Recently introduced in many Hesed welfare centers in the former Soviet Union, Food Cards, or “supermarket debit cards” enable clients to purchase products of their choice (with the exception of alcohol and cigarettes) at stores vetted by the Hesed for selection and price. The initiative gives clients access to fresher ingredients while restoring their sense of control over personal needs. The cards are also improving the efficiency of the Hesed network’s food delivery service and are replacing other food programs. Supermarket debit cards are also provided to vulnerable young Jewish families through the IFCJ-JDC Partnership for Children in the FSU, to needy Jews in Europe, and as part of the social assistance programs in Argentina.

Part of the Hesed network’s hunger relief program in the former Soviet Union and also distributed to impoverished Jews in Europe, the sets may include fish, dairy products, eggs, fruit, and other perishable items. They are delivered primarily to needy elderly Jews who lack the strength or mobility to go to the market regularly, but are still able to cook for themselves; and to vulnerable Jewish children and their families who depend on JDC assistance to meet their basic needs.

Home care workers assist homebound elderly with basic activities of daily living such as bathing, laundry, and cleaning; and help support the healthy growth and development of ill, homebound children.

Medical care includes medicines, medical tests and consultations, rehabilitation treatment and equipment, hospitalization, and surgery.

The program was developed by JDC in the former Soviet Union to aid and help alleviate the loneliness plaguing so many Jewish elderly. Throughout the region, small groups of elderly Hesed clients are regularly hosted by those who have volunteered their homes, with participants benefiting from nutritious meals as well as much-needed social contact. Special activities for the Jewish holidays and other programs with Jewish content reinforce the clients’ sense of belonging to a caring Jewish community. The program has been adopted by ESHEL in Israel, where it is of special help to non-Hebrew speaking immigrants; it has also been implemented in Jewish communities in Romania and the Baltic countries.

Varying from country to country, the welfare services provided by JDC in partnership with local Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe may include any or all of the following elements: regular cash assistance payments; SOS emergency funds; supplemental holiday aid; food packages; hot meals at kosher canteens, day care centers, and old age homes; meals-on-wheels and home care for the homebound; medicines, medical care, and medical consultations; a Bayit Cham or Warm Home initiative; day care center activities; and winter relief.

An important part of Jewish community welfare services in various countries in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Africa, and Asia, the winter relief program helps beneficiaries—mostly elderly Jewish Holocaust survivors and also impoverished children—purchase warm clothing, blankets, and non-perishable foods and pay their home heating and utility bills.