News & Impact

Sarah Goldwasser is one of 43 Bay Area high school students gaining professional experience this summer through Youth First’s internship program. An incoming high school senior at Larkpsur’s Redwood High School, Sarah is working this summer for the Marin Independent Journal (IJ), where she is writing news briefs and articles. This is a great opportunity for Sarah, who loves to write and serves as Review Editor of her school newspaper. It is also her first real job, and she is thrilled to be getting paid. “My parents are very proud of me,” says Sarah, and “I’m learning what it’s… Read More

Melissa, a New Yorker, became concerned when she learned that her only living relative, Aunt Millie, in Palo Alto, was a victim of a financial scam and was experiencing significant memory loss. “I can’t handle my aunt’s affairs long-distance, so I was grateful when a friend found JFCS’ Conservatorship program,” says Melissa. “It has given me peace of mind.” Thanks to the program, all of Millie’s needs—whether they relate to housing, health, finances, or day-to-day affairs—are tended to by JFCS care managers. “To be conserved, clients like Millie have to be shown to be lacking the capacity to make decisions… Read More

J Weekly by Dan Pine San Mateo resident Lenci Farkas sat before the video cameras and told her tale of survival: deportation by cattle car from Czechoslovakia to Auschwitz, a daring escape from the Death March of 1945, a new start in America. Read More from J Weekly… Read More

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

Loneliness is a major issue for the elderly and has been linked closely with poor health. Debby Katz and John Perkins are volunteers with JFCS’ Senior Companions program. They regularly visit elderly clients and have seen the positive impact of their companionship first hand. They are also getting as much out of the program as the seniors whose lives they touch. Debby and John have found that volunteering is one of the best ways to give back to your community and get connected with others. Both retired professionals, they are among the hundreds of volunteers who have helped our elderly… Read More