline emails, texts, and phone calls.
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We combatted the constant strain of loneliness and isolation with the return of two dozen in-person programs for the queer Jewish adult and teen community.
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We have worked with 30 new Jewish institutions on their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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And I am proud to tell you that JQ has impacted more than 18,000 individuals this year alone.
JQ’s unique positioning is best described by our countless surveys of individuals served…
“I’m a gay, Jewish, trans, nonbinary, femme, neurodivergent person who struggles with mental health. I’m seldom in a room with anyone who identifies as anything similar to me. It was an absolute honor to be surrounded by many people who experience the world through such a similar lens. The Trans and Nonbinary Support Group provided space during a special time in my life when I was very depressed.” -JQ Support Group Participant
What remains unchanged, and what gives me hope, is JQ’s unwavering vision of offering an inclusive, compassionate, and hopeful queer Jewish future. This vision is not possible without you, all that you do, and all that you are. Today, I ask you to rededicate your spark to queer Jewish futures.
Your gift to JQ will allow us to continue offering meaningful community connections, mental health support and wellness programs, and education that takes you beyond allyship and into activism. Please help us reach our end-of-year goal of $25,000. Your gift will give LGBTQ+ Jews and allies the home we never thought was possible and the future we have always dreamed about.
With gratitude,
Asher Gellis
JQ International, Chief Executive Officer
| Donations can be made online at www.jqinternational.org/donate or mailed to JQ at 801 Larrabee St., #10, West Hollywood, California, 90069. EIN 68-0601176. We also welcome philanthropic gifts from Donor-Advised Funds. Questions? Contact Shana Gee-Cohen, JQ’s Chief Development Officer at scohen@jqinternational.org or (323) 417-2627 ext. 700 | |||||
