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The choice is Millie’s.

Pioneering community wellbeing

The Choice Foundation Mental Health Fund supports innovative programs addressing critical unmet mental health needs in the Sydney Jewish community.

Focused on initiatives unlikely to receive traditional funding, we enable the testing of cutting-edge approaches that deepen our understanding of alternative, evidence-based programs that support mental health recovery.

2026 Funded Programs

Brave Talks

JewishCare

Brave Talks is a high-impact live storytelling event that brings mental health into the open through powerful, real-life experiences.

Delivered in partnership with JewishCare, it introduces a distinctly different model - integrating clinical governance and structured support to ensure psychological safety for both speakers and audiences.

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EMDR Training

JewishCare

In response to the December 14 Bondi Attack, and in partnership with JewishCare, we delivered two sold-out EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) training programs that have equipped over 60 practitioners with increased skills to better support trauma recovery in our community. This included both a Masterclass and full basic training, with world-leading experts in the EMDR space.

Peer Companion Program

JewishCare

Aligned with the NSW Mental Health Minister’s strategic framework - which emphasises the need to nurture and scale the peer workforce as a critical function within the system - this program provides safe, 1:1 support across multiple groups, addressing emotional and mental health challenges at both the individual and family level. Some of these groups include families experiencing disability and medical complexity, grief and bereavement, families navigating dementia and teenagers recovering from eating disorders.

Trained peer companions offer consistent, one-to-one support, complementing clinical care and strengthening continuity across the recovery journey.

Rhythm2Recovery

Emanuel School

Emanuel School introduced Rhythm2Recovery, a strengths-based social and emotional program for students. The evidence-based model combined rhythmic drumming with discussion, drawing on CBT, ACT and Positive Psychology. By relying less on language, it created a safe and often uplifting space for young people to learn.

Led by school counsellor and qualified R2R facilitator Kezia David, the program ran with small groups of students, beginning with Year 4. Students built social and emotional skills, developed positive relationships, and learned to better understand themselves and others.

Drumming Towards Recovery

Jewish House

Recognising that healing sometimes required more than talking, Jewish House, in collaboration with The Choice Foundation, delivered Drumming Towards Recovery. This program offered adults affected by December 14 and the ongoing impact of antisemitism a different path to wellbeing through rhythm, music and connection. The program began with a free community drumming event in October. Led by Registered Music Therapist Bek Wermut and social worker Kezia David, both trained in the evidence-informed Rhythm2Recovery model, participants described leaving feeling warmed, regulated, settled and connected to community.

Building on this response, we filled to capacity a five-week therapeutic drumming series that gave small groups a weekly space to release tension, manage stress and build resilience over time. Across both formats, participants were not required to share personal experiences or have any musical ability. Instead, they were given a chance to switch off the noise, connect with others who understood, and rediscover calm and joy together.

Rapid Psycological First Aid Response

JewishCare

We established a Psychological First Aid (PFA) clinic within 36 hours of December 14 - providing timely, trauma-informed support at a critical moment for our community.

The clinic offered early intervention to individuals experiencing acute distress, helping to stabilise emotional responses, reduce the risk of longer-term psychological harm, and connect people with appropriate ongoing care.

Through this rapid response, we supported approximately 25% of all community members who sought PFA.

Keen to join a program or become a volunteer?

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How we work

At The Choice Foundation, we partner with those who are ready to think differently about mental health and ready to build solutions that are both deeply human and rigorously grounded in evidence.

People with big ideas.

We work with clinicians, people with lived experience, carers, and community members who feel compelled to create something better.

Whether it’s a support service, program or experience that brings the community together, tell us about your big idea and then, if successful, we will fund it and help you partner with a JCA organisation to deliver it.

Forward thinking organisations.

We partner with organisations that want to increase access, improve outcomes, and deliver mental health support in ways that people actually want to engage with.

Whether you’re responding to an emerging need or rethinking your current approach, we act as a strategic and clinical partner to help you design and deliver high-impact programs.