EVELYN RUBENSTEIN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF HOUSTON
5601 South Braeswood Boulevard, Houston, TX 77096 www.erjcchouston.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: To promote social welfare in the Jewish community and greater Houston area.

The mission of the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston is to develop and strengthen Jewish identity, foster Jewish values, and enrich the Jewish community and the greater community.

The Center for Children and Families provides programming for children of all ages, infants through teenagers. The Center provides childcare for children ages six weeks through five years in two locations, the Bertha Alyce Early Childhood School in southwest Houston and the Ellen Boniuk Early Childhood School in west Houston. 260 children were enrolled in these programs, including 16 in the Karol Musher STARS Early Childhood Intervention Program. The STARS program promotes the growth and individual potential of preschoolers with disabilities and developmental delays. The Center also provides transportation from nearby schools and many options for after school programming to help keep children safe, fit and enriched while learning skills to improve confidence and self esteem. These programs include the KidZone after school program and a variety of sports classes and art programs including children's dance and theater classes. The Center offers a variety of social and educational programs for middle school and high school aged teens. Approximately 500 teens participate in programs including Houston Connect 68 events, organized J-Serve community service days, JCC Maccabi Games & ArtsFest where hundreds of teen athletes and artists meet and compete, and leadership programs such as Target Team Leadership. Finally, the Center offers a variety of camp options during school breaks and summer. Approximately 1,300 children participated in summer day camp at the Center this year.

Center for Health and Recreation: The recreational areas of the Evelyn Rubenstein JCC of Houston provide a variety of programs to keep each individual in shape and healthy. First, the Fitness Center is a newly renovated facility, with the latest fitness equipment, providing a full range of fitness services to an estimated 2,000 individuals. Second, the aquatics program provides classes designed to teach children the necessary skills to feel comfortable in the water, as well as increasing their self confidence in their swimming abilities. The aquatics program also offers classes for adults which help with flexibility and balance. The swim program served approximately 3200 children and 200 adults during the summer of 2019. Third, the gymnastics program is a fun fitness program that teaches proper developmental skills and self-awareness. Over 1,000 children are enrolled in gymnastics classes, teams, and camps. An indoor tennis facility teaches children concentration, focus, hand-eye coordination and motor skills. There are 800 children and 600 adults participating in the tennis program. And finally, our sports and recreation program is thriving: 550 members of the Meyerland Soccer Club for youth, 250 adults participated in men's basketball, and 100 young children participated in sports classes which include Taekwondo, basketball, whiffle ball and preschool soccer.

Center for Community Services: The Center for Community Services provides assistance to thousands of disabled persons, homebound and isolated seniors, hospice patients and veterans in Harris County and 17 additional counties in Southeast Texas. The Center administers three national service programs, including Foster Grandparents, the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), and Senior Companions, along with Meals on Wheels and a senior transportation program known as J Ride. The 141 Senior Companions and Foster Grandparents volunteers provided 138,707 hours of service to community organizations last year in the form of tutoring and mentoring 1,907 at-risk youth and providing companionship to 145 isolated seniors along with respite for their caregivers. Last year 808 RSVP volunteers provided 63,615 hours of service among 125 nonprofit and public agencies across an 18-county service area. RSVP volunteer efforts were focused on providing independent living services for older adults, supporting early childhood development, and providing disaster preparedness education to the public.The Meals on Wheels program successfully delivers 102,000 meals each year to adults age 60+ living in southwest Houston. The JCC Meals on Wheels program is the fourth largest provider of hot meals in Harris County and served 587 seniors in our community this year. Meals are delivered by 150 volunteers in addition to paid drivers. Meals include holiday, shelf-stable, and supplemental weekend meals to those clients who are most food insecure. By receiving food at home, the clients are able to maintain nutritional health, receive daily contact with another human being thereby decreasing isolation, and maintain a sense of independence and dignity, thereby delaying nursing home care. In April 2020, as a response to COVID-19, the Meals on Wheels program delivered groceries to 150 clients.The J Ride program provides safe, reliable, non-emergency transportation for adults age 60 plus and adults with disabilities. 2,166 rides were provided this year. J Ride was created in collaboration with Jewish Family Service, Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and Goldberg Bnai Brith Towers.In addition, the Center provides a variety of social, educational, and fitness activities for an estimated 3,000 adults over age 60.

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Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202131329349303053_public.xml