Community Contact Information:
Temple Rodeph Torah
Marlboro, NJ
www.trt.org

Goals:

• Help congregants during the economic crisis.
• Provide the congregation with a way to respond to the crisis.
• Work with other congregations and faiths to respond on a larger scale.

Overview:
TRTCares is a non profit, nondenominational outreach program created by Temple Rodeph Torah in order to advise and support individuals in the local community who have been affected by the current adverse economic climate. The synagogue created an online job bank and a confidential hotline for those affected by the economic downturn.

Preparation:
The rabbi challenged congregants in a High Holy Day sermon to use their skills (finance, law, human resources, real estate, mental health) to create a program to offer free, confidential “first call” help to those suffering from the economic crisis. Over 100 volunteers responded, including many professionals eager to lend their expertise. Members and non-members were mobilized to create task forces in each area, with an administrative team overseeing the project. The project was publicized to the entire local community through advertising, public service announcements, and word of mouth. A full-page advertisement was sent to all area churches and synagogues, newspapers, and other media. A congregant donated money for advertising and the local media was contacted for press coverage.

Volunteers created and run the entire program, with guidance and encouragement from the clergy. Six people were chosen to be an Executive Committee which oversees every aspect of the program’s creation and execution. The EC and volunteers are drawn from the entire community; since many non-members attend our High Holy Days services, many non-members heard the sermon and volunteered.

Project Implementation:
Anyone may call the confidential phone number at any time, 24/7. Those answering the phone have been trained to receive the calls, analyze the problem(s) and contact the appropriate task force administrators (a release of liability must be signed before participating). Administrators assign individual specialists to call, giving the caller’s name or pseudonym; only the initial phone answerer has the caller’s real name. No volunteer is asked to do more than 2 hours of work per month. After the specialist’s call, they report back to their administrator with the results and with suggestions for follow-up. One week after the process begins, the original phone answerer calls the participant again to make sure they were reached, to get feedback, to see what other help is needed and to reaffirm that “TRT Cares.”

First-call help is provided with no strings attached, followed by advice on how the caller might proceed. Referral lists for each field are available, but no referrals are made to for-profit organizations or individuals. All volunteers have signed releases that they will not solicit or accept callers as clients for 12 months.

Results:
The program has already fulfilled a major need: providing a way for community members to respond to the hardships and pain which we see around us on a daily basis as the economic crisis deepens and spreads. Almost every volunteer has said “thank you for giving me a way to help, because I felt helpless until now.”