Bikur Cholim Around the World: Canada, Australia, South Africa & Beyond

The diaspora's care network, city by city. Verified June 2026.

• Bikur Cholim of Toronto — Toronto. hospital and home visits · kosher meals delivered to hospitals and homes (Yenta's Kitchen) · Dial-a-Ride medical transportation incl. wheelchair-accessible bus · medical equipment gemach (wheelchairs, walkers, crutches) · Shabbos food cabinets in 9 GTA hospitals · hospital-adjacent accommodation apartments. ☎ 416-783-7983. The Toronto Jewish community's primary bikur cholim and crisis-intervention resource; listed in the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto directory.
• Chai Lifeline Canada — Toronto. case management for families of seriously ill children · hospital visits with games and toys · meals for patients and caregivers · transportation assistance · medically supervised summer camps · Shining Stars sibling programs in Toronto and Montreal. ☎ 647-430-5933. 22 year-round free programs for children and families affected by life-threatening or lifelong illness; head office in North York, Toronto, with Montreal programming.
• Refuah V'Chesed - The Montreal Center for Health & Care — Montreal. subsidized non-profit medical clinic (family medicine, pediatrics, cardiology, on-site testing) · healthcare system navigation to specialists · bikur cholim rooms in hospitals · kosher meals · patient visits · free transportation. Founded 2007 by Montreal's Chassidic community in Outremont; 25 staff and 200+ volunteers; care in Yiddish, Hebrew, English, Russian and Ukrainian.
• Hope & Cope — Montreal. volunteer-based psychosocial support for cancer patients and caregivers · one-to-one peer 'buddy' matching · support groups · in-hospital clinic support and visiting hospitalized patients · palliative care support. Founded 1981; the volunteer cancer-support organization of the Jewish General Hospital's Segal Cancer Centre, with ~500 volunteers, most of them cancer survivors or caregivers. All services free.
• Ten Yad of Ottawa - Bikkur Cholim — Ottawa. volunteer visits to hospitalized or housebound community members · errand running · driving family members to hospital appointments · food assistance during acute illness. Jewish community support organization; its Bikkur Cholim division assists anyone in the Jewish community hospitalized or housebound during acute illness.
• Beit Rafael Bikkur Cholim — Melbourne. free fully furnished hospital-adjacent apartments with stocked kosher kitchens · accommodation near Royal Children's Hospital, The Alfred, Cabrini Malvern and Monash Medical Centre · support for patients and families for stays from one night to several months. ☎ 0421 408 522. Established 2012; cost-free crisis accommodation for any member of the Jewish community with a loved one in hospital. Booking line published in The Australian Jewish News.
• Jewish Care Victoria — Melbourne. aged care · in-home and community support · disability services · mental health and wellbeing services · individual and family support including during illness and crisis. Victoria's largest Jewish community services organization, serving the Melbourne community.
• C Care — Melbourne. nutritious ready-to-eat kosher meals · fresh produce packs and pantry boxes · shopping/pharmacy delivery for the elderly, isolated and ill · friendship and visitation programs. Front-line Jewish community food and care organization supporting 2,200+ people weekly through illness, hardship and isolation.
• Wolper Jewish Hospital — Sydney. specialist medical and rehabilitation hospital · palliative care counselling for patients and families (with JewishCare) · kosher and Shabbat-observant inpatient environment. ☎ (02) 9328 6077. Jewish community hospital in Woollahra, Sydney's eastern suburbs; partners with JewishCare NSW on palliative-care patient support.
• JewishCare NSW — Sydney. community support and case work · mental health and wellbeing services · aged care and disability support · palliative care counselling at Wolper Jewish Hospital · Call2Connect volunteer phone-support service. ☎ 1300 133 660. Major Jewish community services provider in NSW for over 85 years; listed in the Jewish House hospital patient-information directory.
• Jewish House Hospital Chaplaincy (Patient Information Project) — Sydney. hospital chaplaincy for Jewish patients · 24/7 crisis line · pastoral care and psychology · kosher food and Shabbat guidance for patients · end-of-life prayers and Jewish burial guidance. ☎ (02) 9386 0770. Run by Jewish House, the Sydney Jewish crisis organization; dedicated hospital patient-information project for Jewish patients in Sydney hospitals.
• Our Big Kitchen (OBK) — Sydney. community kitchen preparing and distributing meals to the ill and needy · meals for cancer patients undergoing treatment · volunteer cooking programs (250,000 meals distributed in 2023). Founded 2005 by Rabbi Dovid and Laya Slavin after cooking for a sick community member; housed at the Yeshivah Centre, Bondi; serves Jewish and non-Jewish recipients.
