News & Impact

Marin Independent Journal by Richard Halstead A program that provides social workers and nurses to monitor the care of fragile Marin seniors who want to continue living in their homes would also be eliminated by proposed cuts in the state budget. Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget would eliminate Medi-Cal funding for the Multi-Purpose Senior Services Program, which serves a caseload of 85 seniors in Marin. The nonprofit Jewish Family and Children’s Services has contracted with the Department of Aging to provide the program in Marin County for the past 12 years. Read More from the Marin Independent Journal… Read More

Bay Area Reporter by Seth Hemmelgarn This summer, John Tighe and Ngu Phan adopted a baby. Tighe, 46, said he’s always loved children, but he’d spent years telling himself, “I can’t be a parent. Gay mean can’t parent. It’s not gonig to work.” But having Phan, 41, in his life helped. Read More from the Bay Area Reporter… Read More

San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times, and San Mateo County Times by Sean Maher There is a flood of people in dire need of help for the first time in their lives, dubbed by some as the “new poor,” and they are swamping Bay Area food banks. New clients at Jewish Family and Children’s Services, a nonprofit serving five Bay Area counties, have increased demand for its food services fourfold since the recession started. Ramping up its efforts in turn, JFCS has enlisted about 1,000 volunteers — double that of previous years — to get word out about this… Read More

J Weekly by Sue Fishkoff, correspondent Robert worked for a Bay Area news organization until September 2008. That month the company laid off 15 percent of its nationwide workforce, including 58-year-old Robert. He estimated he had eight months of savings. It ran out in six months. In December 2009, 14 months after losing his job, Robert turned to S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children’s Services for help with rent, utilities and, hardest of all, food. Read More from J Weekly… Read More

J Weekly by Amanda Pazornik Russian émigré Semion Melamud doesn’t know much English. But the three words the decorated World War II veteran can recite with clarity – “God Bless America” – bring a smile to his weathered face. “I am thankful for the United States and the opportunity to live here,” Melamud, 89, said through a translator. “It’s because of America that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren can live, work and study here.” Melamud was one of more than 200 guests – mostly elderly Russian émigrés – at a May 7 luncheon commemorating the 65th anniversary of Victory Day, which… Read More

J Weekly by Dan Pine Kobe, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, doesn’t merely sit on Curtis Shore’s lap. The dog melts into it, splayed blissfully across his belly. Leaning back in his Barcalounger, Shore knows Kobe’s favorite scratch spots. The two look so contented, it’s hard to believe they commune only an hour or two each week at the Sunset District home Shore bought soon after moving to San Francisco in 1957. “Who does not love a dog?” asks Shore in a clipped German accent. As his burgundy-colored vest signifies, Kobe is a certified therapy dog with Canine Corps, a… Read More