JFF and JBU Partnership
A Partnership Supporting Every Path to Jewish Family Life
When the JCC Denver began expanding its young family programming several years ago, leaders recognized something important: Jewish families are formed in many different ways, and community spaces must reflect that reality.
In 2023, the JCC began partnering with the Jewish Fertility Foundation (JFF) to ensure that families navigating infertility and fertility challenges felt supported and welcomed by the community.
For Tracy Juran, a JFF board member, the mission is deeply personal. “After my own battle with infertility to have my two sons, I became involved with the JFF because I saw a gap in our community,” Juran says. “The Jewish community is wonderful at encouraging people to ask big questions, but when it comes to infertility—especially in a culture that is so family-centered—we sometimes avoid asking the hardest one: What happens when having a child is not easy? And how do we support them?”
“Partnerships like the one between JFF and the JCC Denver show what it looks like when our community commits to showing up for people at every stage of their journey. Infertility is deeply vulnerable, and by creating spaces that acknowledge it rather than ignore it, we allow people to feel truly valued and supported by their Jewish community.” In 2024, that commitment deepened when the JCC began providing space for JFF’s monthly in-person support groups.
A Vision for What Could Be
Early in the partnership, staff from both organizations shared a hopeful vision.
What if someone who first came to the JFF and the JCC for fertility support groups one day returned—not for support—but for parenting programs? That dream began to take shape in early 2025.
As JFF participants started graduating from the program and preparing for parenthood, conversations began about helping them transition into the JCC’s Jewish Baby University (JBU) program designed to support new parents as they begin building their Jewish homes.
The idea was simple: offer Jewish Baby University to graduates of the Jewish Fertility Foundation at a reduced cost. Both the JCC and JFF recognized that families who have undergone fertility treatments often arrive at parenthood carrying significant financial strain and emotional trauma. Providing hardship pricing was a way to honor that journey and ensure continuity of support. Because Jewish Baby University and Baby Café are already heavily subsidized programs, the JCC is not able to absorb these reduced costs alone. Each year, the JCC must raise nearly $140,000 to sustain these programs and keep them accessible to families who need them most.
A Series of Beshert Moments Unfold
That same month, the Rose Community Foundation Roots & Branches group selected Jewish Baby University for a grant to bring “Jewish Joy”. The funding allowed the JCC to offer JFF graduates the opportunity to participate in JBU for just $18, opening the door for families transitioning from fertility support into early parenthood programming.
For couples like Kate and Chandler, who participated in both programs, the impact was profound. “JFF and JBU have offered us wonderful opportunities to stay connected to the Jewish community while building a Jewish home for our family. Moving into parenthood feels much less daunting now that we’ve built friendships with other families who have shared similar experiences. These programs left us feeling empowered, connected, and prepared to welcome our baby into the world.”
Yet, because the Roots & Branches grant was designed as a one-year funding cycle, the JCC initially wasn’t sure whether the reduced registration cost could continue beyond the first year.
Then another beshert moment occurred. During a conversation between JBU graduate and supporter Melissa Wittenberg and JCC Senior Director of Development and Marketing, Rachel Wool, the topic of the program’s future came up.
Melissa didn’t hesitate. She offered to personally underwrite all JBU registration fees for JFF graduates in 2026, ensuring that the opportunity could continue for future families.
For Melissa, the decision felt natural. “Becoming a parent is one of the most pivotal moments in a person’s life, and it’s a moment when a community can either show up in a meaningful way or miss the opportunity entirely,” Wittenberg says. “Fertility journeys and early parenthood can be overwhelming and expensive, which is exactly why support matters so much. Programs like JFF and JBU ensure families feel embraced during this stage of life.”
What inspired her most was the intimacy of the impact.
“What I love about this gift is that it directly supports families and helps create small, meaningful micro-communities where real connections can grow.”
A Community That Walks the Journey Together
The partnership between the JFF and the JCC Denver ensures that families who once gathered for support groups can return for parenting classes, community gatherings, and celebrations of new life.
What began as a collaboration between organizations has become something more: a bridge connecting one of the most vulnerable moments in a family’s story with one of the most joyful.
As JFF therapist Andrea Liner explains, “When organizations like JFF and JBU exist at all, it sends a message: this happens enough that we built something for it. That alone is normalizing. Anytime there is a name for an experience, a program, a community, it tells people they are not an anomaly. People can show up without having to minimize any part of who they are. That is what normalization looks like in practice.”
And in the process, it reflects something simple yet powerful:
The JCC is a place that walks with families through every step of the journey to becoming parents.
