Repercussions from the coronavirus pandemic have forced the Kaiserman JCC in Wynnewood to lay off 176 of its 178 employees, JTA reported.
“Never in my life would I have expected to be sitting here laying off 160 people,” Krulik told JTA, using a rough estimate of her staff. “However horrible I expected it to be, it’s 1,000 times worse than that. It’s heartbreaking and soul-crushing.”
The 178 employees were initially sent home for at least two weeks on March 13.
The employees will no longer be paid and their health care coverage could end as soon as April 30. The JCC remains closed with no firm reopening date.
Krulik said she plans to apply for up to $420,000 in federal Small Business Administration loans set to be available once the stimulus plan passed Congress.
JTA said the JCC opened a “sustainability fund” to which members can donate. It would prioritize staff health insurance, which costs $20,000, along with disability and life insurance, and liability insurance for the building.
The JCC is paying some members on an hourly basis to create online content such as home workouts and classes for kids.
A full story is to come.
