Original Article: https://jhvonline.com/kavod-helping-holocaust-survivors-who-have-needs-for-food-medicine-p25982-96.htm

The refrigerator was empty. No cheese, no cake, no vegetables, no jars of jam or sticks of butter. Only a quart of milk, a few slices of bread and a pitcher filled with water.

It had become almost a ritual for John Israel Pregulman. After the invitation to the home of a Holocaust survivor and the sitting for portrait photos, Pregulman would be ushered into the kitchen for food and talk. Usually there was food everywhere. Enough food to feed an army. 

Not in this Orlando kitchen.

“What happened?” Pregulman blurted out.

“I had an expense I didn’t expect this month. My air conditioner broke,” the elderly woman replied.

 In the middle of the summer in Orlando, air conditioning is a necessity, not an option.

“I spent my grocery money on my air conditioner so I’m just doing without.” 

“For how long?” asked Pregulman.

“Until I get my next month’s check.”

On the flight back home to Memphis, the image of the empty fridge remained in Pregulman’s mind. After relating his experience to his wife, Amy Israel Pregulman, the couple decided the survivor’s situation was unacceptable.

That’s when KAVOD was born.

* * *

Economic insecurity is not unique to the survivor community. Even with Social Security, about 18 percent of U.S. seniors are living at or below the federal poverty level.

The poverty rate among survivors is double that. Often, one major adverse event can change their lives.

KAVOD’S mission is to provide aid to Holocaust survivors who have emergency needs for food, medicine or household goods. The organization provides gift cards to supermarkets, pharmacies and big box stores through the KAVOD Survivors of the Holocaust (SHEF). Funding comes from private donors and through the Emergency Fund initiative in partnership with Seed the Dream Foundation.

Think of survivors. 

“There are multiple organizations doing good things in the Jewish community,” KAVOD executive director Amy Israel Pregulman told the JHV. “We found a gap existed for survivors who encounter emergency situations, who need assistance in a hurry. Many survivors don’t have any savings. They’re living longer, so whatever money they may have saved is gone. Their needs are more acute. KAVOD is really about meeting these unexpected emergency needs quickly and in a dignified and informed way.”

KAVOD’s intake process is lean and quick. It consists of three essential questions: Are you a survivor? What’s the situation? How much do you need? 

Funds are directed toward Emergency Services, specifically to address urgent and critical needs in dental, vision, medical, emergency rent and food. Disbursements can be made in as little as three days.

Houston is one of 12 designated communities across the United States involved in a special philanthropic national matching initiative. The aim is to bring a total of $3.6 million additional dollars into a matching fund for survivor services over the next two years. $900k will be raised each year at the local level (across all 12 communities) and matched dollar for dollar by a coalition of national partners. As one of the local communities in the KAVOD SHEF coalition, Houston will launch this special initiative this May. 

“Meeting emergency needs tends to be an unrecognized problem in the Jewish community,” John said. “Most agencies are not set up to handle emergencies quickly. It’s a process that takes a while. We make it easy and quick, and then hand it over to agencies like JFS [Jewish Family Service], who can work on obtaining long-term aid for these people.”

Jewish Family Service CEO Linda Burger told the JHV she welcomes the opportunity to expand emergency funding to survivors..

“We are thrilled to partner with KAVOD SHEF to increase access to emergency aid to Houston’s Holocaust survivors. Our team of case managers work to ensure that our survivors can live with dignity, compassion and love. Houston’s Jewish Federation and Jewish Family Service expect to raise $75,000 in each of two years in order to receive the full match being offered by KAVOD SHEF. This initiative gives the entire Houston Jewish community the opportunity to be a part of this sacred work,” said Burger.

* * *

Since KAVOD was created in November 2015, the organization has engaged in a second mission: Survivor Photography Project. 

John has created 958 photo portraits of survivors as of May 5. The portraits have been exhibited at numerous Holocaust and Jewish museums. But, the main recipients of these photos are the survivors, themselves, and their families.

“There’s never any charge for the photos or my time and travel,” said John. “We send them electronic photos and actual prints. We also promise survivors that we will never make any money from their photos.”

The KAVOD website contains a photo gallery of those survivors who have given their permission.

“We find it important to present these people, who are stronger than one can imagine,” commented Amy.

John doesn’t set up these photo shoots directly. Photo sessions are arranged through survivors’ children, or through JFS. John uses natural light, a tiny Sony camera with a Zeiss lens.

“I tell my subjects they can smile if they want, but they don’t have to. The men from the former Soviet Union never smile. Even the women often don’t.”

* * *

KAVOD, in Hebrew, means “honor.” It also means “respect.” 

Advanced age usually brings with it a reduction of physical and/or mental capacities and a loss of independence. For many, advanced age means greater financial stresses. But, it should not bring a loss of dignity, especially to a population that experienced the dehumanization of the Shoah. 

“It is our responsibility to take care of them, and offer them peace in their final years. They have been through enough and, as a human community, we are responsible,” Amy said. 

“To have this many survivors living in poverty, having to go without food or medicine, is a shonda.”