ABOUT US
We exist because a community
nearly 400 years old deserves a future.
JCCPF is a U.S.-based, volunteer-run, grant-making nonprofit founded to preserve the history, culture, and living heritage of Caribbean Jewish communities, starting with Curaçao.
Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue, (Snoa)
Est. 1732
Willemstad, Curaçao
THE COMMUNITY WE CURRENTLY SERVE
Nearly 400 years on a small Caribbean
island
1634
Samuel Coheno arrives in Curaçao as an interpreter with the Dutch fleet: the first Jew to set foot on the island.
1651
The first Jewish families arrive from Amsterdam. Descendants of Inquisition refugees, they name their congregation Mikvé Israel, "The Hope of Israel."
1659
Beth Hayim cemetery is established, the oldest Jewish cemetery in the Western Hemisphere, with tombstones dating to 1664.
1732
The Snoa is consecrated in Willemstad. Its sand-covered floors have borne witness to nearly 300 years of worship, celebration, and resilience.
Today
The community markes 375 years on the island. It needs resources, visibility, and advocates to carry it forward.
These communities don't just need to survive.
They deserve to thrive and to be known.
ABOUT OUR FOUNDER
Susan Alvares Correa
Susan Alvares Correa​
Founder & President
Holding a torah scroll in front of the ark at Mikvé Israel-Emanuel
​"In that moment, I knew where my energies would go in my next chapter."
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Susan Alvares Correa is an architect, entrepreneur, and coach who lives in Weston, Massachusetts and travels frequently home to her native Curaçao. A 13th-generation member of Mikvé Israel-Emanuel (Snoa), her family's roots in the island run nearly as deep as the community itself.
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After chairing the Snoa's strategic planning committee during the pandemic, Susan recognized that what these communities need most is connection to their global descendants, to the broader Jewish world, and to sustained resources. In 2024 she founded JCCPF to make that possible.
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She serves on the board of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, Massachusetts and on the steering committee of Mikvé Israel-Emanuel's 375th Anniversary Committee.
Help us keep this story alive.
All donations are tax-deductible. We are an all-volunteer organization committed to keeping overhead lean and our mission front and center.