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Spotlight

In our new Spotlight blog,  we will be highlighting some of our lovely JCC members, community, and their amazing stories. Billy Carney - "B'man" Being inclusive and welcoming to people of all abilities is at the forefront of what we do. Seventeen-year-old Bill Carney, better known as B'man, has cerebral palsy. B'man and his family moved to Pittsburgh four years ago to get medical attention after complications stemming from …

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ECDC Children Learn and Explore Through Art

The JCC’s Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) adopts an approach for the education of young children which is inspired by the ideas and practices in Reggio Emilia, Italy.  The principles of the Reggio Approach resonate with the JCC’s mission to create an environment that nurtures people and connects community each day, through every age, inspired by Jewish values. The Arts are a core component of ECDC’s …

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Loving Kindness and Civic Engagement – Faith and Politics – Our Fifth Calendar Year

December 2021 “I believe that our faith could influence our civic engagement.” I am hoping that for some of us, the above statement raises at least one eyebrow.  After all, we know each other well enough to understand how precious I hold the rights explicated in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights that prevent Congress from making “…no law respecting an establishment of religion, or …

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The JCC’s Second Floor Teen Department Promotes Mental Wellness

Initiatives include The Second Floor Wellness Room and Virtual Teen Resource Room The Second Floor Teen Department at the JCC has made teen mental health and wellness a much larger priority in an effort to curb the teen mental health crisis that has emerged over the last several years.  Through the generosity of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, The Second Floor Teen Department hired a part-time Director …

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The imperative to preserve and safeguard life – Why two JCCs announced vaccine requirements

The mitzvah of preserving life taking precedence over other Jewish laws has been at the forefront of our minds these past weeks It has not been an easy ride for the JCC field these past 18 months. Mandated closures, partial re-openings, staff layoffs, workforce shortages, capacity limitations, new operating protocols, contract tracing, mask requirements and mandated quarantines—a journey no JCC has faced on this scale for …

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Teens Bring About The First Teen Mental Health Awareness Day

Sunday was a win for teens, teen mental health advocates, mental health organizations, and the community-at-large. Teens who are a part of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s PA Youth Advocacy Network wrote a proclamation that recognized May 23, 2021, as Teen Mental Health Awareness Day in the city and in the commonwealth.  The proclamation, written for teens and by teens, was a culmination of work by multiple organizations and …

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Disability Awareness and Inclusion is a Year-Round Commitment at the JCC

While February is Jewish Disability, Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), a North American initiative to raise awareness and support efforts to foster inclusion in Jewish communities worldwide, at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh, awareness and inclusion of those with physical or developmental differences is a year-round commitment – fully integrated into our programming and baked into the way we do things as part of our …

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Beyond Potlucks and Panels: Interfaith Dialogue for a Digital Era

  February 1, 2021 One by one the Zoom boxes appear on the screen. A retired Jewish radiologist in suburban Pittsburgh. A self-described “Jew-Bu” in Brooklyn, combining the Judaism of her upbringing with a Buddhist meditation practice. A college professor who has practiced the Baha’i faith since her teens. A lapsed Catholic exploring phenomenological philosophy on the side. Joining us from their own living rooms, tonight this …

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Managing for Resilience in a Crisis

"Resilience - the ability to withstand adversity and recover from difficult events.   It wasn’t a word I used often at the JCC for most of my first 20 years as CEO, but one that has defined my practice and that of the agency the past several years. Despite our best efforts, much of what life dishes up is beyond our control.  But we do have …

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Serving Teens, Pandemic or Not!

Shabbat Message from Brian Schreiber, JCC President and CEO One of the most vulnerable populations emerging out of this pandemic are teens – an area of expertise and great focus for the JCC historically through the present. While the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh was most agreeable to our request to release designated funding restrictions on teen programs this year (a joint area of great interest and …

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