Last year, KleinLife in Northeast Philadelphia turned 50. Now, in 2026, the institution that functions as a sort of Jewish Community Center/social service agency hybrid is looking ahead to its next 50 years.
In February, the organization put out a survey through its email lists and social accounts asking for feedback on a very big question: “What should the next 50 years look like?”
“Your input is vital,” it said in an email blast.
KleinLife President and CEO Andre Krug said that, around the time of the organization’s 50th anniversary celebration in November, he kept hearing from alums.
“‘I was playing basketball here like 45 years ago,’ or, ‘I went to camp here,’” Krug recalled.
He wanted to hear from more people about why KleinLife was important to them. The CEO felt that such explanations could help shape his vision for the institution.
“They are in all different fields and in all different positions in life. We want to bring in people with different expertise and different experiences. A lot of them expressed to us the warmth they feel for KleinLife because KleinLife did this for them or did that for them when they were younger,” Krug explained. “We want to take that history and build on it.”
KleinLife received about 250 responses to the survey and is actively working through the data, according to Krug. The CEO wants to examine “what it is that people want to see.” He hopes to conduct follow-up interviews at some point. KleinLife is also working with a consultant to “design what the next step is going to be like,” Krug said.
“I kind of need to digest them myself,” he added.
KleinLife opened in 1975 as a JCC. It served a region of Philadelphia with a large Jewish population and several synagogues. Krug estimates that, since opening, KleinLife has served “100,000 people, maybe more.”
Today, KleinLife serves a Northeast Philadelphia Jewish population that, while still present in the thousands, no longer has the number of synagogues and thriving community that it once enjoyed. It’s also a community that needs more than basketball and camp.
More than 35,000 people and over 200 Holocaust survivors use KleinLife’s services each year, according to a 2025 Philadelphia Jewish Exponent story, and 90% of those residents live below the poverty line, per Krug.
In addition to camp, a Sunday school and after-school programs, KleinLife offers a voucher program for Pennsylvania farmers markets, tech-help classes, career counseling and Russian language help for non-English speakers.
This role has expanded in recent years as crises have challenged the organization to serve more people. In 2020, COVID forced KleinLife to begin delivering meals to people. The start of the Ukraine war in 2022 convinced KleinLife to open its doors to 200 refugees.
Only in recent years has KleinLife been able to slow down into a regular routine. That’s what finally prompted the survey.
“We haven’t had a chance to sit down and think about the future. We need to have some kind of thoughtful process to think about the future,” Krug said.
The CEO, who has been in his position since 2009, said there are three primary populations that KleinLife currently serves: seniors, immigrants and “Jews who are still here.”
“There is a common denominator: The demographics are in such a financial situation that they can’t really afford a lot of things, and they need services. We’re providing the services whether they can afford it or not. We’re serving the vulnerable populations,” he added.
That depends on fundraising, which Krug notes he and his board have become adept at.
Funding sources include the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging, membership fees and general fundraising campaigns from donors who “relate to our overall social service mission,” Krug said.
Overall, the institution is in good shape. It just opened a Sunday school last fall. And during the High Holidays last year, KleinLife organized services for Jews who no longer had a synagogue nearby.
Krug wants to use this strength to keep building.
“We’d like to reconnect with people and tell them our story. We’re not your old JCC. This is something new. This is something exciting. This is part of the fabric of what Northeast Philadelphia is now,” Krug said.