News & Impact

A first taste of life in the working world hours and his pay statements. By Olivia Perlman Excerpts from the article originally printed in the August Issue of The New Fillmore. As my junior year at Marin Academy was coming to a close last spring, I decided to apply for a summer internship with Jewish Family and Children’s Services on Post Street. This paid internship program offers teens the opportunity to work with local businesses for six weeks under a supervisor’s guidance. The program also includes a weekly workshop in which the interns are taught workplace and life skills, with… Read More

For Claire Solot, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Bigglesworth Family Foundation (BFF), serving on the JFCS Board of Directors seemed like a perfect fit in 2004. At the same time, her foundation was building and growing—and with JFCS’ broad range of services also expanding, Claire embraced the synergy that came from growing side-by-side. Remembering her grandparents’ involvement with JFCS (on the east coast) when she was a young girl, she felt a lasting connection to JFCS in the Bay Area. Claire served on the JFCS Board for ten years and chaired the JFCS Public Issues Committee. She enjoyed advocating… Read More

Carole Meyers and her family started volunteering with JFCS in 1993, when they “adopted” a Jewish family that had just emigrated from the Soviet Union. The Meyers guided the newcomers in many practical and emotional ways (not an easy task given the language barriers) and built a deep friendship with them. This experience, coupled with Carole’s love of teaching, inspired her to volunteer to teach a JFCS English Second Language class. Twelve years later, the small group of Russian-speaking Jewish emigre women continues to meet weekly, and Carole admits that learning English is only a small part of the class;… Read More

Raising children today is more challenging than ever before, especially in the Bay Area. Without a place to turn for coordinated services, too many families don’t find the help they need until it is too late. To address this growing crisis and serve thousands of Bay Area children, JFCS has announced the launch of its new Center for Children and Youth.  One of the largest initiatives ever undertaken by JFCS in its 170-year history, the Center for Children and Youth is bringing together and expanding critical services in four key areas: Parent consultation and community education through JFCS’ Parents … Read More

Her Path to the JFCS Presidency Growing up in Ukraine when it was part of the USSR meant that Luba Troyanovsky grew up surrounded by rampant antisemitism. Because her great-grandfather was a rabbi, she grew up observing Jewish holidays and traditions—not so common among Soviet Jews at that time—but always secretly within the family and never publicly. When Luba arrived in San Francisco as part of the vast emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union in the 1970s, she and her family had to build a new life.  Comparing themselves to “blind kittens,” Luba warmly recalls that JFCS staff helped… Read More

JFCS’ Executive Director, Dr. Anita Friedman, was recently presented with the Silver SPUR Lifetime Achievement Award, the most prominent award for lifetime civic achievement in San Francisco. Dr. Friedman was honored for her visionary leadership in health and human services and innovative social enterprises across the Bay Area. In addition to heading JFCS’ services and humanitarian work, Dr. Friedman has served on various local, state, national, and international boards and commissions, and served as a consultant to Israel’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. As a speaker and author, Dr. Friedman’s expertise includes social policy and programming for diverse populations;… Read More