Sukkot in Spring
"This project is a perfect example of living Judaism, of being the change you want to see. How proud I am to belong to a temple where congregants don't just do this work, they do so with enjoyment and enthusiasm, and talk about coming back before they're even done!"
- Ilan, Temple Micah congregant about their work day
History
The Nation's Largest Home/Community Repair Program Sponsored by the Jewish Community, Sukkot in Spring is Yachad's signature program. Since 1992, hundreds of single-family homes, community centers, and group homes have been repaired and sponsored by the Washington area Jewish community. Yachad recruits area synagogues and other Jewish groups to tackle serious home and building repairs for lower-income families and individuals in our community. The work is completed by the volunteers on a Sunday in the spring months (decided by the group). The volunteers work side-by-side with the family or community being assisted.
In one day, houses are made into homes, racial, economic and religious barriers are broken, and lives are transformed.
Yachad provides site selection and site preparation for each project in Washington, DC and works with Rebuilding Together, for projects located in Montgomery County, Northern Virginia and Howard County. Sukkot in Spring is now the largest home repair program sponsored by the Jewish community in the nation.
Sponsorship Fee
To participate, we ask for a sponsorship fee. This fee generally comes from the synagogue's social action fund and is budgeted for annually. Some synagogues request donations from their congregants. Some groups request the funds from an underwriter. Others find a combination of all of the above. The sponsorship fee goes directly to the cost of repairs (supplies, materials, professional labor, roof repairs). On average, each of our projects costs $10,000 in fair market value. Because of Yachad's volunteers and professional partners, we are able to cut these costs in half. However, we are still left with about $5000 in cost for each project we take on. We ask that our synagogue/groups help to cover some of these costs.
Because of this, the cost to sponsor a repair project is $2,500 if there is only one sponsor (synagogue/group). If there is more than one sponsor, the cost is $3,500. The additional cost is due to the need for greater project planning supervision and site preparation. Financial assistance is available for first-time group participants.
Sign Up
If your synagogue/group is ready to sign up for this year's Sukkot in Spring, please
fill out this application and we will be in contact with you soon.
If you are a member of a synagogue or Jewish group and would like to find out if they participate in this program, please contact us.
2011 Successes
2000 Jewish volunteers worked to assist nearly 50 low-income neighbors throughout the DC metro area.
A special thanks to our...
Synagogues/Groups
Adas Israel CongregationAdat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Beth Emeth
B'nai Israel Congregation
B'nai Tzedek
Columbia Jewish Center
Etz Hayim
Kehila Chadasha
Kemp Mill Synagogue
Olam Tikvah
Rebuilding Together Howard County
Rebuilding Together Montgomery County
Rebuilding Together Northern Virginia
Shaare Torah
Shirat HaNefesh
Temple Beth Ami
Temple Micah
Temple Rodef Shalom
Temple Shalom
Temple Sinai
Washington Hebrew Congregation
House and Volunteer Captains
Viviana AzarClare Bachner
Ted Benjamin
Scott Burka
Michael Cogan
Richard Feldman
Rich Finstein
Anne Friedman
Hope Gleicher
Susanne Greenberg
John Huennekens
Alan Kanner
Larry Kanter
Ed Kopf
Ethan Landesman
Andrew Mannes
Stephanie Marshall
Doug Meyer
Jim North
Ron Offer
Bill Page
David Price
Loren Rodwin
Roger Rothman
Robert Seasonwein
Leslie Segev
Dan Spiro
Louis Tenenbaum
Martin Trocki
Marcia Weinberg
Richard Young
If you are interested in joining this long list of participating groups, please e-mail us.
If Sukkot in Spring doesn't work for you, check out our We the People or Mitzvah Party programs.
