In Toledo’s Jewish community, there are 20 families raising children with special needs who could all use a helping hand to keep up with medical care, education, and hobby expenses. The Ahava program, announced this year, offers each family an annual scholarship of up to $1,500 to put toward the cost of their children’s therapy, equipment, continuing education for their parents, and related resources.

Joel Marcovitch, CEO of Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo, called each family to learn about what it’s like to raise children with special needs.

“They were very open about it and told me about how their medical insurance doesn’t see these special needs as insurable. Nearly all of the families are paying out-of-pocket,” Marcovitch said. “We developed the idea of the Ahava program over a few months with the idea that the Federation could help lessen the financial burdens on these families and dramatically improve the children’s lives, as well as their family dynamics.”

Click here to read about the Ahava program in September's Toledo Jewish News. For more information, please contact Nancy Newbury at nancy@jewishtoledo.org or 419-885-2561.