A Message From Tom Beck, JFS Executive Director

As Jewish Family Service is in the midst of celebrating 100 years of service to the community, it is a perfect opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments over the past year as well as the past hundred years. What a noble history the agency has had: from a small group of founding individuals to over 3,000 supporters; from a handful of clients to more than 6,800 served last year alone.  What a staggering commitment to our community, as our statistics will show.

During 2011, we provided homecare services to the elderly and the frail, play therapy to children, and offered emergency financial services to those who, through no fault of their own, found themselves without income or a stable home.  The Economic Response Initiative, funded by the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, has become a model for helping people find work.  In fact, 300 individuals have been served through this program.  Our goal, as always, is to help people live with dignity and independence.

Our challenge is to evoke a sense of community, that we all make our world a better place (tikun olam- repairing the world): better for our parents who are challenged by aging and dealing with health issues; better for the distraught wife, the unemployed spouse, and the children who are caught somewhere in-between; better for the family that has no roof over their head and no food on the table.

Because of the generosity and humanity of our gifted professional staff, volunteers, and donors, we were able to accomplish the following to make the world a better place for these people:

•   23,000 hours of Individual and Family Counseling, including Social Work and Registered Nurse home visits to the elderly 

• 30,000 hours of Home Care services

• 21,600 Kosher Meals on Wheels

• 366 Group and Family Life Education Programs to 1,500 individuals.  Examples of these programs include: T’ai Chi, blood pressure screenings, parenting groups, health fairs, socialization groups, and others.

• 1,000 individuals helped by our Food Pantry and Food Assistance program

• 2,200 Personal Care Transportation rides to medical appointments 

As the lead agency for the State of New Jersey, we now provide $2 million in funding from The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany for services to Holocaust Survivors across the state.  This is the fifth highest in the nation.

We have become the lead agency of the county-wide Home Health Aide Training funded through the Union County Division on Aging.  During the past year, we led two classes through JFS, now 30 individuals have been able to get their Home Health Aide License.

New this year has been our Care Transitions Program.  We have a Registered Nurse Health Coach who works with patients who have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Heart Failure to provide intensive follow-up to prevent re-hospitalizations.  Financed by the Grotta Fund for Senior Care and working cooperatively with Holy Redeemer Home Care NJ and Trinitas Regional Medical Center on this new program enables us to be well-positioned to apply for a federal grant in the near future.

Through the many efforts of (and funding from) the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, we have been able to provide many services to the unemployed through the Economic Response Initiative, as well as receiving $4,000 worth of food through Supermarket Sweep and Super Sunday.  In addition, Federation has helped us launch Project Kesher, which is providing the community with outreach programs this year, ranging from raising breast cancer awareness to family mitzvah projects and lectures on family issues.  We are truly grateful for this partnership.

Thanks to all our funding sources:  The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest; The Union County Division on Aging; The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany; The United Ways; and so many foundations and corporations (over 60 in all). 

All of this can only continue with the hard work and commitment of dedicated board members, staff, and volunteers from our community.   I urge everyone to contact me at tbeck@JFSCentralNJ.org, or 908-352-8375, if you have some time to donate to become a Friend Advocate for an isolated elderly individual, help maintain our Urban Community Garden, deliver food to a family in need, or donate your professional time to the agency.

I wish you all the best to you and your families for a Happy and Healthy New Year.