Join Gateways on:

Gateways is proud to be a beneficiary
of Combined Jewish Philanthropies
and grateful to the Ruderman Family Foundation and the Slingshot Fund
for their generous support.

About Gateways » Recognition and Reviews

Recognition and Reviews

Gateways: Access to Jewish Education Tagged as a Slingshot Top 10 Innovative Jewish Nonprofit Selected to Receive Slingshot Fund Innovation Grant for Second Year Running

Gateways: Access to Jewish Education has been singled out as one of the nation's Top 10 most innovative Jewish nonprofits by the Slingshot Fund. Its resource guide for Jewish innovation identifies 50 trailblazing organizations tackling the key challenges of Jewish life in the 21st century:

(read more)

In addition, Gateways is, for the second year running, ranked in the Top 10 organizations to receive a $37,000 capacity-building grant from the Slingshot Fund. The Fund is the creation of a group of next-generation Jewish philanthropists who launched it four years ago as a collective-giving mechanism to support innovations in Jewish life. To date, the Slingshot Fund has contributed nearly $1.5 million to the most forward-thinking Jewish nonprofits on the scene today.

Gateways, the central address for Jewish education for children with special needs in the Boston area, provides a broad menu of programs and services that create educational opportunities that meet each child's unique abilities and needs.

"All of us here at Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, our staff, therapists, teachers, parents, trustees and supporters, are deeply gratified to be recognized by a grant from the Slingshot Fund," says Gateways Executive Director Arlene Remz, who accepted the award yesterday at a ceremony in New York City. "It's especially rewarding, given Slingshot's focus on identifying and nurturing innovation and vision throughout the Jewish community, that they saw fit to award us a grant for the second year in a row."

According to Remz, the grant will allow Gateways to "further develop and document our ground-breaking program models so they can be shared with other communities to help children with special needs enjoy the Jewish education that is their birthright, and expand our professional development programs. And now we'll be able to work with even more educators in Jewish congregational schools, day schools and preschools so they can better meet the needs of every child -- and family -- who comes through their doors."

According to Will Schneider, the Director of Slingshot, "2010 was the most competitive year that Slingshot has experienced. Not only are there a greater number of applicants each year, but the extent and complexity of each applicant's impact has increased. In order to receive a grant from the Slingshot Fund, not only did these ten organizations have to pass the rigorous evaluation process to get into Slingshot '09/'10, but were then vetted, interviewed, and analyzed by 30 next generation members of the Slingshot Fund."

The Slingshot guidebook commends Gateways as having "built a remarkable bridge across denominations to knock down the barriers that stand between Jewish children with special needs and a Jewish education. At Gateways, children with special needs are able to attend Hebrew school, become a bar or bat mitzvah, and experience Jewish life in ways they have never before been able to access."

Adds Slingshot member Ariella Lis: "Our Board sees Gateways as paving the way for Jewish education, Jewish culture and a multi-sensory approach to Hebrew, the whole package. Without Gateways, there would be no Jewish education for so many children."

To learn more about Gateways, call 617.630.9010 or e-mail info@jgateways.org.

Other Gateways Raves

Barry Shrage, President of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the oldest Jewish federation in America:

“Gateways is the gateway for every school in our community to access the expertise they need to support children with special needs. It's an opportunity to give all of our kids a Jewish education. There’s nothing more important than an educated Jewish future for our community and for American Jewry, and it will never be complete until every single kid has that right and that privilege…We are also indebted to the dedicated Gateways staff, to the day schools and the teachers that have embraced their methods, and to the parents who have worked so hard to ensure that their children get a Jewish education. Gateways represents our great dream, a dream of a Jewish community that is warm, welcoming and inclusive, and we look forward to continuing to doing great things together.”

Liz, Mother of Harry, Bar Mitzvah, February 2008:

“I think what was important from our family's perspective is that we knew we wanted an "out of the box" event. Gateways supported our vision and gave Harry the tools and experience to make it a reality.”

Nancy, Mother of Josh, as she prepared for his Bar Mitzvah in September, 2008:

“Without all these years of learning about being Jewish, Josh would not be as connected to the faith as he is. He so much enjoys reading the Hebrew, attending services, and attending other Jewish events...Gateways brought this to him, gave him the chance to mature and supported him until he was able to be the wonderful, young man he is today who values and can actively partake in Jewish life. It's hard to believe we're here after all these years and struggles. Please know that we value your efforts to ensure children such as mine have the opportunity to discover and rejoice in their Jewish heritage. You should be so proud not only of where you've taken the 'organization' but also that the organization itself is full of caring, educated, staff and volunteers (especially).”

Helayne, Parent of Teen Volunteer:

“I observed my daughter at your program and I was so touched. What a fabulous program and what an amazing opportunity you have afforded my daughter. I want you to know how thankful I am to you and Prozdor for allowing my daughter to make a difference in the life of a child. This experience will help to guide her in her college/career decisions. I really saw my daughter in a different light and it was wonderful.”