18 August 2017
Jewish Care Victoria together with Australian Jewish Funders (AJF) hosted Jay and Shira Ruderman of the Ruderman Family Foundation for 2 days during August.
The Ruderman Family Foundation, which has offices in Boston, New York and Israel, believes that inclusion and understanding of all people is essential to a fair and flourishing community. Guided by Jewish values, the Foundation has invested $US32.5 million in disability inclusion since 2007.
The Foundation supports impactful programs, innovative partnerships and a dynamic approach to philanthropy in their core interests; advocating for and advancing the inclusion of people with disabilities.
While in Melbourne, the Rudermans were invited to a private function with major donors and supporters of Jewish Care and AJF in attendance. A Q&A session on the topic of ‘How Jewish Values Guide Philanthropy and Partnerships’ was conducted; with the Rudermans answering questions from the audience.
“Disability is the only minority group that we will all be part of one day. What we do is not about us, it is about the people we are advocating for,” Jay Ruderman said during the Q&A session.
The following day, Jewish Care President Mike Debinski and CEO Bill Appleby guided the Rudermans on a tour of the Coppel & Piekarski Family Disability Respite Centre which also included a community breakfast at the Centre providing the opportunity for local disability community groups to learn, exchange ideas and further collaborate together.
“It was wonderful to work with the Australian Jewish Funders to co-host Jay & Shira Ruderman’s visit to Melbourne. Their message is clear and inspiring. Inclusion of people living with a disability is fundamentally a basic human rights issue. If we are ever truly going to achieve a fully inclusive community in Australia, every leader needs to make inclusion a core activity, a core strategy and a core value of their organisation,” Bill Appleby said.