To save one life is to save an entire world. This timeless truth, known as the Jewish value of “pikuach nefesh,” is echoed across cultures and faiths.
Today, the ability to actualize “pikuach nefesh” in Miami-Dade County is on the line. The County Mayor has recommended reducing its decades-long funding commitment to social service
agencies, potentially unraveling the entirety of the Community-Based Organization (CBO) Grant Program and thus, the safety net of life-sustaining services for residents.
Safety net services include food security, mental health, support for unhoused families, homecare for homebound seniors, pro bono legal services, and services for people living with different abilities, among many others. These drastic reductions are not just budget cuts; they eliminate the lifelong self-sufficiency and enhanced quality of life for hundreds of thousands of residents.
The Advocacy Collective, a newly formed coalition of more than 60 local social service agencies, was brought together by Jewish Community Services of South Florida (JCS) to advocate for the full restoration of essential funds. The Coalition’s efforts include individual meetings with the Miami-Dade Commissioners, major funders, and other elected officials to illustrate the severe impact the community’s most vulnerable would experience should these funds be taken away, and to elevate the importance of strengthening, not unraveling, the community’s only safety net.
About 120 CBOs comprise this safety net of services for Miami-Dade County. County government alone cannot address the needs of residents in every zip code, but CBOs can. Thus, the decades-long partnership between CBOs and the county is the only resource available to residents experiencing short or long-term trauma. Coupled with recent reductions in federal and state funding for food, shelter, and other services, the proposed County 2025-2026 budget reduction of CBO funds represent a devastating blow to human service providers.
For over 20 years, CBO agencies have received no funding increases or adjustments for rising cost of living. Yet, the quality of service remains high, and the number of clients served has increased year after year. Each agency leverages these county funds up to threefold, to obtain and sustain other philanthropic matches. These match dollars would simply disappear with the elimination or reduction in the county’s commitment.
Nonprofits are vital partners with government agencies to ensure our neighbors’ basic needs are met. They do so at a mere fraction of the cost if the government alone attempted to reach these residents in need. The level of trust in these service agencies, and the cultural competence they possess, is difficult, if not impossible to replicate by a large government entity.
For JCS, a reduction to the previously received $430,000 in CBO funding represents a potential loss of $1,290,000 when including matching funds. This translates into critical direct services that include more than 200,000 kosher meals delivered, about 9,000 intake and referral calls answered, nearly 5,000 hours of homecare administered, and much more.
Moreover, Miami-Dade has a growing number of families unable to make ends meet. In our county of 2.8 million residents, 400,000 residents do not know where their next meal will come from. According to United Way Miami’s ALICE Report, almost half a million Miami residents are one emergency away from falling into poverty, and with rising inflation and economic crises, this number continues to increase rapidly.
Funding cuts also hinder collaborations that amplify the breadth of services provided. As the preeminent hub for human service organizations driven by Jewish values, the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies (The Network) supports JCS and more than 150 partners nationwide. The impacts of Miami-Dade’s budget cuts expand far beyond the county itself, doing harm to widespread collaborations that magnify local nonprofits’ ability to save lives. Nonprofits like JCS, along with our partners across the country that make up The Network, stay true to the mission of “pikuach nefesh,” saving lives by serving anyone in need, no matter their faith, background, or current hardship.
Unfortunately, JCS and the member agencies of The Network are not alone. Farm Share, Florida’s largest independent food bank, is also set to lose substantial funds from the county. In partnership, our food distributions ensure that families are fed and children go to school with a full stomach. JCS’ Kosher Food Bank is the only free food bank in the county that provides nutritional support to low-income families who require kosher food.
At a time when living expenses in the U.S. have never been higher, food distributions and social services coordinated by the member agencies of The Network, JCS, The Advocacy Collective, and other non-profits are needed more than ever.
As “pikuach nefesh” reminds us, every dollar of funding to social services makes a world of difference.
In solidarity with our partners who provide vital services to the community, we at JCS and the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies call on Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners to restore life-saving funds to local service agencies.
Together, we can save a life, and thus, save a world.
Miriam Singer is the President and CEO of Jewish Community Services of South Florida. Reuben D. Rotman is the President and CEO of the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies, of which Jewish Community Services of South Florida is a member organization.
