NCJW Advocacy Wrap-Up:

Friday, November 17, 2023

In this issue...

Volunteer For & Support the 2024 Long Beach Homeless Count

When Abortion is on the Ballot, Abortion Wins

ADL Actions Following Tuesday’s March & Unity Shabbat This Weekend

Volunteer For & Support the

2024 Long Beach Homeless Count

Volunteer registration for the 2024 Long Beach

Homeless Count is now open! 

The City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is seeking community volunteers for the 2024 Long Beach Homeless Count. The 2024 Homeless Count will take place on the morning of Thursday, January 25, 2024 at The Grand Long Beach (4101 E Willow St.).  

The Homeless Count is an annual event that seeks to survey and count all people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The Count is a communitywide effort that provides a hands-on opportunity to hear directly from people experiencing homelessness and partner in improving the services and solutions we offer. Data from the Count are vital for allocating federal, state, and local resources, informing policies and programs to address homelessness, and identifying gaps and needs to better serve people experiencing homelessness.

Volunteer for the Count:

On the morning of the Count, volunteers will arrive at The Grand Long Beach (4101 E Willow St.) at 4:30am to be dispatched by 5:00am. Groups of three to five volunteers will canvass an assigned segment of the city, administering a demographic survey to any individuals experiencing homelessness they meet. Volunteers will be provided with gift cards, hygiene kits, and water to distribute. Volunteers should expect to spend up to four hours canvassing.

To volunteer for the Count, people must

• Be 18 years or older. 
• Attend a two-hour orientation and training prior to the day of the Count. Orientations will be held both virtually and in person and will occur in early January.
• Commit to a four-hour canvassing shift on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. Volunteers will be expected to report at 4:30 a.m. and dispatched to the field by 5 a.m.

Volunteers can register online at HERE. If more than 300 people register to volunteer for the count, a waitlist will be created. Information on how to sign up for orientations will be provided after registration.

To learn more about the Long Beach Homeless Count, visit

www.longbeach.gov/HomelessCount or email HomelessCount@longbeach.gov. 

Other Ways to Support:

In addition to volunteering for the Count, community members are encouraged to raise awareness and recruit other volunteers to participate in the Homeless Count or by providing physical and/or monetary donations. Community members can donate the following items to support the Count, which will be distributed to individuals experiencing homelessness.

• Socks
• Travel-sized hygiene products (deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, menstrual products, etc.)
• Bottled water 
• Small gift cards in amounts of $5 to $10 

Physical donation items can be dropped off at the Long Beach Multi-Service Center, located at 1301 W 12th St., between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. To learn more about ways to donate, please visit www.longbeach.gov/HomelessCount or email HomelessCount@longbeach.gov.  

To financially contribute towards Count incentives, people can donate online to the

Mayor’s Fund to End Homelessness and type “Homeless Count - Mayor's Fund” in the Additional Comments box. Donations can also be made by check. Check donations may be mailed to Long Beach Community Foundation, 400 Oceangate, Suite 800, Long Beach, CA 90802. Please make check payable to “Long Beach Community Foundation” and write “Homeless Count - Mayor's Fund” in the memo section of the check. These tax-deductible donations will be used towards gift cards and other incentives for individuals being surveyed on the day of the Count. 

For more information, please visit www.longbeach.gov/HomelessCount or email HomelessCount@longbeach.gov.

When Abortion is on the Ballot, Abortion Wins

As you probably know, on Tuesday, Nov. 7^th, abortion won the day! Election results in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia underscore the galvanizing power of abortion rights. When abortion is on the ballot, abortion wins. (And it wins by a lot, too — the Ohio ballot measure passed by a 13% margin!)

Ohio became the seventh state where abortion was on the ballot and won! Remember back in August when Ohio voters resoundingly rejected an anti-democratic proposal to silence citizen voices and make it more difficult to pass future amendments to the Ohio Constitution? Well, voters upheld their rights then, and now here we are — abortion is enshrined in the Ohio constitution!

Ohio voters added the right to abortion to their state constitution — also protecting decisions around accessing birth control and other reproductive health care. And, candidates who centered on abortion won, resulting in a second term for Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a pro-abortion Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge, and a pro-abortion majority in the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate.

