Giving & Volunteering · October 21, 2024
Ken Germain is not yet retired, but he recently realized he wanted to devote more time to the Jewish community. World events also played a role. “When war broke out in Israel after the October 7, 2023 massacre, I felt a strong need to do even more for the Jewish People,” Ken said. “My wife, who had a more traditional Jewish background than I did, was very encouraging. Through the years, we have grown more observant, more attached to our Jewish homeland, and more motivated to contribute
September 26, 2024
As we approach the anniversary of October 7, a group from Jewish Family Service’s Center for Holocaust Survivors wrote a letter to students who might be experiencing antisemitism in their own lives. With permission, we are sharing their letter with our Jewish community. Although it is addressed to students, we believe it conveys a universal message of courage, fortitude, and positivity.
Holocaust Survivors · August 23, 2024
“I learned about the Shoah [the Holocaust] at a very young age. I can't even remember the first time I heard about it,” said 19-year-old Neele Ehlers, who grew up in Cottbus, Germany—a town about 12 miles from the eastern border with Poland. “The Shoah is so ingrained in our education, but it's something that’s very heavy and hard to deal with—especially when I think about how the people that did this were my ancestors.”
August 15, 2024
JFS has been awarded $147,206 from the Alzheimer’s Association Center for Dementia Respite Innovation (CDRI) to enhance the quality and availability of dementia-specific respite care for people living with dementia and their caregivers in Cincinnati.
Giving & Volunteering · July 15, 2024
There are at least three subjects that stir an appreciable passion in Leah and Gary Smith. The first is mental health. The second is giving back to the community. And the third is Jewish Family Service of Cincinnati (JFS). So it was only fitting when the Smiths chose to make a significant donation to JFS—providing them with naming rights for the agency’s counseling center waiting room. This waiting room serves a full spectrum of JFS’s mental health clients, from youth and teens to older adults.
Counseling & Mental Health · June 28, 2024
From the moment Jewish Family Service of Cincinnati (JFS) opened Adult Day Services in November 2023, Manager Becky Borello knew that she could inspire the program’s participants—all of whom face cognitive challenges—through the creative process of making art. “From the beginning, it has been our intention to have an art exhibition,” Borello said. “An art project provides an important benefit to our participants. It lets them exercise choice: choice in colors, in style, in design."
Food & Financial Assistance · May 06, 2024
On Sunday, April 14, a community-wide effort to make Passover possible for all who wished to celebrate kicked into high gear. Starting at 9:00 a.m., more than 50 volunteers arrived at Jewish Family Service Heldman Family Food Pantry to package, bag up, and transport Passover food to fellow community members. Five hours later, the 26th annual Dr. Samuel S. Rockwern Passover Delivery Project of Jewish Family Service (JFS) was another resounding success.
Jewish Culture & Community · April 25, 2024
Damp weather did nothing to darken spirts of attendees inside the Mayerson JCC’s Amberley Room, as they smiled and mingled prior to Jewish Family Service of Cincinnati’s (JFS) Annual Meeting on April 4. The atmosphere was one of celebration and the room was full as the community convened to learn of agency accomplishments and challenges, honor individual achievements, accomplish board business, and tout JFS’s theme for the upcoming year: Bridging Barriers. Building Connections.
Giving & Volunteering · November 30, 2023
In some ways, 13-year-old Elon Katz is a typical Cincinnati youth. As an eighth grader at The Seven Hills School, Elon is perfectly capable of enjoying an after-school chill-out session with his video games. He also likes to draw. And, well, that’s about it for the ordinary stuff. Elon, you see, is anything but typical. He likes to code video games for fun. He is a serious student of classical piano, and enjoys the weekly lessons his grandmother kindly offers him.
Counseling & Mental Health · September 20, 2023
Over the past three decades, Leah Marcus, Director of Youth Mental Health Services at Jewish Family Service (JFS), has lost ten high school classmates to suicide or overdose. These tragic deaths underscore a disturbing reality that is increasing dramatically in the United States: death by suicide. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2021, 49,500 people took their own lives—the highest number the CDC has recorded.