News & Impact

Jewish Journal by Ryan Torok In a separate effort to make sure that voices from the Holocaust are not forgotten, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute and the San Francisco Bay Area-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) are partnering to raise money to support an initiative that will help digitize more than 1,400 Holocaust survivor testimonies that were recorded on VHS tapes during the 1970s and 1980s. Read More from the Jewish Journal… Read More

When Gabe was 45, he developed adult-onset diabetes, leaving him blind and jobless. “Devastated is an understatement,” says Gabe. “I was panicked and emotionally paralyzed. I didn’t know where to turn. Thank G-d a friend directed me to the People with Disabilities Program at JFCS. It has been a lifesaver and has enabled me to be independent which is really important to me.” Each year, JFCS helps hundreds of adults like Gabe—people with physical, emotional, and developmental disabilities who want to strengthen their lives. Gabe and others meet regularly with counselors from JFCS who offer hope, comfort, and coping tools.… Read More

Media Alert What: A Tribute to Holocaust Survivors: Honoring Those Who Gave Their Testimonies When: Sunday, June 9, 2:00 – 4:00 pm Where: The Palace Hotel Why: Bay Area Holocaust survivors will be recognized for the vital role they have played as educators. Now all well into their 80s and 90s, the survivors have shared their stories of moral courage, tolerance, and social responsibility to younger generations in person and on videotape. In addition, the JFCS Holocaust Center, which holds the sixth largest collection of video survivor testimonies in the world, and the USC Shoah Foundation—co-sponsors of this special program—will… Read More

A consortium of Bay Area Jewish institutions and a national museum invite community members to come together on Sunday, April 7, for They Did Not Stand Idly By: Yom HaShoah and the 70th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, an afternoon program marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. The free program will be held at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF), 3200 California St. It is co-presented by the JCCSF, Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ Holocaust Center, Lehrhaus Judaica, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the San Francisco branch of the Anti-Defamation League of the Central Pacific Region, and the United… Read More

Because business leaders know it takes a village to support those in need, they generously offer resources to JFCS clients. Recently, Peet’s Coffee & Tea contributed to our Dream House and Parents Place programs—a result of Peet’s customers who made donations to totaling $10,000. Peet’s joins many business partners, that give cash and in-kind gifts. They include San Francisco magazine, Whole Foods, the San Francisco 49ers, and many more. “We are grateful for the outpouring of support that we receive throughout the year from companies, big and small, that want to give back to the community by investing in… Read More

The theme of Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ 29th Annual Fammy Awards Gala, to be held on Saturday evening, March 9, at San Francisco’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, is “Love Stories”—and for good reason. This year’s honorees are esteemed community members who, with love and concern, have transformed painful situations into opportunities to help others. Gala awardees include United States Senator Dianne Feinstein, community leader Roselyne “Cissie” Swig, journalist John Rothmann, Max R. Garcia, Earl Rabb, and Naomi Lauter, as well as Allen, Norman, and Tauba Weiss and the late Lonny Darwin, who is being recognized posthumously. They are all being honored… Read More