News & Impact

JFCS has stood as a sanctuary for those fleeing violence, persecution, and disaster, from the pogroms of the 19th century to the ongoing war in Ukraine. Our commitment to the Jewish value of “welcoming the stranger” runs deep in our history—and continues with unwavering purpose even now.

A History Rooted in Compassion

In the late 1800s, waves of Eastern European Jews fled persecution and poverty, seeking safety in the United States. Many found their way to San Francisco. The Eureka Benevolent Society (the first iteration of JFCS) offered food, housing, medical care, and guidance for thousands of newly arrived families—setting the tone for a mission that persists to this day.

San Franciscans march with a giant American flag in effort to raise war bonds for the First World War.

During World War I, the Eureka Benevolent Society raised over $110,000 (equivalent to about $1.5 million today) to provide food, shelter, and resettlement support for Eastern European Jews devastated by war, famine, and pogroms. It was one of the earliest organized refugee relief campaigns in the city’s history and helped shape JFCS’s emerging identity as the Bay Area’s center of international humanitarian response.

The Second World War and the Holocaust

In the 1930s, with Nazism on the rise, JFCS—then called the Jewish Family Service Agency—helped organize the Committee for Service to Emigres (CSE), a lifesaving response founded to assist Jews escaping Hitler’s regime.

Jewish refugees arrive in San Francisco from China on the General M.C. Meigs, 1949.

During the height of the Holocaust and in the years immediately after, the Bay Area saw a steady arrival of Jewish survivors, stateless persons, and those who had narrowly escaped extermination. From 1936 to 1951, more than 7,000 individuals—survivors of concentration camps, hidden children, and displaced families—passed through San Francisco with help from the CSE and the Jewish Family Service Agency.

Years later, as survivors aged, JFCS’ commitment to this vulnerable population never wavered. In the 1980s and 1990s, JFCS launched specialized services for aging Holocaust survivors, many of whom still bore physical and psychological scars. These services would include assistance seeking reparations from the German government as well as mental health counseling and support groups.

Helping Refugees Through Historical Upheaval

JFCS and CES launch jobs training program for refugees

Throughout the 20th century, JFCS continued to meet history’s call:

• In the 1950s, we helped Cuban Jews fleeing political turmoil.
• In the 1970s and 80s, we supported Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees resettling after the Vietnam War.
• For decades, we guided tens of thousands of Jews out of the former Soviet Union, helping them integrate into life in the Bay Area with language classes, job support, and community connection through programs like the L’Chaim Adult Day Health Center.
• Each wave of refugees brought new challenges—and new opportunities to live our values while expanding our capabilities

Standing With Ukrainians Today

Our legacy of “welcoming the stranger” continues today. Since the war in Ukraine began in 2022, JFCS has responded with urgency and compassion, helping hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Northern California.

Refugees from the Ukrainian war receive help from the JFCS office in San Francisco.

We’ve provided emergency housing, financial assistance, trauma counseling, legal support, and job readiness services. Just as in generations past, we’ve rallied volunteers, donors, and partners to provide families with care and help them build stable lives, hopeful for the future.

An immigrant couple celebrates on Citizenship Day.

Looking to the Future with Open Arms

Refugees are our neighbors, our coworkers, our classmates, and our friends. For nearly two centuries, JFCS has seen with our own eyes what is possible when we meet suffering with action, and displacement with dignity.

We will always honor those we have served across San Francisco’s history and reaffirm our promise to be a haven for those seeking safety and hope in the future.

Let us continue to open our arms, our hearts, and our communities. The work is far from over—and we are stronger when we do it together.