News & Impact

Some people dream of making it in law, medicine, or maybe Hollywood. Not Kenny Hockert. He dreams of making it big in the three K’s: kugel, kreplach, and kasha. A trained chef who spent many years working in New York restaurants, Kenny decided he wanted to fill a niche in the food truck business after moving to the Bay Area a few years ago. His specialty is Eastern European and Jewish “soul food’ reminiscent of his late grandmother Dora Rosenblatt’s family meals. “I have so many memories of spending time eating this food,” says Kenny, “and it has become a… Read More

Danny Gabriner knows that growing a business is a lot like baking the perfect loaf of bread. You need to be willing to roll up your sleeves, get dirty, and keep a watchful eye as your product takes shape. When Danny, a former computer geek, decided several years ago that he wanted to shift gears and start Sour Flour, a bread business, he rolled up his sleeves and then turned to JFCS’ Small Business Loan Program for assistance. “I was always interested in food and San Francisco’s culture,” says Danny “and I wanted to create the best naturally fermented,… Read More

Parisa Sayani, a young Jewish-Iranian woman, came to this country almost three years ago with hope and determination … and little else. Denied access to adequate education in her homeland, she set her sights on the Academy of Art University’s School of Architecture in San Francisco. Having few resources, she juggled several jobs while carrying a full class load. Still, no matter how hard she worked, she couldn’t cover tuition, school supplies, and living expenses. Never losing hope, Parisa sought assistance through JFCS’ Educational Loans and Grants Program. It was a life-turning chapter in her educational journey. The agency… Read More

The desire to make the world a better place—tikkun olam—runs deeply in the veins of Yolanda Anyon’s family. “We grew up with stories of my grandfather, who was a labor activist,” she says, “and I heard from my parents about their anti-war activities during the Viet Nam era. I learned that working toward justice was part of a struggle rooted in the Jewish tradition.” Today, Yolanda carries on her family’s proud tradition. After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in ethnic studies that focused on civil rights, she worked with community-based organizations in the East Bay, helping to develop… Read More

Thanks to the help he received from the educational loan and grant program of JFCS’ Financial Aid Center, Ben Botts is launching a career that will touch the lives of countless workers across the country. An alumnus of Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley, Ben was one of five recent law-school graduates selected nationwide to serve as an Honors Program attorney at the United States Department of Labor. He says he never would have been able to achieve this success without JFCS’ support. Over the next two years, Ben will tackle a sweeping range of critical issues,… Read More