 | | | Marianne Williamson once said, “In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.” No words speak more to the spirit of this moment. To say that my heart swelled upon being welcomed to the NCJW team would be an understatement. Only one week before I started, we all received the terrible news of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, essentially turning back the clock on decades of progress for the rights of all Americans. Within 24 hours, this compassionate team gathered the community for a Havdalah vigil. On my first day, I arrived at Anathan House to find the melted wax of braided candles on the driveway. Physical evidence of this strong and passionate community. While these are heavy times, and there is a long road ahead, knowing we are all in it together gives me hope. Sometimes this will be a marathon. At other times, a sprint. What I see is a team of volunteers, staff, and advocates seizing the opportunity to make this a relay. Without the passing of the baton through collaborative work, centering essential voices, and a readiness to jump in, this journey would be arduous at best. I am so grateful to be a part of this team and community. As we approach the dog days of summer I know I will find some light in the sunkissed, popsicle stained faces of children. I will make time to giggle at overheated dogs splashing in the pool. I hope you all can find an opening in this moment to let in some light and hold onto it for when it’s most in need of deployment. With a faith in the future and a belief in action,  Marissa Fogel
Executive Director
NCJW Pittsburgh | | | | | | | |  | | | Voting: Mon., Aug. 1-Wed., Aug. 31
Best of Pittsburgh Issue Winners Announced: Wed., Sept. 28 | | | BREAKING NEWS! NCJW PITTSBURGH has been nominated for BEST SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATION & for the 2nd Year THRIFTIQUE has been nominated for BEST THRIFT SHOP, as well as new nominations in BEST CLOTHING STORE and BEST FURNITURE STORE It's time to help your favorite local people, places, and businesses reach for the stars in Pittsburgh City Paper's 2022 Best of Pittsburgh readers' poll. NCJW Pittsburgh and Thriftique have moved on to the final voting round. Help us take the trophies by voting now! You can find NCJW's category under PEOPLE AND PLACES, “Best Social Justice Organization.” You can find also Thriftique's categories under GOODS & SERVICES, “Best Clothing store,” “Best Thrift Shop,” and “Best Furniture Store” categories. | | | | | |  | | |  | MomsWork Podcast Club #3: Good Child Care CAN Work
Monday, August 1, Noon Let's empower each other to share our stories with employers, legislators, media, and anybody who will listen! Join our MomsWork Podcast Club (like a book club, but listening to a podcast) to round out your knowledge gaps of child care, meet other moms like you, and laugh, cry and be outraged together. Register HERE. | | |  | So You Think Your Child Needs an IEP?
Wednesday, August 3, Noon Is your child struggling, bored, disengaged, or underperforming in school? Join Susan Killmeyer and Cindy Duch from The PEAL Center to understand the Individualized Education Plan and the process used to assess your child's needs to determine whether this is a useful tool for you. Register HERE. | | | |  | Working Moms Support Group
Friday, August 5, Noon In parenting, and in life, it seems the only constant is change. Join MomsWork and local expert Brenda Levin, LCSW, for this free virtual session discussing how using an active listening approach with our children can promote a smoother transition to a new school year, child care, and managing life's changes in general. Register HERE. | | |  | RESCHEDULED Remote Work Job Search
Monday, August 8, Noon Remote work is here to stay! Widen your work search options to in-person alternatives. Join our partners at the JFCS Career Development Center to learn how to find a remote job. Plus, learn the best tips and strategies to get the job of your dreams. Note the date change from July 22 to Aug 8. Register HERE. | | | |  | Pregnancy Accommodations at Work
Friday, August 12, Noon What are your rights as a working pregnant person? Join Maggie Neely of the Women's Law Project to understand your employer's legal responsibilities to you and your growing family. Register HERE. | | |  | Jazz It Up with MomsWork
Sunday, August 14, 5m - 7pm Let's get social as we listen to some great music. Join us for a cool drink and a snack at the Highland Park Reservoir! Look for the balloons toward the right of the stage and Reservoir Drive. We will have information on our child care advocacy work, as well as actions you can take to help improve the lives of all women, children, and families in our community. Register HERE. | | | |  | Friends Don't Let Friends Join MLMs
Pyramid Schemes and Broken Dreams
Tuesday, August 16, 3pm - 4pm We've all been invited to at-home buying parties and heard of host success stories, but what are the cautionary tales and things to consider before you sign up with a multi-level marketing program? Join John Breyault of the National Consumers League to get the answers on how to be an informed consumer. Register HERE. | | |  | The Dobbs Decision, Legal Reasoning, and Future Uses of the Arguments that Overturned Roe
Thursday, August 18, Noon The Dobbs decision threw established law out and left legal questions to be answered as new case law is decided. Join University of Pittsburgh School of Law professor and reproductive health legal scholar Greer Donley for a conversation on the arguments used to overturn Roe and how those arguments might be used for future cases both in reproductive health and beyond. Register HERE. | | | | | | | | Mitzvah in a Moment is community action. This approach to community engagement will provide our volunteers with the opportunity for hands-on, limited-commitment engagements to support our partner organizations, while continuing to make an impact in the greater community. | | Mitzvah Volunteer Opportunity - KIDS COMMUNITY CLOSETS Want to help all children in our community return to school with comfortable clothing to help their attendance and to boost their confidence? We are looking for 8-12 volunteers to help unpack and sort over 4,000 tees and soft pants in mid-August. This is a great activity for a small group of friends or a family to come in for a couple hours to help out. We are also looking for 6-10 volunteers to welcome