News & Impact

As small business owners who have seen their own enterprises grow over the years, Vlad and Sandra Shmunis have a particular affection for budding entrepreneurs who are trying to get a good start in life. That’s why they have invested in JFCS’ Financial Aid Center, which offers assistance to young, promising upstarts in the Bay Area. “We’re big believers in helping those who are helping themselves,” says Sandra, “and we wanted to invest in a program that is already well established so that we didn’t need to reinvent the wheel. In addition, we have a great deal of respect for… Read More

Palo Alto Online News by Sue Dremann Like Robbie the robot in Isaac Asimov’s 1940 science fiction book, “I, Robot,” digital devices may be today’s nursemaids for children. And as a result, some kids are becoming more interested in playing with their computers and smartphones than with other children, according to researchers. Read More from Palo Alto Online News … Read More

San Francisco Business Times by Renée Froj As congress continues the seemingly endless debate over immigration reform, San Francisco is taking things into its own hands. As part of a three-year private-public partnership, the city started a program Tuesday to help San Francisco’s estimated 100,000 eligible immigrants navigate a path to naturalization. Read More from the San Francisco Business Times… 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