Jewish Disabilities Advocates promotes inclusion

JFS offers a variety of support services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the Denver metro area.  

Participants benefit from programs that include advocacy, social interaction, recreation, case management, group community worksites, individual job development, and job coaching. Programs are person-centered; individuals make their own programmatic decisions, and our staff provides the supports. 

One such program, JFS Jewish Disabilities Advocates (JDA), began in the late 1970s, when Jewish parents of children with IDD joined together to advocate for inclusion and Jewish connection. Parents were primarily interested in ensuring their children had accommodations for b'nai mitzvah and stayed connected to each other into adulthood. As a result, the JDA program was created to raise awareness and further inclusion of people with disabilities within Jewish organizations and the larger Jewish community. The program consists of two complementary initiatives.  

The first serves individuals with disabilities, specifically adults with IDD. This initiative provides programming and coordinates resources to counter experiences of isolation with ongoing relationships and full participation of Jewish people with IDD in the Jewish community. 

The second initiative of the JDA program is comprised of Denver and Boulder synagogues and Jewish communal agencies, known as Inclusion Sites, collaborating to create disability awareness, promote inclusion, and address the needs of Jewish people with all types of disabilities and their families within their organizational communities. These Inclusion Sites foster, advocate for, and support disability awareness and inclusion to ensure Jews with disabilities can participate in rich Jewish life and culture.  

Learn more about the JDA program.