In 2004, JWI conducted a Needs Assessment on Domestic Abuse in the Chicagoland Jewish Community to explore the service, education and resource needs of abused Jewish women and their families. The project, funded in part by the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and guided by the JCARES coalition, aimed to identify unmet needs and the resources available to Jewish families impacted by domestic abuse.

In 2007 and 2008, Needs Assessments were conducted by Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL  and Church of the Holy Spirit in Shaumburg, lL as part of a project generously funded by a Chicago Foundation for Women SafeState grant awarded to Jewish Women International in 2007. The project was designed to build the capacity of faith congregations to prevent, address and respond to abuse with a longer term goal of creating systemic change in the community.

The findings and priorities for action are contained in the report, Building Faith Based Community Responses to Domestic Violence, which Jewish Women International and the Chicago Mayor’s Office on Domestic Violence released in June 2008.

To find out more about this project or to receive a copy of the key findings revealed in the study, or to inquire about conducting a needs assessment in your own community, contact Deborah Rosenbloom, Director of Programs, at drosenbloom@jwi.org or 800.343.2823.