Freedom City / ΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ ΧΧ ΧΧ’Χ¨
We are a community of teens putting torah into action & making real change in San Francisco.
We are built on 3 pillars:
1.
Rooted
We start by building our own sense of the Torah that guides us, a sense of each of our unique identities, our privileges, as well as our insight as youth, and create a Freedom City community based on trust.
2.
Proximate
Then, we get proximate to injustice and learn how to be change-makers from those who are leading the fight. We work in partnership and solidarity with community organizations and marginalized groups.
3.
Action
Through organizing and mutual aid, we address the most pressing injustices that we see in our city and on our planet.
Enrollment Open
Freedom City
2023-2024
$1200 per student
Please contact Spencer Weiss to have a conversation about financial assistance or if you want to further support us by contributing to our Scholarship Fund.
Overview
What is Freedom City?
Freedom City is a community of teens putting Torah into action and making real change in San Francisco. We meet 3 times per month, primarily on weekday evenings from 5 -6:30 PM. Weβll have occasional enriching workshops and social events on the weekends. A full calendar of dates will be provided prior to the start of the year.
Feedom City is led by The Kitchenβs Young & Young Adult Program Director, Kayla Pollak.
Where
In addition to Kitchen holiday programs, we utilize our community homes & spaces for meetings.
Learn More
Our full calendar is available for participants upon registration. If you have questions now, email Kayla if you have any questions.
Freedom City Participant Requirements
β You will be in 8th to 12th grade in Fall 2023
β A desire to bring more justice & Torah into the world
β Your family is a member of The Kitchen, more information here.
Tuition Pricing
$1200/participant
We are committed to ensuring that financial constraints are never a barrier to participation. Please be in touch with our Executive Director, Spencer Weiss, with any financial questions.
Highlights from Freedom City
2022 - 2023
We created a website for One City & launched our teen run Instagram account β @freedomcitysf
Learned about Unions & challenging power with Kitchen-ite & Freedom City Parent, Nato Green
Practiced active listening with leaders from the Jewish Youth for Community Action
Participated in Sunday Celebration at GLIDE Memorial Church with Rabbi Michael Lezak
Packed kits with the Harm Reduction Team at GLIDE
Learned about Healthy Boundaries with Shalom Bayit
Threw a Teen Hanukkah Party at the SF Friends School
Coming next year! Look out for a Justice Pilgrimage to Alabama with Rabbi Michael Lezak
Teen run Instagram account for Freedom City
FAQs
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Participants in Freedom City will become βOrganizers-in-Trainingβ, learning how to analyze justice issues using power analysis, advocacy, social media strategy, relational 1-1s, base-building techniques, policy, direct action, protest, and art & music.
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We need to understand the issues we are confronting. We also need hands-on action that leads to direct interaction with affected communities. And, we need to build community through hard and sometimes exhausting justice work which means taking time for joy, celebration, and fun.
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It is critical to do justice work in deep partnership. GLIDE Memorial Church is a local institution that does deep justice and community-building work in the Tenderloin. They are a key partner in both giving us opportunities to do real, meaningful service work and bringing us into organizing. Jewish Youth Climate Movement has connected us to resources and relationships with a huge crew of teens working on the climate crisis.
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Freedom City tuition for the 2023-2024 is $1200. However, if you enroll by June 30th then you can lock in the 2022-2023 tuition of $1050 per student. We are committed to ensuring that tuition is never a barrier to participation. We understand that every family's situation and needs are different and we will work with you to make Freedom City happen for you.
