Community Message

August 11, 2017

Dear JCA Community,

As we move towards the grand opening of our new JCA building, I cannot help but reflect back almost 80 years to the time when the original JCC building was opened on Cumberland Avenue in Portland.  Times were different then; when the building was necessary to accommodate Jewish community members who were not welcome elsewhere. The original JCC was a bustling place housing everything from a gym to a theater. Young and old found the Center to be their home.  Our next move was to 66 Pearl Street where Federation of Southern Maine and the JCC shared office space, and programming was done at various locations throughout the city. Programming at the time was referred to as “Center without Walls”. This helped us to better understand our needs when we would move to our next permanent home. 

57 Ashmont Street allowed us for over three decades to fine tune our programs and our goals.  Fast forward 80 years from the very beginning and we now have a beautiful state of the art facility built to meet the needs of today’s community.  Although the demographics are different, many of the needs are the same.  Our community (through surveys) has asked for a larger school with added space for our children. The need for after school programming as well as vacation programming can be better met than at our old 57 Ashmont Street facility. They have asked for expanded programming for both our children as well as their parents and grandparents.  They asked for a facility that could house kosher as well as non-kosher events. The survey indicated that adults seek continuing education courses.  This building will hopefully have something for everyone.  Soon a new program brochure will arrive in your mail.  It will be a program brochure, the likes of which we have not seen for many years.  Please examine its contents carefully and choose an activity, a program, a lecture or any one of dozens of offerings to be held at the JCA.  In any event, please make every attempt to see our beautiful new home at 1342 Congress Street.  I look forward to personally welcoming you at one of the Grand Opening Events to be held in September.

Thank you to everyone for your participation in making the dream of our new home a reality,

Bette Novick

Shabbat Shalom.