• Chevrah Kadisha (Johannesburg Jewish Helping Hand) — Johannesburg. primary healthcare programme for uninsured community members · social services (~800 active cases) · financial assistance · residential care (Sandringham Gardens, Selwyn Segal) · counselling for chronic illness, trauma and depression · emergency services. Founded 1888; the largest Jewish welfare organization on the African continent, serving ~10,000 community members 'from cradle to grave'.
• Bikkur Cholim - The Jewish Society for Visiting the Sick — Johannesburg. volunteer visits to hospitals, clinics and nursing homes · transportation from hospital · post-hospitalization meal arrangements · facilitating access to medical equipment · Camp Kesher annual children's camp. Volunteer society conducting regular patient visits across the Johannesburg area; also runs Camp Kesher in Muizenberg each December.
• Jewish Community Services (JCS) Cape Town — Cape Town. social work and welfare services across all age groups · counselling and case work · material and financial assistance for community members in crisis or illness. The Cape Town Jewish community's central welfare organization, offering a full range of services from first call to ongoing support.
• Temple Israel Cares Programme — Cape Town. Bikkur Cholim visits to sick congregants and their families · social support by trained volunteer carers · lifts to and from services. ☎ 021 762 1745. Volunteer caring programme of Temple Israel (Cape Town Progressive Jewish Congregation), built on spiritual accompaniment (livui ruchani); profiled in the Cape Jewish Chronicle.
• Bikur Jolim Intercomunitario (Kehila Ashkenazi de Mexico) — Mexico City. volunteer visits to the sick in hospitals and homes · emotional support and comfort for patients in recovery · school outreach teaching the mitzvah of bikur cholim · recovery-wish cards delivered to patients. ☎ +52 55 5540 6343. Intercommunal visiting-the-sick committee of Mexico City's Ashkenazi community (La Kehile), serving patients across the city's Jewish communities.
• Unidad de Apoyo a la Salud - Alianza Monte Sinai (Union Femenina) — Mexico City. health support and referral unit connecting patients with doctors, clinics and laboratories · community health directory · weekday health-support office hours. Health-support unit run by the women's union of Alianza Monte Sinai, Mexico City's Damascus-origin Jewish community (founded 1912).
• Bikur Jolim - Comunidad Maguen David — Mexico City. volunteer hospital visits to community patients at ABC Observatorio, ABC Santa Fe and Angeles Interlomas hospitals · community activities for the ill (Kol Hanisayon) · annual visits to the National Institute of Pediatrics. Committee of 35 volunteer women within Comunidad Maguen David (Aleppo-origin community, founded 1937) caring for hospitalized community members in Mexico City.
• Fundacion Tzedaka — Buenos Aires. Banco Comunitario de Medicamentos - free medicine bank for patients who cannot afford medication · health programs and preventive campaigns · social assistance for vulnerable community members · support for Holocaust survivors. Founded 1991 by the Argentine Jewish community; its community medicine bank distributes free medication through 105 centers in 21 provinces, reaching 50,000+ people.
• UNIBES (Uniao Brasileiro-Israelita do Bem-Estar Social) — Sao Paulo. social assistance and inclusion programs · quality-of-life and health-related support · educational support and professional training · ~22,000 annual attendances across programs. Founded 1915 by Sao Paulo's Jewish community to aid arriving immigrants; today one of Brazil's major Jewish-founded social welfare organizations.
• Ten Yad Sao Paulo — Sao Paulo. nutritious meals for people in vulnerable situations · 30+ years of continuous food assistance · volunteer-driven kosher food preparation and distribution. Jewish charitable institution feeding the vulnerable in Sao Paulo for three decades, working alongside the rabbinate and WIZO.
• Chabad of Thailand — Bangkok. kosher meal delivery anywhere in Thailand (incl. to hotels and for hospital stays) · kosher restaurant, bakery and shop in Bangkok · Shabbat meals for hundreds of travelers weekly · rabbinic and practical support for visiting Jews · centers in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Phuket. The practical support hub for the 100,000+ Jewish visitors to Thailand yearly, including medical tourists treated in Bangkok hospitals; kosher meals can be shipped double-wrapped nationwide from the Bangkok kitchen.
• Jewish Women's Association of Hong Kong (JWA) — Hong Kong. health, educational and social welfare programs for the Hong Kong Jewish community · support for women and children · charitable fundraising for local community needs. Established in the 1940s aiding Jewish refugees from Shanghai; per the World Jewish Congress community profile it provides educational, health and social welfare programs. Hong Kong has no standalone bikur cholim society; the JWA, JCC and Chabad houses fill the communal-support role.

Part of The Worldwide Bikur Cholim Directory. Every listing was verified against the organization's own website or an established communal directory (June 2026). Run an organization that belongs here, or see something to correct? Tell us — listings are free.

Related: What is bikur cholim? · Where to give tzedakah