Beth Medrash Govoha (BMG) has long been a center of the flourishing Lakewood community, taking on responsibility to assist students, alumni, and the community at large. Within the context of its profound engagement with the Lakewood community, BMG recognizes its pivotal position and the associated communal obligations. Working hand-in-hand with Lakewood Township in Town-Gown cooperation, BMG has catalyzed and nurtured a rich network of grassroots organizations that form a volunteer social safety net for the entire town.

 

The Town-Gown collaboration goes beyond integrating BMG’s growth into the Township’s landscape; it has resulted in significant initiatives for the greater good of Township residents. BMG, its students, and alumni have established an extensive infrastructure of Community-Based organizations to meet the social service, educational, housing, and healthcare needs of the greater Lakewood community.

 

BMG is attuned to the emerging needs of the growing Greater Lakewood community and seeks practical ways to help address gaps as the community needs grow and change. A recent emerging need focus has been on  the childcare sector, as additional childcare capacity is needed to keep pace with the town’s rapid growth. Although there are a number of childcare centers in town, with more than 5,000 children born to Lakewood families every year, the need continues to grow. There are still many areas in Lakewood that are classified as a Childcare Desert, especially in some of the most poverty-prevalent neighborhoods. There is also a lack of adequate childcare centers in the vicinity of Lakewood’s Higher Education institutions, leaving thousands of student parents to juggle complicated scheduling and commutes.   BMG is therefore currently working on developing additional affordable day care options for student families as well as the general community in the campus area and other strategic locations in Lakewood.

 

BMG has a long history of addressing the needs of the community in highly strategic ways. BMG’s administration invested resources, time and effort in establishing and growing organizations that provide healthcare, social services, affordable housing, job placement and many other services to residents of the Greater Lakewood area. Over the past decades, BMG’s students, faculty, alumni, and their families have played a transformative role in Lakewood’s growth. Their presence has revitalized neighborhoods, fueled economic expansion, and contributed to Lakewood’s emergence as one of New Jersey’s most dynamic and fastest-growing municipalities.