our community partners to Anathan for clothing distribution in late August. This activity lets you meet and greet our amazing partners. Both of these volunteer opportunities have flexible scheduling. Ready to sign up? Email: elaineabeck@gmail.com, our KCC Volunteer Leader. | | |  | NCJW PGH KCC Volunteer Leader, Elaine Beck and Leaders from the Kingsley Association during a 2021 KCC clothing distribution meet-up | | | | Kids Community Closets is a NCJW Pittsburgh community engagement effort that works with community partners to learn their clothing needs and then distribute shirts and pants to over 2,000 area elementary-aged school students. Providing clothing helps alleviate some of the financial burden on families who need it most. After hearing from some of our partners that they get a lot of attention at the start of the school year and during the winter holidays but not other times, we will be piloting a limited distribution of warm weather clothing to some of our partners to provide new sizing for growing children and clothing appropriate for warm weather in non-air conditioned spaces. We make use of our partner connections to extend the reach of our MomsWork educational and advocacy programming to as many working mothers in our areas as possible. KCC and MomsWork are two ways that NCJW Pittsburgh works to improve the lives of all women, children and families in our community. Mitzvah Volunteer Opportunities - VOTING & REPRO Please see our updates below for further volunteer opportunities, or contact krothstein@ncjwpgh.org for more information. | | | | | |  | We Need You! Want to help lead our repro advocacy efforts for the next 6-12 months? NCJW Pittsburgh has been talking with repro partners and running educational programs to help prepare for a more coordinated and comprehensive plan of action, and we need your help. We are looking for a small team of volunteers to work with staff to establish action priorities, generate ideas, and encourage volunteering. If you want to be part of the team, please email krothstein@ncjwpgh.org for more details. | | | Operation Save Abortion Operation Save Abortion hosted a day-long virtual information session two weeks ago. If you weren’t able to attend, you can still watch the educational and inspiring videos HERE. | |  | | | | | | | | | We Need You! Want to help lead promote and protect the vote efforts for the coming 4 months? Our next election in Pennsylvania, including the election for our Governor, is Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Now is the time to plan our actions leading up to the election to protect and promote the vote. We are looking for a small team of volunteers to work with staff to establish action priorities, generate ideas, and encourage volunteering. We are especially looking for someone who has Pennsylvania legislative engagement experience and someone with creative graphic design experience to be part of the team, please email krothstein@ncjwpgh.org for more details. | | | |
Check your Voter Registration HERE __________________________________ Join our NCJW Pittsburgh Voter Engagement Group HERE to stay informed of our promote and protect the vote planning and actions. | | |  | August 16, 2022 is Help America Vote Day Poll workers help ensure our elections are fair and open to all eligible voters. With 1,323 polling places, Allegheny County relies on nearly 6,600 poll workers each election day. Interested in serving? Complete the poll worker application, learn more about the process, and get general information HERE. Poll workers earn from $150 to $175 for the day and new poll workers also receive paid training. Know a student who may be interested? Allegheny County has a Student Poll Worker Program too where youth can receive community service credit or pay. Learn more HERE. | | | |  | Save the Date - DETAILS TO FOLLOW Thursday, August 18, 2022, 7:00 Two historic women’s organizations join forces for a critical town hall about the 2022 Midterm Elections. Join National Council of Jewish Women’s CEO, Sheila Katz, and League of Women Voter's CEO, Virginia Kase Solomón, for a virtual Town Hall to get informed and excited about the voting landscape this year. | | | |  | Your actions have paid off! Pennsylvania has announced the state budget, and it’s great news for working moms, families, and children. Our state has increased investments in children to $1 billion for schools, and over $200 million for early learning programs. Take a moment to celebrate this historic investment across bipartisan lines. There’s still a lot of work to do, but there’s always time to celebrate victories! | | | | | | Check out our new monthly dedicated email in the third week of each month for all the latest and greatest Thriftique updates! If you didn’t get it last week, check your spam folders or let us know by emailing us at info@ncjwpgh.org. | | | |  | National Thrift Shop Day Celebration August 13th Thriftique will celebrate National Thrift Store Day 2022 on Saturday, August 13th by offering store-wide sales and in-store events to show appreciation to our shoppers, donors and the community. THRIFTIQUE will offer everything from deep discounts on clothing, accessories, housewares and furniture; Free Hot Dogs & Popcorn with any purchase over $5; Raffle Baskets; and Free Children’s Book. Your purchases help support the community service programs of NCJW such as Moms Work; Community Closets; and Children’s Rooms at the Courthouse. National Thrift Store Day is an event that showcases the benefits of thrift shopping and its positive impact, not only on our local community, but globally and on the environment. | | |  | Thriftique always welcomes your donations; they are the lifeblood of our organization. | | | | | | | | | | | |  | The National Council of Jewish Women is a volunteer organization that has been at the forefront of social change for over a century. Inspired by the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (“healing the world”), NCJW courageously takes a progressive stance on issues such as child welfare, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom. And we encourage everyone—people of all faiths—to join us. | | | | Copyright © 2022 NCJW Pittsburgh Section, All rights reserved. National Council of Jewish Women - Pittsburgh Section
1620 Murray Ave | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15217
412-421-6118 | info@ncjwpgh.org | | | | | | | | | |
