“JFCS has helped my family and countless others in times of need,” says Howard S. Hahn, when reflecting on his recent decision to leave a legacy to help others facing hard times. “My parents raised me with Jewish values. Tikkun olam was especially important.” A native of New York City, Howard arrived in San Francisco for a visit not long after he graduated from college. He found a city and community he wanted to get to know better. “I never used the roundtrip part of the paper plane ticket,” Howard says. “I quit my job over the phone and stayed.”… Read More

None of us know what life is going to throw in our path. For young people who have experienced loss, trauma, a bad medical diagnosis or other difficult life events, hope comes in the form of the  Sandra L. Schnitzer Resilience Fund—a new permanent  Named Endowment Fund of Jewish Family and Children’s Services. The fund, which has been thoughtfully founded by Sandra L. Schnitzer of San Francisco, will pioneer a specialized model of compassionate assistance to help children, teens, and young adults up to age 25. Individual grants will magnify and enhance the expert services already available through JFCS’ Center … Read More

For Michael Rolnick and Linda Himelstein, community service is an essential family value. As they were raising their children, Jillian and Ben, in Hillsborough, Michael and Linda made it a priority to model the importance of giving back. “We wanted to nurture in our children a lifelong habit of giving back—not just money, but also time,” says Linda, an award-winning author and journalist. “This should be a vital part of life.” They began volunteering as a family at the JFCS Peninsula Food Bank. When Jillian and Ben were in high school, they participated in the YouthFirst service-learning and leadership development… Read More

Vera and Harold z’l Stein sat for this interview in 2019. May his memory be for a blessing. Vera Stein’s desire to give back was born from her personal experience fleeing Nazi Germany as a young child in 1939. When Vera was just five years old, her father, Eric Livingston, was taken to Dachau following Kristallnacht. The family had already obtained visas to leave the country, so they were fortunate enough to get Eric out of Dachau and flee to the United States. They traveled by boat to New York, an experience Vera recalls being a miserable, seasick-filled journey, where… Read More

She survived cancer three times.  She outlived her daughter, who died at 21.  Despite these hardships and others, Jean Wildberg had an unflagging spirit.  Descended from an old German-Jewish Bay Area family—her grandfather founded Kahn’s Department Store in Oakland in 1879—Jean expressed, in both words and deeds, an abiding concern for others.  “She didn’t hesitate to get involved in changing society if she saw an injustice,” said one of her sons, David Morgenstein. “She wanted to help those who did not have a voice.” A Stanford University alumna who later became a psychologist, Jean counseled workers in employee assistance programs.  … Read More

John Galen has been part of the JFCS community since the 1960s.  He served on its Board of Directors back when JFCS was called the Jewish Family Service Agency, and he was active in 1977, when the agency merged with Homewood Terrace, putting the “children” in Jewish Family and Children’s Services. Through his close association, he understands JFCS’ ability to innovate and best serve those in need. John had always intended to provide for JFCS after his lifetime and to leave a bequest in his will or trust. However, after discussing his plans with JFCS’ Endowment staff, he discovered that… Read More