Hesed (organization)

Hesed is a network of nonprofit community welfare centers to serve the Jewish community in former Soviet Union states (FSU's).^[1][2] The network provides services to Jews who remained in post-Soviet states after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.^[3][4][5] Hesed uses its volunteers and charity centers to provide basic necessities and medical services within a physical location in which community members can meet and participate in cultural and religious activities.^[6][7][8]

Hesed (FSU Jewish Community Welfare Centers)

Formation	1993
Founder	Amos Avgar
Type	Charity
Location	Post-Soviet states

History

The first Hesed center opened in 1993 in St. Petersburg.^[9] The organization was formed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)^[10][11][12] and funded by JDC, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), World Jewish Relief, and other donors.^[3] Hesed based its structure and activities on a model developed by Amos Avgar, who was Director of the JDC-FSU Welfare Department.^[13] Volunteering, fostering community and Jewish traditions or Yiddishkeit were central to the model.^[8] As of 2003, there were 174 Hesed centers operating in 2,800 Jewish communities^[5] and serving over a quarter-million people in the FSU.^[7] Hesed continued to operate through the war between Russia and Ukraine in Crimea and the Donbas starting in 2014.^[14][2] During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Hesed continued providing services^[15] to its approximately 37,000 Ukrainian clients.^[16] The organization also offered psychological counseling and operated a hotline for those needing assistance and treatment during the hostilities.^[15]

Services

In addition to activities in the Hesed centers, volunteers visit the homebound.^[17] Hesed's services included food programs and packages,^[4] meals-on-wheels, soup kitchens, winter relief, homecare, providing medicine, medical equipment^[7] and medical services.^[3][8]

Social and community services include day centers, library services, and Jewish holiday celebrations.^[4][8]