With 80% of intermarried families and much of the younger generation unaffiliated with Jewish institutions, more communities are taking notice of the critical need for outreach. The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington recently announced its decision to concentrate funding for the 2007 fiscal year on this need, as reported on in the Washington Jewish Week.

At the close of 2004, JOI conducted a community-wide outreach scan of the Washington, DC region, and we are thrilled that our recommendations continue to reverberate in the community. The Federation announced that one of the areas earmarked for funding is the creation of a community outreach and engagement coordinator. This person will function as the liaison between community institutions, sharing information and what we refer to as outreach “best practices.” Before Passover, the DC community also organized events based on one of our Public Space Judaism programs, Passover in the Aisles. We look forward to seeing the continued impact of everyone’s work in the coming years.