As we get rolling, we’ve been sending out updates about where we stand and where we are going. While in the future, these posts will appear on the blog and be sent out as proper newsletters, for now, we will share however possible to ensure all our patrons and members are informed.

We are grateful for your generosity.

Some of you have already shown generosity in offering food, shelter, clothing and more. We are greatly encouraged and empowered knowing that when a young man or woman comes to us in need, that we have a support network available. The needs of our members are often acute and unpredictable, so knowing that this kind of support is available to our members, at this very early stage of building our organization, is very reassuring.

Where do we go from here?

Our aim is to provide immediate assistance to the women and men who choose to leave Montreal’s Hasidic and ultra-Orthodox communities. When an individual leaves these communities, his or her first need is shelter. Often bereft of all family support, secular education, language skills and job training, many young people leaving these communities need basic support. One of our founding members slept on park benches for three months. This is unacceptable.

To meet the immediate needs of these young people our priorities are to:

• Raise funds to rent an apartment that would provide emergency shelter for those in need, to serve as a headquarters for our organization and as a place for members to gather and share a healthy meal at least once a week.
• Liaise with the organizations such as Ometz, the Jewish General Hospital, Dawson & Vanier Cegeps among others, in order to better serve those of our members who need vocational skills, education and language skills (English and French), counselling and other health services.

Next steps

While all the publicity and attention have been greatly appreciated, to properly receive financial support from donors we are in the process of creating a legally registered entity. Once we are registered, we will be able to accept donations. In the longer term, we plan to register as a charitable organization. In the short term though, we will be unable to issue tax receipts for donations.

Stay Tuned!

We want to thank you for your interest in Forward and greatly appreciate your support as we start this journey. We intend to launch our website shortly and will keep you all informed of our progress. We are a grassroots organization getting off the ground, Please bear with us!