CALL FOR MEETING LETTER

April 9, 2007
Dear Members,

The Historic Neighborhood House was built by Portland Section NCJW in 1910 and through the years has served a population of diverse backgrounds through education, advocacy and community service. In the year 2000, the building was sold to the Cedarwood School for $975,000. As of February 28, 2007, the Neighborhood House fund administered by Oregon Jewish Community Foundation has grown to $1,322,583.69.

In August of 2005, a committee was appointed by the Portland Section NCJW President. The committee’s charge was to research giving opportunities in the community, and provide recommendations to the board for use of the proceeds from the sale of the Neighborhood House. The Committee developed a mission statement, it stated that the Neighborhood House Fund should be used to enhance and give stature to NCJW by honoring what the Neighborhood House represented to the Portland Jewish community. It was decided that the Fund should go to a project(s) that would expand our section’s visibility in the community; bear the NCJW name; and go to a Jewish organization to provide services to Jews and non-Jews in the greater Portland area. The identified project(s) would revitalize volunteerism, increase membership, and make possible an opportunity of a lifetime for Portland Section NCJW.

Following an extensive needs assessment of our community, two quality proposals were selected and studied. Both proposals were found consistent with the philosophy of NCJW Inc., and the history of its involvement in the community. At the December 2006 meeting the Committee presented both proposals to the board for them to choose from. Since no action was taken on the Committee’s recommendation, a decision was made to present the issue to the membership. It is the recommendation of the committee that the money realized from the sale of the Neighborhood House ($975,000) be divided equally between Cedar Sinai/Jewish Family & Child Services and the Oregon Jewish Museum, and this is the motion which will be presented at the meeting on April 22nd.

You can read a statement about each proposal on the following page, or access a complete copy of the proposals on-line at: nhfac.blogspot.com/.

Neighborhood House Fund Allocation Committee and other NCJW members are calling this special meeting of the membership. We urge all members of Portland Section to come and vote on the recommendation of the committee, as we strongly feel this should be a membership decision. We have made available for you all the information we have gathered, and encourage you to call any member of the committee if you have additional questions. The meeting at the Robison Health Center Synagogue will be for the sole purpose of voting on this one motion, and we encourage every member to attend and be prepared to vote.

Sincerely,

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Fay Blank Joan Liebreich Rosemarie Rosenfeld

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Tamara DiVergilio Louise Marsh Rose Rustin
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Meryl Haber Eve Rosenfeld Sharon Tarlow

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Renee Holzman