Yad Chessed helps hundreds of families and individuals annually through targeted financial assistance programs.
Emergency Financial Assistance
We pay clients’ bills for basic needs, including temporary food, rent, mortgage payments and/or utilities. Yad Chessed pays bills for clients on short notice, such as a rent payment to prevent a family from being evicted or a gas bill to stop them from having their heat turned off. We also provide help for such critical matters as essential car repairs, medical co-payments, unexpected housing-related expenses and beyond.
Interest-Free Loans
We use interest-free loans to help resolve immediate but temporary financial hardship, such as short-term unemployment or an unexpected, critical house repair.
Purim
On Purim Day, we work with synagogues, colleges and day schools across Massachusetts to collect AND give away matanot l’evyonim (gifts to the poor in the form of grocery store gift cards) to more than 500 Jewish families in need.
Allocating our funds
* Figures for fiscal year 2014
2014 marked the organization’s 25th year, a year in which Yad Chessed helped nearly 800 families.
Holiday Food Assistance
We provide grocery gift cards to allow families to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Passover.
Monthly Food Cards
We send gift cards to qualifying families on the 20th of every month to ensure they have food at the end of the month.
We solve our clients’ immediate financial crises and support them on the road to financial sustainability in a way that maintains each client’s dignity.
Listening
Often the first stop for a Jewish family in need, we pay attention to each client’s unique story.
Connecting
Our social workers build a relationship with each client, making connections to other resources throughout the community and counseling them on financial matters as needed.
Solving
Preserving dignity
We work with each client with a careful eye toward his or her own needs and comfort.