About us

Connect2 offers companionship and support to Holocaust survivors living throughout New York City. Men and women volunteer to visit survivors in their homes for one hour each week Connect2 does not simply provide a direct service to the survivor. Volunteers and survivors are carefully matched to give young people an opportunity to connect with a unique part of our community and build strong and fulfilling friendships. In addition to critical socialization and providing assistance with shopping and personal organizing, the volunteers read to survivors, go with them for walks and accompany them to doctor visits. Volunteers hear extraordinary stories, learn courage and perseverance by living example, and have the honor of sharing with very deserving individuals. These inter-generational friendships ensure the past will not be forgotten. Our program began in September 2001. Since then, our team of volunteers have made thousands of visits.

Connect2:  Friendly Visiting for Holocaust survivors has adjusted itself to the “new normal,” which is especially crucial while interacting with individuals in the age range of our survivors.  We have now opened “in person” friendly visiting for those survivors who are comfortable with welcoming volunteers inside their homes, while respecting those who want to be more cautious and maintain distance.  For this reason, we opened up volunteer opportunities for volunteers to now have the option to get involved and form relationships with survivors through, outdoor visits (when weather permits), friendly supportive phone calls, delivering meals or packages our donors will provide them with weekly,  join our weekly program socialization Zoom programs with the survivors, or requesting to have your community or intergenerational group have specialized zooms or in-person visits with the survivors for educational purposes, after all, our survivors are our best teachers, not only in Jewish history but for humankind.  We are also underway in training and providing ongoing technical support to the survivors on computer tablets, as part of our new initiative, namely Connect2: Connecting Seniors, funded by the Leader Family Fund, designed to connect the survivors to each other and the world around them.  Community volunteers are the cornerstone of this initiative, which is ongoing in helping our survivors stay “connected.” As a whole, Connect2 survivors look to the Connect2  program as a network of support and know they can always reach out to our approachable staff, and dedicated body of volunteers to meet their needs                                                                                                        emotionally, physically, or spiritually.