News & Impact

JFCS’ Jewish Chaplaincy Services featured on Unorthodox podcast  At the age of 25, Vy Nguyen was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer. Vy had been raised Buddhist, but when a Buddhist hospital chaplain told her that her cancer was caused by “bad karma”, she decided to meet with chaplains of other faiths. One of them was Chaplain Bruce Feldstein, MD, BCC, founder and director of JFCS’ Jewish Chaplaincy Services serving Stanford Medicine, and Adjunct Clinical Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. While it is the doctor’s job to cure a patient’s disease, Chaplain Feldstein… Read More

As families continue to endure the effects of disruption and uncertainty, JFCS’ Center for Children and Youth has launched a new website to guide them through. The largest initiative JFCS has ever undertaken in our 170-year history, the Center for Children and Youth is transforming the way children’s mental health needs are addressed with the latest international research, evidence-based treatments, parent education, and advocacy for public policy that help families thrive. The website features video advice from clinicians, expert resources from JFCS’ Parents Place, and resources for schools, clinicians, and policymakers. It also includes dedicated support for families as they… Read More

Alex Ingersoll and Martin Tannenbaum are wonderful friends of JFCS who exemplify what it means to be dedicated supporters. Most recently, they chose to invest in future generations by making a generous three-year financial commitment to JFCS’ Center for Children and Youth. Alex and Martin were each inspired to become involved with JFCS because of the agency’s breadth of programming and effective and creative responses to community needs. JFCS also provides Alex, a convert to Judaism, and Martin, a Jew from Utah, with the opportunity to live their Jewish values of tzedakah and chesed, which also inform their philanthropic giving.… Read More

JFCS has issued the following statement in coalition with the San Francisco Interfaith Council and our network of faith-based organizations. As leaders of diverse faith-based traditions we understand human life to be the greatest and most sacred gift endowed by our Creator. Inherent in that gift is the inalienable right to live freely and not in fear. The May 25, 2020, senseless killing of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, at the knee of a law enforcement official, sworn and entrusted to protect the public and keep the peace, is yet another stark reminder of humanity’s blindness to the sacredness of that… Read More

By Robyn Bloom, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at JFCS Sheltering in place during a pandemic presents a particular—and in many cases brand new—set of challenges for couples. I am guessing you have had moments of anxiety, stress, joy, challenges, losses, silver linings, disappointments, and a myriad of other experiences. Any small differences in your relationship may feel amplified, and you may be struggling in new ways or re-visiting perpetual problems. As a therapist who works with all types of couples, my advice right now is this: it has never been more important for you to deepen your understanding… Read More

Candace Sue and Rob Hofmeister knew their second adoption might come with some challenges. The couple adopted their daughter, Violet, nine years ago and were prepared for the occasional hiccups that can come with the adoption process. What the couple didn’t anticipate was that their adoption would involve a 1,700-mile road trip during a global pandemic. All the preparations had been made, and the family’s home study completed, when the shelter-in-place requirement went into effect. It was then, in late March, that the Bay Area family received a call from JFCS’ Adoption Connection that put them in touch with a… Read More