Picture a crowded basement apartment where Masha, a 44-year-old Bukharian immigrant, lived with her three children, the youngest with autism, and a verbally and physically abusive husband. Masha had no health insurance, no bank account, and limited English.

Now picture this: a beautiful two-story building on the border of Borough Park and Bensonhurst – UJA’s Brooklyn Hub – where Masha, finally ready to find a way out, was greeted with coffee, cookies, and Hebrew. She was ushered into a private space, where she would go on to have regular mental health counseling.

Down the hall, an attorney from NYLAG, a UJA partner, helped her respond to her husband’s divorce complaint while also expediting her immigration process, unlocking key benefits like health care, SNAP, and cash assistance. 

Masha’s social worker also helped her sign up for technology and professional skills training, so she could work toward financial independence for the first time in her adult life. Her youngest child was enrolled in summer camp, so Masha could pause and breathe.

Two different pictures: one of isolation and fear, the other of safety, dignity, and hope. And it’s all thanks to UJA’s Makom Shalom (“place of peace”), an interconnected network of services and nonprofit partners made possible thanks to a nearly $1 million investment by UJA in 2024.

Masha is one of the 300 clients helped this year by UJA’s Makom Shalom, which helps people access multiple lifelines — what we call “wraparound support” in the nonprofit world — like legal aid, mental health care, and workforce training at the same time. It’s a powerful example of UJA’s model in action: centralizing diverse services in one place to reduce the burden on people who already have enough to bear.

That’s the driving force behind our two hubs in Queens and Brooklyn, designed to help clients — who previously had to navigate multiple agencies while juggling barriers like limited access to transportation and child care — access services in one place. UJA’s comprehensive Covid-19 Impact Study revealed how lockdown had given rise to increased domestic violence. So when we conceived of the Brooklyn Hub, an office for domestic violence survivors was intentionally built into its infrastructure.

"We recognize that many people impacted by domestic violence don’t have access to their own bank account and have limited professional skills,” said Alex Roth-Kahn, managing director of UJA’s Caring Department. “So we’re focusing on helping them achieve financial mobility, removing a significant obstacle on their journey toward autonomy and safety.”

Safe Homes, Safe Spaces Summit

Not far from Makom Shalom’s unassuming office at the Hub, nearly 100 nonprofit professionals, lay leaders, and funders gathered for UJA’s Safe Homes, Safe Spaces summit on May 20, 2025. There, a Makom Shalom representative described some of the ways the seamless integration of its pool of professional services has helped reach more clients more effectively.

“So often our clients feel backed into a corner where there are no doors,” said Rachel Levinson, acting director of Met Council’s Family Violence Services Program. “Our [Makom Shalom] job is to say, 'Well, here are all the doors. Which ones do YOU want to take? What is most helpful to you?’"

Many of the presenters referenced the risk to their public funding with the government’s fluctuating priorities and budgets, underscoring the need for philanthropic dollars to help bridge gaps in support, if not entirely close them.

The summit included presentations on gun violence and how Israeli women experiencing intimate partner violence are being supported by UJA’s overseas nonprofit partners.

Dr. Guila Benchimol, a criminologist, educator, and survivor of intimate partner violence, spoke publicly for the first time about the personal experiences that inform her professional perspective. In one profound and powerful reflection that encapsulated the spirit of the summit and the Hub’s purpose, she said simply:

"If only I had a building like this one to walk into.”