Dreams do come true

Life is always a yin and yang. Every day, it seems, we hear about someone who is sick, needs surgery or has passed away. We also hear about new babies being born, a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, wedding or graduation. This is life. The good comes with the difficult. But through it all, the world moves forward. And our world, the Jewish community of Greater Naples, is moving forward in a huge way!

As is evidenced in this issue’s cover story, our new Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center is under construction! This is a dream come true — a 5-year dream, to be exact. We started with a strategic plan in 2016, followed by the Needs Assessment & Demographic Study, conducted by Brandeis University in 2017, which indicated that our community is growing, as is the need for space to conduct programs and accommodate future growth.

We have been raising money to build that building and close to 500 families have contributed. There is still time for the rest of you to join, allowing us to sustain this building into the future without requiring the use of funds from future Annual Community Campaigns.

COVID-19 has played havoc with our budget, as inflation in the building industry has increased construction costs by 30%. But, thanks to you, we’ve got this!

The biggest dream the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center fulfills is the dream of our community working, building and dreaming together. Not only will we have a central address for the entire community, but now we will have a place to continue to grow together. Cards and other games, movies, lectures, yoga, cooking, arts and crafts, discussion groups, languages, and so many other possibilities will have a place to happen six days a week. We will have a home!

And from that home, our Federation will continue to support local agencies and synagogues as well as national, Israeli and overseas agencies.

Our greater presence will help us grow our Annual Campaign. We will mature as a Jewish community, and that is the real dream. Becoming a welcoming community for our citizens, new arrivals to our paradise, and an open door to the general community so they can know and grow with us.

Jane Schiff and Jeffrey Feld

Thank You! You are the village that is creating the dream. You made it possible, this dream that is coming true. Your participation in both the Annual and the Capital campaigns has brought us to this point. Because of your participation, we do grow, we do flourish, and we are a welcoming Jewish community.