To support individuals and families as they build productive and meaningful lives. The foundation values the legacy of M.B. and Edna Zale, Jewish identity, heritage, Tikkun Olam (Hebrew for "Repair the world" - Humanity’s shared responsibility to heal, repair, and transform the world), the power of community, the diversity and passion of family members, and the creativity and dedication of nonprofit partners.
The grant program emphasizes funding for organizations where Foundation family members are actively involved. It prioritizes supporting programs across four main areas: Community Services, Health, Education, and Jewish Heritage. In Community Services, focus is on aiding the poor and disenfranchised, especially through family strengthening, child development, senior services, job training, and health services. Health grants target illness and disease prevention and treatment. Education grants aim to help financially disadvantaged individuals with access, early intervention, and enrichment. For Jewish Heritage, the program supports identity, continuity, education, and human services. The foundation funds efforts in education, early childhood development, job training, hunger and homelessness relief, health care, and Jewish culture and continuity, giving priority to programs that promote self-sufficiency, innovative problem-solving, clear outcomes, and potential for replication or scaling for larger impact.
The Foundation prioritizes: Funding requests for specific programs and initiatives over continuous operational costs. We value proposals that showcase collaboration or potential to leverage community resources. Our funding aims to broaden the impact of organizations by supporting the extension of successful programs or the launch of new initiatives. Nonetheless, we allocate a portion of our funding to support essential services for the needy, including food and shelter programs, where we do provide general operating funds. We encourage applicants to focus proposals on their most pressing needs; this includes operational expenses if deemed most critical. Proposals aimed at "capacity building" to enhance organizational effectiveness in areas such as programming, communication, or fundraising are also welcome.