PJ Partner Grants are designed to welcome families with young children into congregational spaces in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs encouraging families to participate in Jewish experiences in their neighborhood.  

PJ Library will offer participating congregations grants of up to $500 per program, with a limit of two programs per organization during a fiscal year.  Applications are rolling; however, funding is limited and will be given on a first come first serve basis. To qualify for the grant, synagogues are asked to open their program to all PJ Library subscriber families and utilize PJ Library marketing support and tools. The PJ Library Chicago team is available to work with synagogues to advise on activities and set up.  

Program Goals:

• Welcome new families into the community through low barrier engaging experiences
• Strengthen the connection between PJ Library and congregational partners
• Support congregational partners with marketing, programming resources and finances
• Provide an additional location for families to engage in Jewish experiences in their neighborhoods

All PJ Programming should be:

• Welcoming and open to the public- PJ Library programs are inclusive of all.  Please consider accessibility accommodations in planning your program.  Please be sure to include a welcome to the new families joining your congregation for this experience.
• High quality programming – Be sure to include activities and programming designed for early childhood encouraging social interaction between and within family units. PJ Library is happy to provide resources.
• Low or no cost- These events should be low barrier and inviting to families by keeping events free apart from providing dinner and charging to cover expenses 
• Inclusive of a PJ Library component: Utilize the wide selection of books from PJ Library to engage the families. PJ Library is happy to provide books and other materials we have available to support your program – reach out to Julie Brodsky at juliebrodsky@juf.org if you are looking for something specific or to brainstorm ideas. 

Enhanced Marketing Support:  

We are here to help! Our goal is to leverage the PJ Library brand identity to help attract more families to your program. We are happy to use our Canva Pro account to create marketing materials for you that will help attract families. PJ Library will advertise your program in the JUF Young Families monthly eNewsletter (over 9,000 families), in dedicated social media posts via Facebook and Instagram (3,021 followers), and through our network of Parent Connectors and Ambassadors. We welcome you to also reach out through your channels as well.

To Apply please complete the application and budget form.  Please feel free to reach out with any questions to Julie at juliebrodsky@juf.org.