Some stories are too important to let fade away.
For nearly 400 years, Jewish families have called the Caribbean home, building synagogues, shaping communities, and weaving themselves into the fabric of island life. Today, that legacy needs champions.
Sand covered floors of Mikvé Israel-Emanuel (Snoa),
the oldest synagogue in continual use in the Western Hemisphere.
Willemstad, Curaçao
OUR MISSION
We fund grants that preserve the history, culture, and heritage of historic Caribbean Jewish communities so that stories centuries in the making can continue to be told.
We start with Curaçao and look ahead to the day when communities across the region have the resources and connections they need to thrive.
FOUNDER'S NOTE
Susan
Alvares Correa
Founder, JCCPF
Some callings find you in the quietest, most uncertain moments.
Mine came in 2020. The pandemic had shuttered Mikvé Israel-Emanuel (Snoa): no tourists, no events, no rental income. For a congregation already contending with dwindling membership, it was a breaking point. The future of Snoa, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere, was suddenly, genuinely in question.
This wasn't an abstract institutional crisis. I am a 13th-generation member of this congregation. My family has worshipped in that sand-floored synagogue for nearly four centuries.
I knew in that moment where my energies would go in my next chapter.
And so, in 2024, the Jewish Caribbean Culture Preservation Foundation (JCCPF) was born.