With the 53rd annual “Earth Day” observance set for this Saturday, Apr. 22, Adamah recently announced the launch of its $1,000,000+ Climate Action Fund, providing interest-free loans and matching grants to support Jewish groups undertaking climate solutions to reduce organizational greenhouse gas emissions.
Adamah is the new identity of the recently merged Pearlstone retreat center and outdoor education campus in Reisterstown and Hazon, the New York-based Jewish environmental organization.
Currently, the Climate Action Fund supports the following programs: Climate Grant Fund (National), providing matching grants of up to $10,000 per organization annually; Climate Grant Fund (Orange County), providing matching grants of up to $10,000 (or up to $36,000 for solar panel installations) for organizations in Orange County, California; Climate Loan Fund (National), providing interest-free loans of up to $100,000; and Climate Loan Fund (Baltimore), providing interest-free loans of up to $170,000. The latter fund is open to all nonprofits within Baltimore.
Adamah plans to add additional regional grant and loan funding programs in the coming months.
The Climate Action Fund is open to members of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition. Last year, Adamah launched the coalition with 20 founding partners representing major national and international umbrella organizations of Jewish life, including Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Funders Network, Hillel International and the JCC Association of North America.
Since publicly launching the coalition, more than 190 Jewish communal organizations across North America have signed on, committing to develop organizational climate action plans to reduce their institutional emissions and mobilize their broader Jewish networks to engage in climate action.
Through the coalition, Adamah is coordinating a collective Jewish response to the climate crisis, and the launch of the Climate Action Fund aims to propel organizations to implement the kinds of climate solutions required to make a meaningful impact and demonstrate Jewish leadership on this crucial issue.
“This coalition represents an unprecedented mobilization of the Jewish world towards meaningful Jewish climate action, at pace and at scale,” said Jakir Manela, CEO of Adamah. “Our action team supports our coalition members with great expertise in emissions reductions, and with the launch of our Climate Action Funds, there’s simply no reason why Jewish leaders everywhere can’t join this effort to secure a livable future for our children.”