This win belongs to every activist who showed up and did the work to get out the vote. Kol hakavod! Mazel tov to NCJW/CLE and Jewish advocates across Ohio and the country who brought the full force of the Jewish community to get out the vote in this hard-earned fight by text- and phone-banking, sending letters and postcards to voters, distributing yard signs, and knocking on doors.

When the Jewish community shows up for abortion access, we send a clear message that bans on abortion violate our religious freedom. We will not give up until every person can make their own decisions for their body, lives, and future. 

Voters aren’t only mad about attacks on abortion — they’re mad about the constant attacks on our democracy. And we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to fight abortion bans and for our democracy with everything we’ve got.

Read more:

Abortion debate is affecting access to drug used after miscarriages | Washington Post. An inside look at how bans on abortion are impacting miscarriage patients. 

Abortion in America in the post-Dobbs world | Association of American Medical Colleges News

Provides a thoughtful analysis of many short and longer term consequences of the Dobbs decision including the impact on doctor patient relationships and democracy writ large.

Ohio voters enshrine abortion access in constitution in latest win for reproductive rights | PBS New Hour

Examines the ballot win in Ohio the 7th straight win to protect abortion access since the Dobbs decision in 2022.

Abortion rights win big in 2023 elections, again | NPR

Provides highlights of the role of abortion rights in a variety of wins across the nation.

ADL Actions Following Tuesday’s March & Unity Shabbat This Weekend

The March for Israel this past Tuesday was a beautiful moment, though one inspired by an alarming need.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered, representing people across the country who are deeply committed to bringing the hostages home now and supporting Israel and Israelis in their time of need.



ADL was also there to speak out against the surge in antisemitism. ADL’s latest survey, fielded after the Israel-Hamas war began, reveals a 316% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to a year ago. Almost 28 incidents per day on average.

These were Jews and non-Jews. These were Republicans and Democrats. We sang the U.S. national anthem. We sang Hatikvah. I mean, where else in America today could you see something like that?

This was a powerful reminder that America is more united than one may think on this issue — the vast majority of Americans stand with Israel and stand against antisemitism.

We will not rest. We will not pause. We will march on to Fight Hate for Good.

Here are three important ways you can call for action to support the goals of the March.

Demand that the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross

Work to Release the Hostages Now! 📱

The United Nations and its member states must use every lever they have to bring all of the hostages home. The International Committee of the Red Cross must demand access to the hostages and provide urgent medical attention to those taken captive. You can join ADL in pushing for maximum effort to help the hostages and bring relief to their families. Help make sure the families of the hostages are not alone in fighting for their loved ones.

Text FAMILY to 72572 Now.

Thank your Members of Congress who support Israel

and the Jewish Community. 📧

As Israel defends itself from the terrorist group Hamas, the U.S. is experiencing a dramatic 316% spike in antisemitism. Our elected officials who are supporting the Jewish community and Israel in this critical moment need to hear from us. Send your elected officials a note to thank them for their support.

Email Now

Help protect houses of worship from hate. Call your Members of Congress

and urge them to support emergency funding. 📞

When tensions escalate in the Middle East, hate against Jewish people rises in the U.S. and around the world. At a time when threats are surging, President Biden has requested emergency funding to increase security grants for synagogues and other houses of worship, as well as community centers and nonprofits. Now Congress must pass an emergency appropriations bill with funding to protect our communities. Join ADL in urging your members of Congress to support emergency funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

Call Now

Now is the time to support the hostages, to support Israel and the Israeli people and to support all of our Jewish communities against the danger of surging antisemitism.

JOIN US FOR A UNITY SHABBAT THIS WEEKEND

Together, there is light amid a dark time. Make space for shared reflection and conversation with Jews around the country and join ADL for a special Unity Shabbat with AJC and the Jewish Federations this weekend, November 17-18.

On those days, we ask that all Jews — and others who are in solidarity with the Jewish community — light a memorial candle in honor of those who were murdered in Israel and those who gave their lives fighting for Israel. For more about this and all the ways to take part, visit ADL’s Unity Shabbat page.

Questions about anything you have read or related to our Section’s advocacy? Email advocacy@ncjwlongbeach.org.