News & Impact

JFCS’ Gary Shupin Independent Living Community provides both residential and community based services to young adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities. The Shupin Social Club invites young adults from all over the Bay Area to come together to learn critical skills, socialize and feel a part of a vibrant community. Several times a month the members participate in organized activities such as bowling, karaoke, cooking classes and Jewish holiday celebrations. A group of 10 recently took a field trip to the California Academy of Sciences where they watched a performance by Horvitz Youth-Ability, a program for young adults with disabilities… Read More

The menu featured wonton soup, chicken stir fry with steamed rice and vegetables, cold noodle salad with crispy wontons and peanut dressing, green salad, fruit salad, and tapioca pudding. It was not a new, Asian-inspired restaurant. It was sustenance for people in need; lovingly prepared, packaged, and delivered by volunteers for JFCS clients, including low-income families and seniors. The volunteers are called Chicken Soupers, and they gather approximately once a month to provide food for those who need it. In Marin, the Chicken Soupers come from San Rafael’s Brandeis Hillel Day School (soon to be called Brandeis Marin.) “Programs like… Read More

David Dossetter of San Francisco joined the board of Jewish Family and Children’s Services one year ago. We recently spoke with him about why he has chosen to devote his time and energy to the organization. What initially attracted you to JFCS? I like how the organization delivers first class services to people in need, without concern for their ability to pay for the services. This is a business model that I can get behind. I also like the idea that the organization isn’t just about redistributing money, which is the mission of many nonprofits. JFCS is an economically logical… Read More

Join fellow JFCS volunteers (as well as volunteers from our friends at San Francisco’s Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, Temple Emanu-El and Sherith Israel) for our 20th annual workday at Golden Gate Park’s National AIDS Memorial Grove: Sunday, August 9, 2015, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm To remember the thousands in our community whom we lost to HIV and AIDS, as well as to honor those living with it, we gather together yearly in this beautiful, serene setting to weed, plant, and renovate the grove. This is a wonderful opportunity to pay tribute to our friends and loved ones, to work as… Read More

Everyone needs downtime. Children and teens today have such busy, stressful lives that summer becomes not just a welcome break in their routine, but a vital one for recharging. The warmer days and increased daylight are more conducive to relaxing. Consider letting your children sleep according to their body’s rhythms and wake up naturally, not when an alarm clock tells them to. Or if you’re signing them up for a structured activity, try to select one that starts a little later and ends a little earlier than their school day. Children of all ages generally need 10 to 12 hours… Read More

By all accounts Micah had a great freshman year—good grades, a nice mix of extracurricular activities and some new friends who shared his passions for music, soccer and anime comics. But by October of his sophomore year, Micah, now 16, had lost interest in school, sports, clubs and friends. He spent a lot of time alone in his room listening to heavy metal music; only emerging for meals where he sat sullenly, responding to his parents’ questions with barely a grunt. “We were out of our minds with concern,” said his mother, Joanne, who contacted Parents Place for help after… Read More