BeWell Initiative

Youth today report feeling disconnection and loneliness at unprecedented levels.  Jewish teens are struggling with self-esteem, academic pressure, body image, and anxiety. All these trends existed before the pandemic – but have since exploded.  As teens struggle, it has also been harder to engage them in Jewish community and deep conversations about their Jewish identity.

Moving Traditions is uniquely equipped to support teens, their parents, teachers, mentors, and clergy with all these challenges.  We support, train, and provide extraordinary resources to local communities that merge deep and compelling Jewish content with evidence-based social and emotional learning. Rigorous evaluations show that our programs help Jewish teens and preteens build their confidence, create caring connections, and develop the social and emotional skills and sense of self needed to become healthy, happy and Jewishly-connected adults. Over 17 years, we have helped more than 28,000 teens thrive, and we’d love to work with your community to reach even more teens and preteens.

We are thrilled to share that Moving Traditions recently received a $30,000 matching grant from the Jewish Federation of North America’s BeWell Initiative to provide seed funding to 3-5 Jewish Federations across the country to expand our programs in their regions.  We would be honored and privileged to work with your Federation to serve your local community.

See below for sample packages. All packages will require participating Federations to operate in partnership with Moving Traditions to identify and make connections to local institutions and promote our activities in the region. If you have additional ideas for programs, we are happy to discuss and potentially incorporate into one of the tiers if applicable.

INVESTMENT PACKAGES

Investment Package Options	$10,000 ($5k BeWell + $5k Local)	$15,000 ($7.5k BeWell + $7.5k Local)	$20,000 ($10k BeWell + $10k Local)
One in-person visit from a regional director – varies based on geographic location	—	✔️	✔️
Stipends for local partners to offset Moving Traditions training and program fees	✔️	✔️	✔️
Enhanced marketing for program recruitment	✔️	✔️	✔️
What Motivates Today’s Teens? Online intro workshop for educators on what teens need from the Jewish community in areas around mental health, wellbeing, and resilience	✔️	✔️	✔️
Regular support for 12 months for a regional field team member *	8-10 hours/ month	9-11 hours/ month	10-12 hours/ month
Community Collaborations **	N/A	Select 1	Select 2

* Our regional field team members will:

• Support your Federation and local Jewish organizations to understand current teen trends
• Recruit, train and support local partners to implement 1 or more of our programs (B-Mitzvah, Teen Groups and/or Kulam) and serve their teens and their families.
• Work closely with your institution to develop a site-specific recruitment strategy and provide ongoing implementation support to ensure the program runs smoothly.
• Promote national programs like our Raising Up Teens parent webinars focused on issues such as mental health, wellbeing, and healthy sexuality.

** Community Collaboration options:

1. Webinars: Two online workshops for parents and/or educators on one of the following topics:
   • Demystifying Teen Language on Gender
   • Teens and Risk-taking
   • How to Support Healthy Relationships and Teen Sexuality
   • You Just Don’t Understand – Improving Parent/Teen Communication
   • Reproductive Rights and Sexual Health
2. Teen Groups: Support the launch of one-two Tzelem, Rosh Hodesh and/or Shevet community groups including coordination, training, and recruitment
3. Shabbat Scholar-In-Residence: In-person Shabbat programming delivered by one of our senior educators on topics such as:
   • What Does Wellbeing Mean in the Jewish Community
   • Women in Judaism
   • Additional topics available- based on the needs and interests of your community